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
Where people are involved, there will always be new ways of looking at things or desires to make changes to deal with new circumstances. Change is all around, whether we like it or not. Many look at change with trepidation because they do no longer know what the future will look like. One group can see a situation as a problem while another sees it as an opportunity. The question is how a team answers the questions that arise from the situation and turn these into success. That is not always easy because both rational and emotional elements are involved. In this article, Twan Paes explains how the Action Learning process holds the keys to successfully dealing with change. Read More
The Action Learning process goes beyond the numbers. A balance between facts and emotions ensures success and growth. Paes: ‘Be aware this is a symbiosis. Enjoy the challenge of working with both the upperstream and undercurrent. Too often the focus is on the upperstream. If you only pay attention to the undercurrent, you’ll end up with happy losers. Therefore, pay the same attention to both the upperstream and undercurrent.’ Paes adds: ‘Why I got involved with Action Learning ? I find the role of Action Learning very rewarding. Read More
As a base to Corporate Innovation, we believe that creating a new cultural environment by experimenting with new design experiences connected with the startup ecosystem while mixing people from different departments, creates a culture that encourages cooperation, rewards creativity, and fosters “Psychological Safety” in the workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Therefore, once the main problem or challenge is brought to the surface, working groups dynamics are recommended to deep dive, in a trustful and respectful environment, what the real problem is. Read More
On becoming certified as an action learning coach, I saw potential in using action learning to advance the diversity and inclusion (D&I) agenda in organizations through the development of inclusive behaviors and the fresh approach to addressing business challenges. As a committed advocate of providing a level playing field, the immediate benefits of action learning were clear to me. Two years on, four cohorts of D&I professionals have experienced action learning.Inclusive Employers (a membership organisation promoting diverse and inclusive workplaces) launched the first D&I professional qualification in the UK. Read More
Action learning, since its inception in the 1940’s with Reg Revans’ work in the coal mines of Wales and England, has been used extensively as an effective problem- solving methodology. It is only more recently, however, that action learning has become a popular tool for developing leaders. What has caused this recent turn to action learning for leadership development? Foremost is the fact that organizations worldwide are faced with the growing challenge of increasing the capabilities of their leaders with less time and fewer financial resources. Read More
I took part in a certified Action Learning training of the first Polish group. My expectations about the training were high and met by 150%. Why 150%? Because I got more than I expected. I assumed that the training would show me a new method and I would be professionally prepared to use it and this expectation was met. I did not, however, expect that Action Learning could have such a deep application and impact on several levels at the same time- it really works like this. Individual benefits from my participation include intense reflection and broadening my self-awareness about my strengths and areas for improvement. Read More
Eletrobras, the largest electricity company in Latin America has been using the Action Learning methodology with the support WIAL-Brazil since 2013. Until now, Eletrobras has carried out 12 Action Learning sessions to solve a diverse set of problems. Alberto Wajzenberg, manager of the company’s Department of Organization Development, explains that the methodology is used in the “context of continuous improvement, in order to identify and analyze problems, whilst at the same time promoting behavioral and development changes in people.” Read More
It was not a coincidence that all 12 directors of Florente primary schools followed the Action Learning Coach training. For the third time, a number of schools will train their own people under the responsibility of Hans Ploeg as director, in collaboration with Twan Paes and WIAL Netherlands. Last summer, Twan and I made preparations together to provide this training in-house. Training and educating your own people requires extra thorough preparation. Hans Ploeg (director of Florente primary schools) has been active as SALC for several years and sees a lot of learning benefits for education if Action Learning is used effectively. Read More
Today I had six full hours of virtual meetings. Some were on Zoom, some WhatsApp, some Microsoft Teams. Others just used standard telephone conferencing. Whatever the technology, the impact was the same: I spent a lot of time sitting at my desk listening, while I wrote in my notebook and stared at my screen or out my office window. I like to think I’m a good remote worker. After a decade of remote working at Microsoft and nearly five years as an independent consultant, I certainly have many years of practice. Read More
WIAL Brazil used Action Learning as a blended solution (Action Learning plus individual coaching meetings) to develop leadership skills for an executive director and his team of six direct reports in the automotive industry, listed in Fortune 500. The team is in charge of the Logistics Department, responsible for strategies in Supply Chain and economic results for the plant. “Listening to different perspectives through questions shed light onto the problem and therefore the solution became clear.” Read More
As Action Learning coaches, we intervene when we see learning opportunities or to improve the performance of the group. Deciding when and how to intervene can be tricky. We must pick the right moments, role model powerful questioning, and really consider the impact we want to have through the interventions we make. When I’m coaching, there are certain dynamics I really watch for where I know the group may need extra support. One such situation is when someone asks a question to the rest of the group, particularly when the questioner is the problem presenter. Read More