Training Needs Prioritization

I’m still unlearning habits I picked up in an advancement office nearly twenty years ago. I worked in a high-urgency culture where immediate responses were expected—no matter what time of day. I learned how to type quickly, respond quickly, and act quickly. It brought out my strengths: moving things forward, anticipating needs, and helping others succeed. It also strengthened my potential derailers: I treated everything as urgent. I became indispensable in ways that weren’t sustainable. I tied my value to how quickly I could solve the next problem. Many advancement leaders I work with carry this same pattern. In our work, everything feels urgent. To be clear, our work is important and many things are time-sensitive. When everything is urgent, it becomes harder to see what truly deserves your attention. Now, as I lead my firm, I’m reconsidering my relationship with urgency. What does healthy urgency look like? Urgency has a place in leadership. It doesn't have to be the default. To explore this more intentionally, I've been asking myself—and inviting the advancement executive leaders I advise to ask themselves—three questions: 1. What’s genuinely time-sensitive, and what’s emotionally urgent because I care? Many advancement leaders equate quick responses with commitment. Not everything that feels urgent deserves an immediate response. 2. What’s important—but not urgent—and how can I make space for it? Advancement work is full of immediate needs, competing priorities, and unexpected requests. When you focus solely on the urgent, the strategic work—the work only you can do—gets pushed to the side. Protecting space for what matters long-term is an act of leadership. 3. Is my response moving things forward, or simply proving I’m needed? High performers often become go-to problem solvers. The challenge is that constant responsiveness can unintentionally reinforce dependency. Effective leadership requires moving things forward—but not measuring our value by speed. For advancement executives navigating nonstop urgency, these questions help shift your leadership from reactive to intentional. Leadership growth doesn’t always come from learning something new— Sometimes it comes from unlearning what once made us successful.

Trainers must be more than experts— Here's the secret to delivering impactful training sessions, no matter what comes your way. As a trainer, being prepared for instant changes in the delivery of any concept requires a flexible and adaptive mindset. Here are key strategies to help you stay prepared: 1. Thorough Subject knowledge - 📕 Master the content so well that you can break it down or present it in multiple ways, adapting to the audience’s needs. This will allow you to explain complex ideas in simpler terms or delve deeper if required. 2. Audience Analysis - 🧐 Before the session, understand your audience's knowledge level, learning preferences, and possible challenges. This will help you anticipate where you might need to adjust your delivery. 3. Create a Session Outline - 📝 Have a structured outline that allows for adjustments. Include different examples, analogies, and activities so that you can switch methods if needed. 4. Plan for Flexibility 🧘 - Build in buffer time to the session plan, allowing you to address questions or revisit concepts without rushing. Be prepared to cut less essential content if time constraints arise. 5. Use Interactive Methods 🗣️ - Include interactive methods such as Q&A, group discussions, or problem-solving activities. These allow you to gauge understanding and shift the delivery based on immediate feedback. 6. Technology Familiarity - 🧑💻 Know the tools and platforms you are using so you can quickly adapt, whether it’s changing slides, moving between resources, or using multimedia to reinforce concepts. 7. Stay Calm and Confident ☺️ - If a change in delivery is necessary, remain calm and composed. Confidence reassures the audience, and maintaining a positive attitude will help you navigate unexpected changes smoothly. 8. Prepare Backup Plans 🖋️ - Have alternative examples, exercises, or activities ready in case the original approach does not resonate with the group. 9. Stay Current 🏃 - Keep up with the latest trends, tools, and methods in training and your field of expertise. This allows you to bring fresh perspectives and solutions to any spontaneous situation. 10. Gather Feedback ✍️ - After a session, ask for feedback to understand where adjustments were successful or where improvements are needed. This helps in refining your ability to adapt in future sessions. Being prepared for changes is about blending preparation with flexibility and having the confidence to switch gears when necessary. #confidence #trainthetrainer #training #softskills #leadership #communication #learning

