ELC Training Solutions
In-Company Training & Development Specialists
Leap Experiences
A leap experience is a high risk, high reward learning strategy that can be utilised to develop high talent individuals. It involves exposing them to a new skill area that is outside their comfort zone and beyond their previous experience. This is achieved via a targeted work assignment or project, often relating to a change or innovation area for the business.
The primary risk of leap experience is that the individual will fail, lose confidence, become demotivated and possibly, cause damage to the business. However, the reward of a successful leap experience is that the individual goes through a steep learning curve and is able to take on additional projects and advanced work assignments, providing significantly increased value to the organisation.
Before embarking on a leap experience it is imperative to ensure that the person involved has the underlying talent to succeed with the planned work assignment. Primarily, this means assessing their personality, character traits and disposition against the demands of the work assignment. It also involves ensuring that they are able to handle an experiential learning style, that they are sufficiently resourceful to ask the right questions and find the answers independently, together with an ability to assess their own progress and find pragmatic solutions to problems they encounter that fit with the bigger picture.
There are also risks attached to a successful leap experience. Having been challenged, often at an extreme level, how will the person cope if they are asked to resume more mundane duties? What plans are in place to ensure their new knowledge and skills are fully utilised? Will their line manager and peers feel threatened by them and what interpersonal or motivational issues will this raise?
A leap experience then, has to be carefully planned and well targeted. Consideration must be given to what will happen to the individual upon successful completion of the work assignment in order to utilise their new skills and knowledge as well as how to continue challenging and stretching them. Additionally, one has to consider how to support them throughout the project and make provision for some level of career counselling in the event of a failed leap experience.
At the Experiential Learning Centre we are able to assist you with planning and implementing targeted leap experiences for high talent individuals as well as helping with a suitability assessment in the first instance. We are also able to create bespoke experiential learning events which in themselves can form mini leap experiences or we can make coaching interventions during the experiential process.
Leap experiences are a high risk, high reward learning strategy for high talent individuals. We invite you to work with us to harness the development of your talent pool. Please contact us to discuss your requirements in more detail.
