Three Ways to Lead Learning

Today the development of new skills, knowledge, and mindsets is critical to most businesses’ key strategic efforts. This has given rise to a new breed of senior leaders—leaders of learning—who advocate for and organize learning initiatives for enterprises and their employees. But the evidence on whether their programs are actually effective is mixed, and both executives and employees remain skeptical about them. To find out why, an INSEAD professor and his colleague interviewed leaders of learning at 69 multinational firms. The problem, they found, was that companies often assume that there’s just one way to lead learning. But in fact there are three: Custodians believe that learning must serve the needs of the organization first and foremost and are a good fit for organizations seeking alignment. Challengers think individuals have an intrinsic right to grow and that learning must support their development. They’re best when firms need innovation. Connectors integrate both approaches and emphasize bringing people together to learn from one another. They are most fruitful in organizations that are siloed and need more collaboration. It’s critical to understand the differences among the approaches and the right context for each.