You’ve been doing phishing simulations all wrong. I’ve had countless meeting with people talking about their click rate and gauging their human risk based on it. Some were scared, some were quite pleased with their results. Most were wrong. Click rate is irrelevant if you don’t take into account the difficulty level of the attack. I mean, I could easily send a series of phishing emails with decreasing difficulty over the course of 6 months to show you the amazing progress you’ve done thanks to our Phishing Training SaaS. Cool graph, great report. Click rate without any understanding of the difficulty is a vanity metric. So, how do we fix this? Quantifying difficulty isn’t simple but there are initiatives out there that help grade difficulty. Proactively — rating difficulty before the actual campaign gather results — my two favorite frameworks would be : 1/ the NIST’s PhishScale is a great initiative with a decent level of research and documentation 2/ Arun Vishwanath’s approach in The Weakest Link that provides both a level of guidance to craft emails but also a way to internally judge perceived difficulty, relative to the organization current maturity. Reactively — rating the difficulty after the actual campaign — is a good way to cluster employees based on results. Identify who’s deviating high and low of the average results and based on the number of people in each category, try to understand the difficulty level they’ve been facing. These approach aren’t incompatible by the way and the more you know and understand cohorts and their behavior, the better you can train them. It necessitates good tools (hint: Arsen Cybersecurity) and a little bit of elbow grease — good software can only take you so far but you can step up your game. Keep training ;) #phishing #awareness #cyberecurity

In many sports settings, training load management remains reactive, adjusting after spikes, injuries, or signs of fatigue. But as schedules tighten and demands increase, a reactive-only approach is no longer enough. Shifting to proactive load management means anticipating stressors before they accumulate: projecting training and match loads across a season, accounting for fixture congestion, travel, life stressors, and planning with both performance and athlete welfare in mind. Using data thoughtfully allows teams to forecast high-risk periods and adjust training accordingly. This doesn’t eliminate risk, but helps balance stimulus, recovery, and readiness more intelligently. And of course, adjustments can still be made in response to what emerges. As the demands on athletes grow, load management should shift from being solely reactive to more proactive in high-performance sport.

What if your customer-facing team solved the problem… before the customer even called? Sounds a bit utopian? Actually it's not. Most teams spring into action when things to go wrong. Only a few design systems to keep them from going wrong in the first place. Guess which ones customers love more? 😊 Let’s face it. Firefighting is an integral part of life for most service teams. A problem pops up. The customer is already frustrated. And your team scrambles to fix it. It is a cycle. It drains your team, burns budgets, and slowly chips away at customer trust. In one of my recent sessions, a customer service manager told me this: "By the time we get to the customer, they are already disillusioned. Some have already decided to leave us." That’s what reactive service does. It pushes customers to the edge. Every ticket that lands in your inbox costs you something. Time. Morale. Reputation. And when you solve only what’s visible, you're missing what's brewing silently - renewals not initiated, warranties not tracked, usage dropping quietly. By the time you notice, it's too late. In sports parlance, start playing offence. Not defence. Here is a simple framework that you might find useful: 🌞 FIND – Identify the patterns. Look at service logs, product usage, customer behaviour. 🌞 FLAG – Set up alerts for anomalies and drop-offs. 🌞 NUDGE – Remind, guide or offer help before a problem shows up. 🌞 ACT – Fix what is fixable. Automate what is repeatable. 🌞 CLOSE THE LOOP – Let the customer know you were watching their back. This is actually not tech-heavy. But it is mindset-heavy. Proactive care is all about building a better organizational habit. But it starts with the mindset. The best service experiences are the ones that don't feel like service - because they are smooth, silent, and seamless. Let's make service proactive, thoughtful and heartful. ❤️ Repost this for someone who might find it useful. ♻️ #customerservice #serviceexcellence #customerexperience

In my early days in the SOC, I was in constant firefighting mode: Alert → Investigate → Close ticket → Repeat. It felt productive, but something was missing. I was catching threats, sure — but always after they’d already triggered something. Then I learned the difference between being reactive and being proactive. Proactive SOC analysts: Hunt threats before alerts fire Tune detection rules based on trends, not just incidents Ask questions like: “Why did this get missed?” “What log are we not seeing?” “Is this a gap or a blind spot?” Here’s what changed for me: 1. I started hunting outside of my shift time, just to practice 2. I reviewed old incidents to look for patterns or gaps 3. I shadowed senior analysts to learn how they think 4. I kept notes on every tricky case — and shared them with the team The result? Not only did I become faster at handling alerts — I started preventing some of them from happening again. And that’s the evolution: From being a ticket closer to being a threat anticipator. In cybersecurity, prevention isn’t just technology. It’s mindset. It’s curiosity. It’s stepping beyond what’s expected — and asking, “What can I do better next time?” If you’re in a SOC and feeling stuck in the alert loop: You’re already good enough. Now go one step further. Be the reason an alert never fires. #CyberSecurity #SOCAnalyst #BlueTeam #ProactiveDefense #ThreatHunting #DetectionEngineering #MindsetShift #DailyPost #CyberGrowth

