Purposeful Leadership Transformation
Leadership is key. HR professionals know the concept is fundamental to many parts of a business. That includes learning. But how does a HR professional practice a learning strategy through leadership? Jim Trinka, PhD is the Chief Learning Officer for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Information and Technology.
Leadership is key. HR professionals know the concept is fundamental to many parts of a business. That includes learning. But how does a HR professional practice a learning strategy through leadership? Jim Trinka, PhD is the Chief Learning Officer for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Information and Technology.
His department uses it to build collaboration.
First, Trinka said you have to define what leadership looks like. He does so in the following way:
- There are four levels of leaders: Emerging Leader, Frontline Leader, Senior Leader, and Executive Leader
- Each level is tied to a theme for the leaders to master and build upon as they develop (e.g., Leading Self)
- Learning events are aligned across the levels and include a mix of corporate and executive training as well as project-based learning opportunities
- Each learning event is designed to support VA employees become leaders and agents of change
“I call it purposeful leadership development, because it has to be very, very closely aligned to the strategy of the organization. People always say that, you know, learning strategy has to be aligned with the strategy of the organization, but this is actually taking it to another level,” Trinka said. “I take it to another level by saying my leadership development creates the environment where we figure out how to implement, sustain and evolve the Office of Information Technology (OIT) transformation.”
From there, leaders learn how to collaborate with their teams for astonishing results. Here are just a few of the programs Trinka’s department has created as a result.
