People are an organization’s most valuable asset,” the saying goes. And that is certainly true of the 2017 Emerging Training Leaders, who possess finely honed soft skills, business acumen, and a collaborative mindset that produce bottom-line results for their organizations.
“The Emerging Training Leader (ETL) winners demonstrated the ability to assess business priorities and then define, develop, and deploy learning solutions that drove improved performance,” says ETL Judge Graham Johnston. “They also all were proficient in disciplines beyond instructional design, including program management, organizational change, stakeholder management, and knowledge of the business.”
These 25 Training professionals have been in the industry for two to 10 years and have demonstrated exceptional leadership skills, business savvy, and training instincts. All Emerging Training Leader (ETL) candidates had to be nominated by co-workers or industry peers.
Training Editorial Advisory Board members and I judged the 50 nominations. In addition to the length of service criterion, we chose the 25 winners based on the following factors:
- Took on at least one new responsibility in the last year
- Successfully led a large-scale training/learning and development initiative within the last year that required management/leadership of a group of people and resulted in the achievement of a corporate strategic goal (with behavior change/business impact results provided)
- Demonstrates the following specific leadership qualities: acts as a mentor/coach, adopts new technology, collaborates, communicates often and effectively, embraces and adapts to change, empowers employees, fosters employee/team recognition, has a global mindset, innovates, inspires trust, provides regular feedback, sets an ethical example, thinks strategically and outside the box
- Has the potential to lead the Training or Learning & Development function at an organization in the next one to 10 years
On these pages, you’ll find in-depth profiles of the Top 5 Emerging Training Leaders (listed in alphabetical order), plus slightly shorter profiles of the other 20 Emerging Training Leaders. And we continued our tradition of creating a “To Watch” list, which features five up-and-coming professionals who didn’t receive an award this year, but who are well on their way to becoming future Emerging Training Leaders.
“It’s exciting to see such a high caliber of Emerging Training Leaders across so many verticals or industries,” says ETL Judge Marc Ramos. “In addition to applications from larger multi-national companies, those from small and medium-sized businesses, as well as the public sector, were equally exciting.”
ETL Judge Ken Barber felt the “quality of the applicants was outstanding. I was impressed by the broad and diverse areas of knowledge displayed by the Emerging Training Leaders. The common ground for all was a passion for learning and helping people reach their personal and professional goals. The collaboration effort was another place where the Emerging Training Leaders are setting a high standard for our industry.”
Adds ETL Judge Matthew Valencius, “More and more organizations are recognizing that learning can accelerate their business. It is wonderful to see so many engaged and creative people joining the profession!”
ETL Judge Cyndi Bruce agrees. “The caliber of the nominees put forth was impressive. Their ability to embed innovation and creativity into their learning activities was clearly a key to their success.”
“This year’s group of talented nominees continues to take L&D well beyond isolated ‘programs’ or ‘initiatives,’ to being part of an integrated system that creates huge value for customers,” notes ETL Judge Bruce Jones.
Calling the 2017 Emerging Training Leaders an “exceptional group,” ETL Judge Ross Tartell explains that “their unique contribution that differentiates them from their peers is the capacity to connect innovative training solutions with the strategic needs of their companies, and the specific needs of their target populations.”
ETL Judge Art Dobrucki says, “The learning industry has a bright future with this caliber of Emerging Training Leaders. They demonstrate an impressive array of talents— innovative uses of technology, networking savvy with leadership inside their organization and externally in the industry, and willingness to challenge status-quo approaches to learning.”
Clik HERE to view the profiles of the 2017 Emerging Training Leaders.