Too many learning designers obsess over learning goals. But learning goals alone don’t drive results. A goal without a plan is a wish. A plan without habits is a dead end. If you’re not designing for execution, you’re designing for failure. What you need is a GPS. 📍 Goal = Your Destination (Where are we going?) 🗺 Plan = Your Route (How do we get there?) 🔁 Systems = Your Driving Habits (What keeps us moving forward?) Without all three, learning gets off track. Here’s how to make them work together: STEP 1: Set a Clear Goal 📍 A goal defines success. It answers: What should the learner achieve at the end? What doesn't work: ❌ "Improve digital literacy" (What does that even mean?) ❌ "Complete compliance training" (Nobody cares) ❌ "Learn leadership skills" (Too vague to be useful) Instead, give your learners real destinations: ✅ "Build and launch a working website for your side project by next month" ✅ "Prevent a data breach by identifying the top 3 security risks in your daily work" ✅ "Lead your first team meeting using our new decision-making framework" 👉 WHAT TO DO: Write your learning goal using this formula: "By the end of this course, learners will be able to [specific skill or outcome]." STEP 2: Create a Realistic Plan 🗺 A learning plan without milestones is like a road trip without rest stops – it leads to burnout and abandonment. Your plan should include: - A structured learning path (What concepts come first? What builds on them?) - Delivery methods (Instructor-led, self-paced, hands-on?) Milestones & check-ins (How do you track progress?) 💡 Example Plan for a Web Development Course: Week 1: HTML Basics (text, images, links) Week 2: CSS Fundamentals (styling, layouts) Week 3: Hands-on Project (Build a personal site) Week 4: Peer review & iteration 👉 WHAT TO DO: Start with the final assessment or project, then reverse-engineer your learning plan. Plan for failure. Build recovery routes and alternative paths. Your learners will thank you. STEP 3: Build Supporting Systems 🔁 Here's where the rubber meets road. Systems aren't sexy, but they separate success from wishful thinking. 💡 Example Habits for Learners: Reflect after each lesson (Journaling habit) Apply skills in small, real-world tasks (Practice habit) Engage in discussion forums (Community habit) 👉 WHAT TO DO: Pick 2–3 small habits to reinforce learning effectiveness. STEP 4: Track & Adjust 📐 A great plan still needs real-time tracking to adjust the course. - Completion Rates – Are learners dropping off? Where? - Knowledge Checks – Are they grasping key concepts? - Engagement Metrics – Are they interacting with content/peers? - Post-Course Outcomes – Are they applying what they learned? 💡 Example: If learners struggle in Week 2, add a quick video explainer or hands-on exercise before moving forward. 👉 WHAT TO DO: Use a simple feedback loop: Observe → Adjust → Test → Repeat. So before launching your next course, ask yourself: "Is my GPS in place?"

After nearly a year of drafting, testing, and iterating, I'm thrilled to share the full L&D Maturity Model with you all. This brand new maturity model doesn’t just map out five relatable levels of L&D maturity (from order-taker to business game-changer) - it shows you where you are and how to progress. Let me provide a brief overview of the levels: Reactive – Training on demand Taking orders, running compliance and responding to requests. No strategy, no real impact. Fix it: Stop asking, “What training do you need?” and start asking, “What’s the real problem?” Proactive – Building a learning catalogue Programs, platforms, subscriptions - it looks and smells like an L&D function but without business alignment, it can’t lead to measurable impact. Fix it: Shift focus from content to capability-building at key moments in the employee journey. Impacting – Supporting the employee journey You’re aligning learning to the employee journey, but success is still measured in engagement, not outcomes. Fix it: Define success by business metrics, not just learning metrics. Strategic – Driving business performance L&D is aligned to the business strategy and planned for impact. This can feel like where you should be. But are you shaping the future or just responding to others’ plans? Fix it: Move from alignment to anticipation. Start mapping skills and aim for internal mobility. Transformative – Enabling workforce agility The holy grail. L&D isn’t just supporting change - it’s driving it. Skills, data, and business priorities are fully integrated. Fix it: Keep demonstrating impact, challenge outdated perceptions of L&D, and embed development into workflows. Where does your team sit? Find out and assess your L&D team today across 7 different themes with the L&D Maturity Model: https://bit.ly/4ikXiRA

