May / June 2012

Succession Planning By Kevin W. Bruny, SPHR, Chief Learning Officer, Chesterfield County, VA

My grandfather, George Halas, was one of the original founders of what is now the National Football League. He played professional football himself for 10 years and coached for 40. My mother had 11 children, enough to field our own team. Today, she is 89, yet very much involved in the management of one of the greatest sports enterprises, the Chicago Bears. My father’s family included educators, musicians, and military men. Growing up in the

By Margery Weinstein Any organization with a comprehensive training program has a leadership development curriculum. These programs include everything from conventional classroom learning with guest speakers to high-tech simulations and lavish retreats. There also may be mentorship thrown in, as well as multiple job rotations. Despite the well-rounded curricula, many companies don’t do enough to determine whether any of it is working. With budgets still tight in an uncertain economy, companies need to ramp up their efforts to better assess their leadership coursework.

By Margery Weinstein Your future leaders’ creativity and problem-solving skills have been honed in leadership courses, but that doesn’t mean they are ready to use those skills to further your company’s place in the world. With emerging markets in Asia, South America, and other areas of the world, your workforce needs to have an understanding of and interest in cultures beyond the city or town they are based in.

By Lorri Freifeld Supercharged. High-performers. Leaders of the pack. No, we aren’t talking about the latest racecars. We’re talking about Trainingmagazine’s 2012 Top Young Trainers—those high-potential training professionals who are on the fast track to success.

Sometimes the absence of change can herald change on the horizon—and that just may be the case when it comes to creation of global leadership development programs. The percentage of companies that have implemented global leadership development programs has remained the same since 2010, according to the third annual Developing Successful Global Leaders Studyconducted by Trainingmagazine, the American Management Association (AMA), and The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp). But the key here is that the figure (31 percent) did not decline.

By Liggy Webb, Director, The Learning Architect Modern living is becoming increasingly challenging with a stress-related illness affecting more and more people. The challenges we face—including finding purpose, defining ourselves, and managing stress—are numerous and complex. The requirement to be more flexible and manage change is becoming increasingly important. A positive personal strategy can help each individual to cope better and improve resilience and confidence.