Summer 2022
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CTDO Magazine

Leadership Doesn't Have to Be Lonely

Friday, July 15, 2022

"Who is taking care of the leaders while they care for everyone else?" That question, which International Coaching Federation CEO Magdalena Nowicka Mook poses in this issue's View From the Top column, has been echoing in my head since I returned from ATD22 in Orlando, Florida, in mid-May. There I had the opportunity to speak with many talent development executives, and I have been pondering their leadership experiences.

Talent development executives spend their days developing others. They plan, strategize, and dream about how to create learning moments that better motivate, challenge, and grow the people in their organizations. They analyze career goals and skills gaps and design custom opportunities to meet employees where they are while inspiring them to chase what's next.

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But what about you? Who's looking after you?

In her article, Mook discusses self-care. She asserts that leaders must own their resiliency by taking breaks and asking for help when needed.

"By remembering that as a leader you have the same individual needs as your employees, you will become more capable of sustaining long-term resilience," Mook writes. I hope that perspective brings you encouragement and a fresh sense of solidarity with others.

The summer issue of CTDO offers a range of articles written by and for talent development leaders. In the Executive Know-How article, Terrence Donahue, corporate director of learning at Emerson Electric, explains how to trade transactional relationships for strategic partnerships when choosing solution providers.

The case study of energy company Towngas in the Prove It column exemplifies how a culture of innovation grows from the bottom up. And in Confessions From the C-Suite, people strategy and talent development leader Fernando Sanchez-Arias shares his journey to realizing one-size-fits-all training lacks creativity and stifles outcomes.

In this issue's Spotlight article, John P. Wiltshire, vice president of talent development at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, divulges his team's strategy for engaging the nonprofit's 900-plus employees through a progressive career development model.

Wiltshire views development as more nuanced than a vertical ladder. His team has designed job profiles mapped to skills and knowledge that show employees how to get where they want to go—be it via a step up, a move sideways, a pivot back, or even a moment of pause.

That innovative approach enables staff to reflect on their personal values, define their career goals, identify their skills, and ultimately determine which career opportunity is right for them at that time.

My vision is that CTDO magazine creates a community around content that connects leaders with one another. May this resource help you find your tribe, a group of peers in talent development who get it and get you.

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I'd love to hear from you and learn how CTDO has made a difference for you professionally and personally—and how we can make more of a difference.

What column is your favorite? Which author spoke to you? Which topics could we cover more frequently?

Contact me at any time to share how ATD can serve you better.

Read more from CTDO magazine: Essential talent development content for C-suite leaders.

About the Author

Ann Parker is Associate Director, Talent Leader Consortiums at ATD. In this role she drives strategy, product development, and content acquisition for ATD’s senior leader and executive audience. She also oversees business development and program management for ATD's senior leader consortiums, CTDO Next and ATD Forum.

Ann began her tenure at ATD in an editorial capacity, primarily writing for TD magazine as Senior Writer/Editor. In this role she had the privilege to talk to many training and development practitioners, hear from a variety of prominent industry thought leaders, and develop a rich understanding of the profession's content. She then became a Senior Content Manager for Senior Leaders & Executives, focusing on content and product development for the talent executive audience, before moving into her current role.

Ann is a native Pennsylvanian where she currently resides, marathoner, avid writer, baker and eater of sweets, wife to an Ironman, and mother of two.