Refuel, recharge, and refresh your mind

(upbeat music) (whistling blowing) - Hi, welcome to the Learner Engagement News at five. Wait a minute, breaking news. Across the country, thousands of learning professionals are reporting multiple cases of burn out, running out of energy and lack of new ideas for learning, and complaining of being plain old tired. The outbreak is causing a massive shift in learner engagement and it is now spreading across the globe. We actually have a reporter live, on scene, Jason Mulero, who is going to help us understand, what the heck is going on, Jason. - Yeah, thank you Naphatali. I don't know if you can tell from the studio but it is absolutely pouring boring out here. It's not looking good. I had a chance to catch up with a few learning professionals a few minutes ago and they're reporting losing steam by the second. Just folks roaming without a sense of why they're doing what they're doing and losing motivation. I sure hope they find what they're looking for. This has been Jason, reporting live, from a state of complete pandemonium, back to you. - Just tragic, I don't get it. Do you ever stop to think about why you do what you do? Or better yet, how you are sustaining your daily efforts as an L and D pro? The challenge for us L and D professionals is we give so much. Many of us are running on empty tanks, or tanks with old fuel in them, like washed up learning strategies we've been holding onto for years and then we expect our professional and personal growth just to happen and our learners to stay engaged with our programs and initiatives. The question is, what are you doing to hone your skills everyday? One of my mentors, John C. Maxwell, describes the law of the rubber band as, "Growth stops when you lose the tension "between where you are and where you could be". It's not enough to teach the concept of learning and growth, you have to model it. In order to recharge and refuel, and be ready to add the most value to your learners, I've committed to four ongoing practices I encourage you to commit to as well. Number one, engage your network. In the learning profession, we are all ready and willing to help support each other with ideas, mentoring, coaching, and best practices. There is rarely any hate, just willing hands, ready to support you. Number two, bet on yourself. In order to properly identify and assess skills gaps you need to make sound investments in your own learning and development, whether it be a certification and development workshop or one on one coaching for yourself. Me, personally, every year I make at least one to two significant investments in my own development, no matter the cost, time, or effort required. If you don't invest in yourself, how can you encourage your learners to be engaged enough to do the same? Number three, build your toolkit. Build a toolkit of resources, frameworks, learnings, that allow you to keep up with the current events of the learning world, and keep your eyes out for what is coming down the road, so you can best equip your learners for maximum growth. Make it a habit to stay up to date and sharp, skim key learning articles, blogs, watch a couple videos on YouTube, subscribe to learning communities of like minded people. For example, there are several LinkedIn groups you can join. Chief Learning Officer, and HR Training and Development. You can also check out websites like trainerswarehouse.com, JoshBersin.com, or gartner.com for the latest trends and learning strategies. And finally, number four, fill your tank. A dead battery can't charge a dead battery, nor can you have an illustrious career in learning and development without being disciplined to do what it takes to fill your tank with whatever you need to be the best version of you. In summary, your time is now. Real learner engagement is beyond a slick strategy. It's beyond the classroom, it's beyond using fancy corporate buzzwords. It is about creating an environment, a mindset, that is conducive for lifelong growth. Imagine if you, as an L and D professional, took the time to get better every day. What type of impact could you make on your learners? Do whatever it takes to become the best version of you. Ultimately helping them, your learners, become the best version of themselves. This is Learner Engagement News at five, until next time, keep it real. (upbeat music)