Take the Order, But...
Sometimes you need to take and deliver on a request (order), but it doesn't need to end there.
In my last newsletter article, I focused on times when, even though we have our sights set on working as a strategic business partner, we still must take and deliver on a request for training (a.k.a. the order).
Turns out, taking orders is a vital part of the change process for L&D to move from a transactional to a more transformational working partnership with the business.
We can't expect people to buy into our vision and start working differently overnight. We need to create change slowly, starting from where our stakeholders are currently working with us and/or those from our profession.
Add in little pieces of awesome
That means we graciously thank them for coming to us with a request for training. We tell them we are happy to help. But then, as we work with them, we slowly add in little pieces of awesome. Pieces that they didn't know they could expect or even ask of us. We start to show them we can think and work differently, beyond the confines of their traditional perceptions. We add value like crazy and thus, we start the transition to strategic business partner via a process of exceeding their expectations.
Do you remember the old adage, "Wear the clothes for the job you want, not for the job you have"? I'm thinking this saying is likely now outdated in many industries, but the concept is gold.
Work like you are already a strategic business partner
In our context this concept sounds something like this, "Work as if you have achieved your vision, not as if you are stuck in your current role."
Responding as if we are stuck in our current role looks like simply taking and delivering orders. It means we provide value that is limited to the ideas of the stakeholder. This response only perpetuates the order taker narrative. We haven't given anyone a clue that we have value beyond the transactional.
But what if we respond like the strategic business partner in our future vision? How would things change? What would this future partner do differently in this scenario of receiving a request for training? What questions would the strategic business partner ask? What insights would they offer for greater impact? How would they add value to as a learning SME and true partner to the business of this stakeholder?
If it is needed and necessary, take the request. Absolutely take the request. BUT act like a partner in your response and your delivery. Ask the questions a strategic business partner would ask. Add the little pieces of awesome that a strategic business partner would include. Focus on the problems behind the ask. Think about marketing and measurement up front, as a strategic business partner would do. Act like a strategic business partner who has received this very same request now, even before you have officially achieved that status with your stakeholders.
You won't change the perceptions, approaches, or working relationships with others in a day. But you will begin to see some small wins. The stakeholders who asked for the 15-minute e-learning will receive a better product (even if it is a redirect to a job aid) in the end. While you will begin to establish yourself as someone who can do more than check a box.
