Author Archive

Action learning; these words made me curious. As a person who loves action as well as learning I didn’t have to think twice about participating in the action learning course I was invited to by EMORA, Twan Paes, The Netherlands. I am a vice-principal of a primary school with 540 children including an after school care, with a total of 40 colleagues. I was motivated to learn more about AL. As a leader and former teacher my heart goes out to increasing the knowledge and talent that the people and children I work with have within. Read More
When Southland Industries contacted Dr. Charles Tweedly, from Pine Manor College, to design a leadership development program, he proposed an Action Learning-based approach that combined learning labs, assessments and individual coaching over a one year period to assure real-world, sustainable results. The collaboration between Dr. Tweedly and Southland generated a new program called AL2: Agile Leadership through Action Learning. This case study describes the program and its impact on the participants and the company. Read More
When the WIAL newsletter editor asked me if I would write about the connection between Action Learning and the Ambidextrous Organization (AO) I became excited. The reason was because the principles of Action Learning are ubiquitous in the AO, they’re everywhere! I might even go as far as to speculate that if one were to model an organization and its objectives after the Action Learning model and principles they might end up with a specific kind of Ambidexterity, contextual ambidexterity. Let’s take a look at some specific ways in which Action Learning supports the Ambidextrous Organization. Read More
Two methodologies are in focus: Appreciative Inquiry and Action Learning. In this article, we explore beyond the leadership competencies and examine the opportunities that may arise when we sequence these seemingly ‘opposing’ methodologies in a leadership development framework. Dancing with the seemingly polarized world is the way to handle uncertainty – AL (problem-centered) and AI (strengths-focused) are seemingly opposing each other philosophically, yet unleashes power from their synergy as instruments for change and growth, as much as Yin and Yang for our universal order. Read More
Boston a Brasil, de Finlandia a Tokio, empresas tan diversas como Samsung, Dow, GE, Deutsche Bank y Boeing comparten una poderosa herramienta de aprendizaje en el lugar de trabajo: la Formación a través de la acción. Han creado miles de nuevos productos y servicios, han mejorado su calidad, han reducido los costos y los plazos de entrega, y han introducido cambios fundamentales en la cultura de sus organizaciones liberando el poder de la Formación a través de la Acción. ha surgido rápidamente como la principal herramienta utilizada por organizaciones como Sodexho, Novartis y Nokia para resolver problemas. Read More
The Covid-19 global pandemic is showing no signs of abating, half a year after the virus first reared its ugly head in China before spreading rapidly to literally every corner of the world. The resulting deep recession presents an existential threat to many companies and leaders need to rally their people to help their organisations face difficult months and years that lie ahead. In this process of fighting for survival and recovery, organisations need to make problem-solving a way of life to respond to both internal and external challenges. Read More
As Action Learning Coaches in an action learning session, one of our objectives has always been to guide and support the learning of the team members. Learning can be achieved through many ways and the action learning coach has a range of methods and skillsets to bring about that learning within the team. We use the power of questions, the keen eye of observation, the lenses of neutrality, the presence of sensory acuity, and the action learning process to support individual and team learning. I have reviewed many reflection and application papers submitted by candidates as part of their certification process. Read More
Action Learning constituted the core methodology in the design of an organisation-wide development programme held during January 2020 at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) in Belize. It is a CARICOM agency based in Belize, which collects and maintains the highest quality data and information relevant to climate change compatible development of CARICOM member countries.The CCCCC is reviewing the impact of Action Learning and considering how it may continue to apply this process in the future. Read More
Changan Ford is a famous Chinese automobile company. The company has a 100-year history beginning in Changan, China. By now, they have plants in Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Facing the future, the company decided to build an energetic business to achieve comprehensive profitable growth. Changan Ford grew rapidly in the past years. In 2012, the company started applying Action Learning to support the growing business. At that time, the company had about 5,000 employees. Read More
When Auchan Retail contacted the La Rochelle Business School, it was clear they had a lot of challenges on the horizon. Just as any other global retailer, they are faced with high pressure on market shares and sales, changes in consumer habits, lower profitability and increasing prices for real estate. When the company leadership developed a new strategy to deal with these challenges, they also realized the need for more leadership at all levels of the organization and more collaboration across the different business units. They decided to pilot a new approach in Ukraine. Read More
STOP is an NGO that has been combating trafficking of children and women in India since 1998. STOP rescues, repatriates and rehabilitates survivors of human trafficking back into society through services like trauma counseling, psychological support, education, and vocational training. Koshish is a self-help group supported by STOP, comprised of survivors of trafficking and young adults from vulnerable communities. Koshish trains women in food catering, cooking, nursing, sewing, and other skills to overcome economic odds and live dignified lives with gainful employment. Read More
China Southern Airlines Company Limited is an airline headquartered in Guangdong Province, China. It is the world’s fourth-largest airline measured by passengers carried and Asia’s largest airline in fleet size, revenue, and passengers carried. It is the fourth-largest airline in the world in domestic passenger traffic and the sixth-largest in scheduled domestic passenger kilometers flown. With the development and changes in the domestic market and global environment, China Southern Airlines redefined its strategic direction- to step out for globalization. Read More
“Infinitus Ltd” is one of the core brands of “South Lee Kum Kee Co Ltd.”, and is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Lee Kum Kee Hong Kong Group. The company specifically engaged in development and sales of herbal health products. Since established in 1992, with “mutual benefits” as the core value, Infinitus committed to the entrepreneurial spirit of “caring, cooperation & pioneer”, pragmatic management style, and the historic mission of carrying forward Chinese culture, creating a balanced, prosperous, harmonious and healthy life. Read More
Let me start by openly admitting that this short article is definitely not a scholarly attempt to delve into the depths of coaching theory and engage in great academic discourse. It is simply my attempt to provide some hopefully useful, probably challenging and ideally thought-provoking perspectives on the rapidly evolving world of professional coaching. The article is based on what I’ve learned from all the individuals and teams I’ve coached over decades, the knowledge and insights gained from various professional qualifications, the profound learning from wonderful fellow professionals, my development journey as a MALC. Read More
Research from, among others, at Google and by Dr. Edmonson at Harvard shows that High Performing Teams function better. And from sports, it is known that working in connection to a common goal leads to energy and unexpected results and innovations. Teams are more innovative and achieve better results because they have a higher degree of psychological safety than less successful teams. Because of this, they dare to make more mistakes, to discuss ignorance and uncertainty with the intention to share information together, to learn from this, to experiment, and to grow. Read More