Leadership Development Online – Fact or Fiction?

Many of the free webinars released as a response to the crisis have been valuable. But I think we are all about ready for the next step up.

Before social distancing, why did senior leaders invest so much time in talking face-to-face with a diverse set of peers, sharing their challenges and ideas? Because offsites, seminars and workshops provided rare opportunities for reflection, stimulated by thought–leaders, original content and the fresh, new perspective that outsiders often bring to our well-worn turf.

Most online offerings provide great content. But a webinar you can listen to while preparing lunch will almost certainly fail to deliver the social experience and emotional impact that’s baked into those physical gatherings.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Online learning can build communities of enquiry and practice and create space for emotional engagement. It is no fiction that leaders need virtual exec ed experiences that are rich, rewarding, purposefully designed to expand networks, contextualise challenges and re-ignite their thinking. The hard fact is, they need it now more than ever.