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SoundviewPro

 

How it Feels to Launch an Online Course

by adminon January 17, 2014 in Uncategorized tagged , , , , , , , , , with 3 Comments
SoundviewPro Course Library

This week, SoundviewPro launched its massive open online course (MOOCs) program. It’s always exciting to be part of something new, progressive and rapidly expanding. I am honoured to be one of the first twenty instructors to provide leadership coaching in this format.

One of my goals for 2014 is to provide more change support globally. SoundviewPro enables business people from around the world, including people who travel, to access learning wherever and whenever they need it. The thought of someone watching my course on a smart phone 3,000 miles away is as global as it gets. 

I designed the course to enable the flexibility that SoundviewPro provides. I put a lot of thought into the course structure so that people could easily access the content they needed most. Just like managing change, learning is not always linear.

Marshall Goldsmith Explains the Program

My fellow instructors are all highly accomplished and expert in their field.  I was pleased to see that I had connections with a couple of them. Marshall Goldsmith, esteemed leadership coach and best-selling author, was the keynote speaker at the HRANS Conference I presented at in June. Also, I had written a guest blog for Dan Figliuolo’s top-rated thoughtLEADERS blog. I will be introducing myself to all other instructors to learn of their experiences.

It was good to read the course description a few months after the course was filmed. Here are some of the things people will learn:

Course Outline
  • How to understand the connection between people and change
  • Why confidence is an essential change agent
  • The seven keys to lead a successful change initiative
  • Five areas to discover what you will bring to the change project
  • The four phases of any change initiative 
  • How to prevent the post-change return to the “old ways” of working 
The introduction video captures the tone of my session. While filming, I thought of myself as a trusted coach who was sharing practical tips and approaches to manage change well. I wanted to arm the learner with what he or she needed to navigate the uncertainty and ambiguity that comes with change, to be their guide when things were unclear. 

So how does it feel to launch an on-line course? It feels really good. I look forward to reading learners’ review on the site. What did people value most? What insights, how-to activities and watch-outs were most helpful? In this way, it feels similar to when Change with Confidence was published last year; it feels both anticipatory and exciting.

Now it’s time to get the word out. I would appreciate you letting me know what you think of the course and passing it on to anyone who might benefit from building their skill, behaviour and confidence to be their best in times of ambiguity and change.

Thanks for your help,
Phil

 

Life is Best When You Are Ahead of the Curve

by adminon November 15, 2013 in Uncategorized tagged , , , , , , with 2 Comments
Preparing for a Journey

I wasn’t sure how my week would begin when I landed in Philadelphia last Sunday night. I was there to film a course call Building Your Change Capability for Soundview Executive Book Summaries.

Soundview had awarded Change with Confidence “30 Best Business Books of 2013” status earlier this year and had created both Executive Summary and audio versions of my book – a huge honour. They also hosted a webinar with me in June that was a great experience.
Andrew, Executive Editor and
Ursula, Director of Business Dev.
In August, Ursula and Andrew approached me about a new product offering called SoundviewPro launching in January. It is a series of online courses by their authors that stream to subscribers’ computers, tablets and smart phones.
The invitation intrigued me. Online courses, called MOOCs (massive open online courses) is a hot trend in leadership development and I wanted to be a part of it. Doing so with a progressive and enthusiastic partner was even better.
I started writing my course a month before the shoot. I thoroughly researched the format, educating myself on consumer style preferences and the elements of engaging content. A successful course needed both. 
My biggest challenge was creating a narrative arc across all ‘classes’ to provide viewers with insights on change and a map of the phases of a big change project. I  spent the last two weekends creating slides and writing speaking notes. Building Your Change Capability was completed two hours before the taxi picked me up for the airport.
                    I Couldn’t Resist

Like most new experiences that stretch your capabilities, this one was amazing. The entire Soundview team, including the owners, Josh and Rebecca, were welcoming and supportive. They too were excited by the possibilities of this learning format. It felt like we were building something ahead of the curve, something that was big, exciting and not completely known.

Jen and Jackie, my directors and videographers, were excellent. Beyond putting me at ease, they were very knowledgeable and creative. I loved exploring options and selecting approaches for the different segments. We tried to see the content through the viewer’s eyes and created some exercises, which added spontaneity and freshness to the design.

Our target course length was three hours, which I thought was longer than the material I had prepared. I had nothing to worry about because after eight hours of filming we captured just over three hours of content over twelve classes:

  1. Introduction (12 min)
  2. Change Success Factors (28)
  3. The Change Leader’s Role (12)
  4. The Confidence Factor (10)
  5. Essential Change Capabilities (10)
  6. Assessing what You Bring to Change (16)
  7. Asking and Answering the Questions of
      Change (16)

  8. The Four Phases of a Change Initiative (10)
  9. Phase 1: Figuring It Out (15)
10. Phase 2: Planning for Change (16)
11. Phase 3: Managing Change (16)
12. Phase 4: Making It Stick (20)

It took me twenty minutes to get comfortable in front of the camera (and Kurt). Jen and Jackie were supportive coaches as I felt my way through the practice takes. 

On the Air

After a while, I noticed that I stopped staring at the camera and began using my peripheral vision. This change dramatically increased my concentration. I focused on speaking instead of being filmed speaking. Whenever I made a mistake, it took me a couple more tries to regain this perspective, something that practice will correct.

We talking about where leadership knowledge and education is going over breaks, lunches and dinners. SoundviewPro is the right product at the right time, just ahead of the curve. The excitement about building something new was electrifying.

I left the Soundview offices at the end of my two-day shoot. I knew I had participated in something important and vital.  Something that I would be proud of for the rest of my life. I also met great people who were a delight to work with. I thought to myself, life is best when you are ahead of the curve. 

Phil

 

How would you teach the world to sing?

by adminon August 16, 2013 in Uncategorized tagged , , , , , with no comments

A primary motivation for writing Change with Confidence was to build people’s skills and confidence to successfully lead change. The more people the better. This goal has shaped my approach to marketing. Every opportunity to promote my thinking and my book is a good one.

I was thrilled when Soundview approached me to partner on a new product offering with the tag line “Reach More. Teach More.” SoundviewPro is an online open-enrollment academy where courses are available to everyone including its half million subscribers around the world. I am excited by the prospect of many people in different countries watching my course at the same time.

This teaching delivery format is called Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and is being offered by more and more universities and private learning organizations. It has sparked debate in education communities and attracted the attention of the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes.

My change management course will include strategies, stories, observations, approaches and tactics. It will also offer interactive elements such as questions, quizzes and and follow-on exercises. Each module will be ten to fifteen minutes totaling three hours of content. 

I will be filming Change with Confidence U in Philadelphia in mid-November. I am looking forward to once again work with Ursula and Andrew from Soundview. Also it will be exciting and challenging to design learning in a new medium. This is a personal growth opportunity. 

Soundview’s aspiration for SoundviewPro is “to permanently change how people and organizations grow their skills to succeed.” That’s music to my ears and I am eager to write my new song.

Phil

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