University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Leaders as Teachers
Book

Leaders as Teachers

Unlock the Teaching Potential of Your Company's Best and Brightest

Edward Betof
ASTD Publications, 2009
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

The best football teams do not park their star players on the bench. Your top executives are your star players. Now, make them play ball: Deploy their expertise by involving them in teaching and training. Learning expert Edward Betof describes how companies can create “leaders-as-teachers” programs, sharing the knowledge of their senior executives, top managers and in-house experts, and, thus, fully benefiting from their top people’s expertise and savvy. Having served for 10 years as chief learning officer for Becton, Dickinson and Company, a leading medical technology company, Betof speaks with an insider’s informed perspective. He made this program work in the trenches. getAbstract believes his book is well suited for learning and development officers, and for others who want to put teaching and learning at the core of their companies’ success.

Summary

BD University: Where Leaders Teach

In 1999, senior executives at Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), a medical technology firm, faced a major challenge. To meet their future objectives for the company, these leaders realized they had to “spend more time developing people” with enhanced training. That meant increasing their executives’ capabilities and mustering them as volunteer teachers.

The firm committed to transforming itself into “a teaching organization and a learning organization.” In 2000, Edward J. Ludwig, an enthusiastic proponent of this new venture, became the company’s CEO. He and his executive team planned and developed a new “face-to-face learning” program. Its crown jewel, BD University (BDU), teaches sales, leadership, “business skills” and “operational effectiveness,” among other subjects. More than 500 of the firm’s executives have earned certification as “leader-teachers,” and more than 50,000 students have received training. Teaching methods vary from classroom sessions to various “technology-enabled resources.” This “leaders-as-teachers” approach makes sense for any firm for six reasons:

  1. “Helping to drive business...

About the Author

Edward Betof is the director of the University of Pennsylvania’s doctoral program for chief learning officers. He was vice president and chief learning officer at Becton, Dickinson and Company, and a member of the American Society for Training and Development board.

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