Two weeks ago I was in Hong Kong for our annual learning and development conference. This is where we pull together all of our L&D talent from across the company. Despite having 28,000 employees in 36 countries, our formal L&D talent is only thirteen people. Outside of that we rely on local leaders and subject matter experts to conduct training.
During the week, I reflected on how fortunate I am to work with such a talented and passionate team of people. While most of us do not work together on a daily or even weekly basis, we form a network who help achieve our mission of building the company’s talent.
What I especially like is how our team has quickly established norms that allow for a high level of psychological safety (see the Google re:work page on this) – there is lots of sharing and also lots of nurturance. People genuinely care about each other and there is a lot of caring.
Coming out of that week of meetings, I felt a stronger sense of being supported. More people who can give feedback and help me think about leadership development, which is my area of responsibility. It’s so refreshing to work in this type of environment and feel that way.
christao408 
I almost didn’t even see you in that pic, Chris. It’s so rare to hear people say they like their job, let alone with passion.
I’m the support guy hiding in the shadows
I am so happy for you Chris. I am hoping that you will continue to do extremely well with your company and the various groups that you come in contact with.
Now, I want Matt to have a similar experience in Toronto.
Thank you Zakiah! *hugs*
This is awesome and I love the feeling of being supported. While my expertise is not in leadership development, I’ve seen how poor leaders can poison a company’s climate and culture. I had an exec that just screamed at us during our first meeting with her. She launched into a tirade and kept going on for 30 mins. But that’s the past. I learned what not to do from her.
Keep spreading your knowledge across your network.
The sad thing is, you can learn a lot from negative examples. Unfortunately, many people learn the wrong things.
i see a familar face there, other than yours.