Most schools get curriculum training wrong. Here's how to fix it: Schools spend thousands on new curriculum, but here’s what usually happens: Teachers sit through a one-day training before school starts. They get a thick teacher’s guide that no one has time to read. By October, most are picking and choosing what to use. By January, the curriculum is barely recognizable. This isn’t a teacher problem. It’s a training problem. If you want a new curriculum to actually improve student outcomes, here’s how to do it right: 1. Teach the Why First If teachers don’t understand why this curriculum is better, they won’t commit to it. Start by making the case: - What research is behind it? - What student gaps will it help close? - How will it make their job easier, not harder? 2. Focus on Execution, Not Just Exposure A single sit-and-get PD won’t cut it. Training should be: - Ongoing: Built into PLCs, coaching, and planning time. - Practice-Based: Teachers should practice lessons and get feedback. - Modeled: Leaders and coaches should show what strong instruction looks like in execution and planning. 3. Build a Playbook for Intellectual Prep Great execution starts with great preparation. Schools should: - Create unit and lesson planning protocols. - Set clear expectations for lesson internalization. - Provide exemplars of strong student work so teachers know what success looks like. 4. Protect Time for Teachers to Collaborate No teacher should be figuring out a new curriculum alone. Schools should: - Schedule regular co-planning time. - Pair teachers up to internalize lessons together, including video review of how the curriculum looks in execution. - Ensure strong modeling from lead teachers and coaches. Choosing the right curriculum is only half the battle. How you train teachers to use it determines whether it actually improves student learning.

“Train-the-trainers” (TTT) is one of the most common methods used to scale up improvement & change capability across organisations, yet we often fail to set it up for success. A recent article, drawing on teacher professional development & transfer-of-training research, argues TTT should always be based on an “offer-and-use” model: OFFER: what the programme provides—facilitator expertise, session design, practice opportunities, feedback, follow-up support & evaluation. USE: what participants do with those opportunities—what they notice, how they make sense of it, how much they engage, what they learn, & whether they apply it in real work. How to design TTT that works & sticks: 1. Design for real-world use: Clarify the practical outcome - what trainers should do differently in their next sessions & what that should improve for the organisation. Plan beyond the classroom with post-course support so people can apply learning. Space learning over time rather than delivering it in one intensive block, because spacing & follow-ups support sustained use. 2. Use strong facilitators: Select facilitators who know the topic & how adults learn, how groups work & how to give useful feedback. Ensure they teach “how to make this stick at work” (apply & sustain practices), not only “how to deliver a session.” 3. Make practice central: Build the programme around realistic rehearsal: deliver, get feedback, & practise again until skills become automatic. Use participants’ real scenarios (especially change situations) to strengthen transfer. Include safe practice for difficult moments (challenge, unexpected questions) & treat mistakes as learning. Build peer learning so participants learn with & from each other, not just the facilitator. 4. Prepare participants to succeed: Assess what participants already know & can do, then tailor the learning. Build confidence to use skills at work (confidence predicts application). Help each person create a simple, specific plan for when & how they will use the approaches in their next training sessions. 5. Ensure workplace transfer support: Enable quick application (opportunities to deliver training soon after the course), plus time & resources to do it well. Provide ongoing support (feedback, coaching, & encouragement) from leaders, peers &/or the wider organisation. 6. Evaluate what matters: Go beyond satisfaction scores - assess whether trainers changed their practice & whether this improved outcomes for learners & the organisation. Use findings to improve the next iteration as a continuous improvement cycle, not a one-off event. https://lnkd.in/eJ-Xrxwm. By Prof. Dr. Susanne Wisshak & colleagues, sourced via John Whitfield MBA