Market-leading organizations are utilizing Learning Agility as a potent predictor of leadership potential. Learning Agility is the willingness and ability to learn from one’s experience and then apply that learning to new experiences. It’s key attribute of those who successfully navigate upward through the organizational hierarchy.
Some individuals are going to chart their career path as deep technical experts. They excel in their functional area and are by all accounts “top performers” in their organizations. You can spot these professionals since they do well in situations similar to what they have done in the past (and they enjoy being experts).
Those who focus on breadth, on the other hand, tend to get bored more easily and need variety and new challenges. They excel in new situations by using what they learned in previous situations and adapting it to fit the current situation and business environments.
Korn Ferry® has identified 5 factors of a learning-agile person:
How a person performs on these measures determines if they are agile learners. Studies have repeatedly shown that the ability to learn from experience is what differentiates successful executives from unsuccessful ones. These highly learning-agile individuals are your future leaders. They have a curiosity about the world, an enthusiasm to experience new things, have excellent “people skills,” and possess a high tolerance for ambiguity.
For a high potential to move into new functional areas, stretch assignments and unchartered waters, they must leverage their learnings and figure out what to do when they don’t know what to do.
Organizations utilize our learning agility assessments in the selection process of future leaders, for leadership development of existing leaders, or to identify high potentials for succession planning efforts.
We offer Learning Agility Assessments by Korn Ferry® and Talent x7® to help you align your talent to the right roles and ensure that you have accurately identified your pool of high potentials.
Looking internally to fill an open role? Take the guesswork out of identifying your high potentials with our comprehensive assessment process which includes a measure for Learning Agility.
