Moving training from out to CLOUT

June 26, 12:28 PMWorkplace Training and Development ExaminerLenn Millbower

In our last article, we discovered that even when leadership is at fault, leadership is in charge and assigns blame. It is the responsibility of training to fully support, engage and partner with leadership. Without an aggressive effort from training, leadership is unlikely to regard training as an ally, an advisor, a solution provider and a force for positive organizational movement.

But how to do this is the challenge. The answer may be contained in the acronym CLOUT©.

CLOUT© is an organizing acronym for the twenty-five habits every learning professional should demonstrate. These habits, organized into five broad buckets that make up the path to CLOUT©, break through old stereotypes and build relevance for learning. These habits are.

In rough mathematical terms, CLOUT© follows a specific formula.

Relationships + Expertise + Focus + Passion = Credibility
Credibility + Transformative solutions = CLOUT!

What follows are the five organizational CLOUT Clusters© and a brief explanation of each.

Cultivate
Your starting point for building CLOUT© with leadership is a focus on the people in your organization. This CLOUT Cluster© focuses on five habits that build relationship skills. Compassion, fairness, humility, likeability and patience help build connectivity with all the members of the organization. With a strong focus on these habits you can foster an environment in which your opinions can be heard.

Learn
Relationship skills build likeability but may not lead you to job specific respect that flows from subject matter expertise. This CLOUT Cluster© examines learning habits, including curiosity, knowledge, listening, mentorship and reflection, that transform the organization’s opinion of the learning team from expendable to recommendable, from employees to experts, from support to partner.

Organize
Likeability and knowledge without control is like a raging torrent of water without a riverbed: all energy and no direction. CLOUT Cluster© Three focuses on the organizational and business skills that can help you perform work effectively once you master the specifics of business savvy, consistency, efficiency, focus and initiative. By developing organizational habits, you place yourself in a position to deliver solutions with a speed that the dynamics of our world demands.

Unite
The habits in this CLOUT Cluster© are those that focus on adaptability, cooperation, communication, dedication and passion. Relationships, expertise and organizational skills may position you in the arena but can produce results at odds with the needs of leadership. Only when you believe fully and act totally in concert with the values of your organization can you become a true partner in alignment with leadership. Every organization’s leaders confront enough challenges without worrying about the allegiance of the learning team. When you habitually unite with leadership – and have developed your relationship, expertise and organizational habits – you place yourself in the position of respected counselor.

Transform
Once you have cultivated people, honed your craft, organized your work and become one with your organization, the next step is to apply learning to the needs of leadership. It is here that an environment of trust between learning and leadership is sufficiently built to move from support to partner. As a full partner, you have placed yourself in a position to effectively apply courage, creativity, decisiveness, honesty and insight to move your organization towards the positive outcomes you want to see. If these habits are applied correctly, you can solve the organizational issues leadership knows about AND uncover and fix issues they were not aware they even had. You will then become leadership’s hero.

Who trains trainers?
The Encartia World English Dictionary describes a habit as a n action or pattern of behavior that is repeated so often that it becomes typical of somebody, although he or she may be unaware of it. If you believe that definition, it behooves you to develop the behavioral habits of a learning professional. They may not be unconscious at first, but with steady focus, they can be as automatic as riding a bike.

An effective learning career requires much more than simply teaching others: it requires that trainers train themselves. If you wish to be popular, powerful and promotable, use CLOUT© as a roadmap for honing your training team’s skills. You can then transform learning from out to CLOUT©!