Operating model: faculty, content, platform
Step 1 / 3·Leaders as teachers
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Learning objectives — after this module you will:
- Build a faculty from internal leaders and experts
- Decide which content to build, buy, curate
- Grasp the minimum learning-platform components
Leaders as teachers
Understand why and how to turn leaders into teachers.
The secret of top academies (from GE Crotonville to major Asian corporations): the core faculty are INTERNAL LEADERS AND EXPERTS, not hired trainers. Why: (1) content tied to company reality; (2) the teacher is the one who will use the learner — post-class commitment is far higher; (3) teaching is the deepest way to learn: a leader in front of a class must systematize their experience; (4) low marginal cost at scale.
But a good expert doesn't naturally teach well. An academy needs a TRAIN-THE-TRAINER program: session-design skills, storytelling, facilitation — and a recognition mechanism (promotion criteria with a 'developing others' item, faculty-of-the-year honors).
A common mistake
Inviting leaders to teach but not training them how and not building it into recognition — after 2 enthusiastic seasons, faculty drop off because 'teaching is unpaid extra work no one credits'. Leaders-as-teachers is a SYSTEM, not an invitation.
Key takeaway: Core faculty are internal leaders + train-the-trainer + a recognition mechanism — a system, not an invitation.