If you’ve not guessed, I am a trekkie. At a very young age, my late father introduced me to the adventures of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov. I was hooked then and remain so to this day.

As I write this article, William Shatner, the actor who played Captain James T. Kirk on the famous show, just returned from space having been a crew member on Blue Origin Flight NS-18. At 90, Mr. Shatner is the oldest human to journey to space. Quite the achievement.

And it got me thinking about my fandom and my profession. What, if anything, can Captain Kirk teach Chief Learning Officers about leading their respective departments and workforces?

Expanding on that idea… what can any Star Trek captain, i.e. Picard, Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Burnham and Freeman, teach CLOs? Each has their very own distinct style.

So, in an epic attempt to mashup my Star Trek fandom with my profession, let’s beam aboard our learning starship to explore the universe of ideas.

NOTE: I will be dropping some serious nerd knowledge. I do not apologize, nor do I regret it.

Learning Captain Kirk

The Man. The Myth. The Legend.

As noted before Captain James T. Kirk was brought to life by actor William Shatner. Kirk, as was often the case, is the John Wayne of space. In fact, Star Trek was often billed as a “wagon train to the stars.” At the time, westerns were a big entertainment for families all over the world. Star Trek merely traded the dusty wild west for the final frontier.

Born in Iowa, Captain Kirk became the youngest captain in Starfleet. He was tough, strategic and intelligent. He had the ability to read a situation and create a solution to save his crew, his ship… and sometimes… the entire planet or galaxy. In fact, he is wildly known as the only person to beat the Kobyashi Maru test, a no-win scenario every Starfleet officer must face.

Kirk was also not afraid to test the rules and even break them if necessary. For the Captain of the USS Enterprise, rules were more general guidelines then directives to be followed to the letter. If he needed to break a rule to create a fighting chance for his crew to live, he’d do it and worry about the consequences later.

While my description doesn’t do Captain Kirk real justice, it gives you enough of a foundation to understand what the character can teach CLOs about leadership and delivering on promises/strategies. If we had to narrow the list of characteristics down to focus on, let’s go with:

• Tough
• Strategic
• Agile
• Creative/Rule-Breaking

The Tough CLO

Captain Kirk is tough. He was constantly in hand-to-hand combat with a Klingon, Gorn or some other non-human lifeform. And he won… most of the time. I am not suggesting CLOs and/or learning professionals start dueling with CEOs or fellow C-Suite board members… even though I am sure it comes to mind from time to time.

I am more leaning on the idea of being tough.

Being a CLO is not easy. Not by any stretch of the imagination. While I’ve not served in the role, I’ve spoken to plenty of people that have filled the position. Being a tough CLO means working through the challenges that come across the desk. It’s about standing up for the department and the organization’s workforce. It’s about gathering data and being able to discern from the data the next course of action.

It’s also about taking on the people who challenge learning as being a perk of the job rather than a mission critical necessity. According to research by SurveyMonkey, “roughly 86% of employees say that job training is important to them.” If that’s not enough… one out of every four employees are “willing to learn things outside of work hours to improve their job performance.”

The Strategic CLO

That brings us to strategy. A CLO must be strategic in today’s world. As a learning leader, it’s important to know what is working and what isn’t and how to abandon those things that aren’t in favor of those that are leaving a positive mark. But it’s not enough to just have the right technology or content. No. A CLO and/or learning leader must be able to deliver it strategically and successfully.

As is often then case, this is where data becomes very important. It’s easy for leaders to just pull data on everything and, in the process, get really confused about what they’re seeing. A strategic CLO measures exactly what they need and then uses that data to construct their next decision or series of decisions.

For more, we turn to Corporate Learning Network contributor Peggy Parskey. She says there are no “magic measures,” however she does define a suite of common measures that enable L&D to evaluate its worth.

The Agile CLO

Agile and agility have been a buzzwords in corporate learning for a few years now. And while the words may feel overused… the terms are not. If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the CLO of today must be agile.

While leaders struggle with how to move forward, most learning professionals are already ahead of the game. By their very nature, agile learning professionals are generally able to pivot quickly and prepare for every eventuality that could materialize at any given moment.

And that’s a skill that will never fall out of favor. Whether it be another pandemic, the ongoing Great Resignation, the concerns on supply and demand… learning leaders are best positioned to take charge and prepare their organization to react quickly to the ever-changing landscape.

The Creative/Rule-Breaking CLO

I’ll admit… I almost didn’t include this section. CLOs should certainly be creative. As we all know, challenging times call for creative solutions. And sometimes, to be creative, one must break the rules. Again, I’m not suggesting CLOs go out and break a rule set forth within the organization. What I am saying, however, is CLOs and their teams should break the rules set forth by the times if and when it is appropriate.

We know there are certain strategies that just don’t work anymore. They are outdated and not nearly as successful as they were in their heyday. Does that mean you throw those strategies in the rubbish bin and forget about them? No. Never consign anything to oblivion. Knowledge is powerful and can always be used when the context is right. In other words, always remember the right tool for the right job.

When learning leaders challenge the norms, yes, leaders run the risk of getting negative feedback. But, by doing so, there’s an increase in the risk leaders will get feedback they wouldn’t have otherwise received. That information is important. It can open you up to a whole universe of possibilities that can be used to address any number of problems.

But don’t do it for doing’s sake. Remember, be strategic and agile. Create a solution for a problem. If it doesn’t work, try again. Success can be found in the most unlikely of places if one is only willing to look for it.

In Summation

Star Trek has always been on the forefront of the culture. In fact, it was unlike anything else on television at the time. It featured a diverse crew, a necessary ingredient for the show’s success and broad support from its audience. It broke barriers and glass ceilings of all kinds. And it fueled the imaginations of so many.

A CLO can do the same thing for their respective organizations.

In the coming weeks, I will write about what CLOs can learn from the other Star Trek captains. The next one will focus on Captain Jean-Luc Picard. A very different captain than that of Captain Kirk, but legend in his own right.