Today, a dream of ours comes true: We’re launching our online leadership training product for first-time managers.
A dream realized
Today, we’re launching a product we’ve been envisioning for the past decade: A single place online where you can learn how to become a better leader.
Introducing our Manager Learning Path – an all-in-one online learning platform for first-time managers based on research over the past 50 years. It’s what I personally wish I’d had access to over 10 years ago when I was first starting out as a leader.
I can’t wait for you to see it for yourself. You can join the waitlist here.
But first, how did we get here?
Not-so-dreamy beginnings
Early in my career, I had a boss who helped me become the leader I am today, more than anyone else.
But it wasn’t because they were a good leader: It’s because they were the opposite. They were a model of the leader I never wanted to become.
I’ll never forget the negative impact that had on me. How poor leadership at work affected my mood, my mental health, my happiness even outside of work.
I vowed to never become a “bad boss” myself and fall into that trap…
So, I decided to devote my working life to answering that question: What does it actually mean to be a great leader? And how do you learn to become one?
After a decade’s worth of work, we’ve discovered the answer to those questions here at Know Your Team.
A decade’s worth of research
Over the past 10 years, we’ve painstakingly distilled about 50 years worth of leadership literature and studies… You name it, we’ve read it, analyzed it, and pulled the meaningful frameworks from it.
From that research, we then dove deep into figuring out the best way to teach these concepts to leaders. Too often leadership trainings are vague platitudes about how to “inspire your team” or “empower others” rather than the practical tactics of what to say when someone asks for a raise, or what you should exactly do in your first 90 days when you’re managing former peers.
We also know the reality of cognitive dissonance: It’s easy to say you’re going to change how you operate as a leader, and much harder to actually do it. As a result, we studied learning science principles and human behavior change to tap into helping leaders not just say they’re going to change their ways – but truly do so.
Then, we channeled all these learnings into training over 20,000+ people over the past decade at companies as small as 10 people and as large as 100,000+ people.
Real results
After participating in our trainings, people would regularly tell us things like this:
“Most attendees said it was the best training they’ve ever attended in their professional career and all felt it was super actionable.” – Emily Allen, Director of People Operations at SEER Interactive
“This workshop was the most concrete and useful workshop I have ever attended.” – Bekki Freeman, Team Lead at Eggplant
“This workshop was one of the best things I’ve ever done for my professional development.” – Caro Griffin, Director of Operations at Skillcrush
“I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this for anyone who is a new manager. Just do it.” – Jeff Grigg, Project Manager at Guideware Software
We were blown away by the reaction. So much so, we knew we had to help even more leaders.
Helping the motivated, not just the bankrolled
While our live trainings were helpful, we realized small organizations – or individual managers on their own – couldn’t afford a full blown custom leadership training program that we were offering.
Furthermore, the leaders who were motivated to become better didn’t always have their interest matched by their supervisors – it was like pulling teeth to get their boss to “sign off” to invest in leadership training.
Another way of looking at it is, here at KYT, we realized that people like ourselves – folks at small companies – couldn’t benefit directly from what we were doing. So we decided to build a learning product for them… and in a weird way, for us too.
A product that you could start anytime, and use anytime on your own schedule (rather than a commitment of full work days or week-long programming).
A product that didn’t cost and arm and a leg (organizational-wide leadership training or 1:1 executive coaching is typically tens of thousands of dollars).
A product that helped you lead in a tone and approach you would like to use: Warm and direct, honest and kind. Not corporate-y. Not “I know better than thou.”
A product that was rooted in research, rather than the flavor-of-the-day hot trend or a prescriptive view of a singular experience.
The result is something we feel we’d personally use – and we can’t wait for you to benefit from it too.
That’s our story. What’s yours?
You’ve been recently promoted and now manage a team of former peers, and are trying to get your bearings as a leader…
You run a growing team, and you have real stakes and outcomes you need to deliver on as a leader in an ever-changing organizational context…
You’re a leader who never had any formal training and are wondering “if you’ve been doing it right”…
You’re a manager takes your obligation to your team seriously and wants to make sure you’re being rigorous and leading thoughtfully…
If any of this resonates with you, our product is for you.
We’re here for you
Our Training product is the closest thing to a “How to Be a Great Leader Handbook” that you previously thought did’t exist. In spending even 30 minutes in it, you’ll start to feel more confident and be able to make more progress as a leader than before.
And if you’re thinking, “Oh wow, my organization could benefit from this for all our managers too…” you’ll want to check out our Training for Organizations. (We even offer volume discounts and customized aspects of it, if that’s something that makes sense for your organization.)
Regardless, I’m grateful that I get an opportunity chance to share our dream here at KYT with you. It’s not every day that dreams do come true.
On the journey with you,
Claire
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