Pair Development of Skills to Accelerate Your Organization’s Progress

L&D leaders are realizing the need to revise their development offerings for the coming year. Many businesses are operating differently. As a result, the skills that will enable employees to succeed must adapt as well.

Just as a mature Cabernet Sauvignon pairs nicely with filet mignon, certain skills can be developed together to enrich the experience of your employees and the results they generate.

Innovation and Trust

Have you ever noticed that the same people tend to share “new” ideas in your organization? If innovation usually originates with senior management or the same key players, there is a good chance that you could have a trust issue. People need to feel safe bringing up ideas and know that others won’t take credit for their ideas or shut them down without consideration. The best ideas may come from those who are the least likely to speak up. When we build a culture of trust and psychological safety, ideas will flow more freely.

Critical Thinking and Collaboration

Critical thinking improves our ability to make decisions and solve problems. Then what? Once we make decisions, we need to act on them. Implementing solutions requires strong collaboration. Pairing these skills will enable your organization to come up with great ideas that actually get implemented.

Data Analysis and Storytelling

The availability of data is greater than ever. We need people who can not only analyze data, but also share insights in a relevant way so we can make better decisions. Executives are overwhelmingly bored by Subject Matter Experts who spout off one data point after another without clear calls to action. Utilizing storytelling can help senior leaders understand how to leverage data to guide their decisions.

Having one skill without the other is like having the keys to a Ferrari that you don’t know how to drive.