As the 2021 Thought Leader Series continues, we bring you thoughtful conversations surrounding the dramatically changing world of eLearning, Learning & Development, and the technologies that further enhance these initiatives. In addition, our June speaker, David Kelly of The Learning Guild, discusses evolving leadership for global companies and the skills that separate great from mediocre leaders.

Impacts of the Pandemic

David Kelly addresses changes that evolved in his life and are now a marker of the impact of the pandemic. David explained how the lens through which he perceives the world has changed and how important it is to look at the world from someone else’s lens. Empathy has been put at the forefront for companies as we all must raise our concern about how the pandemic can impact other people. For The Learning Guild and the education industry, the pandemic pushed employees out of their comfort zone to figure out new ways to teach and provide knowledge. This became a huge marker in the industry as innovative solutions and new ideas came to the forefront of virtually providing an in-person experience.

eLearning

Evolving leadership for global companies has become crucial in their success. Because of the pandemic, professionals in the learning & development field were forced to adapt to an eLearning environment. There has been strong momentum and investment for professionals to adapt to an eLearning environment. As we move to have the option to return to in-person events, the question becomes, will we go back to how things were before covid? David Kelly explains how the learning professionals have been forced to adapt and discover new methods. Face-to-face experiences will come back, but the virtual experience is not going to go away. We also discuss some of the new initiatives for The Learning Guild. David Kelly explains his experiences in learning how to provide valuable content in an online format. He began with the question, “how do we bring the face-to-face experience online?” Through the process, he learned the importance of creating a different experience that better suits an online environment.

Leadership

Empathy is one of the essential qualities of evolving leadership for global companies. We tend to focus on roles rather than focusing on what it looks like as a practice. A good leader should recognize the difference between asking employees to come back and telling employees to come back to work. Everyone has different feelings and perspectives on what going back to work looks like. After months of being virtual, every employee will have some concerns with adjusting to a new office setting. As a leader, being understanding and empathetic will be especially important this year and in years to come.

Through the 2021 Global eLearning Thought Leader Series with David Kelly, we offer thoughtful insight for leaders in Global Companies. David discusses evolving leadership for global companies and the skills that separate great from mediocre leaders. The Global eLearning Thought Leader series is hosted by Gary Schulties and Matt Patterson of Global eLearning. You can visit the YouTube Channel to listen to David Kelly’s discussion and the entire Thought Leader Series!