Stevie-winner Glass of Learning, Inc. is a Toronto-based leadership development and design firm focused on changing businesses. Chief Experience Officer, Nancy Priest says, “to change results you must change behavior. At Glass, we’re learning strategists and behavior-change specialists.”
During COVID, Glass revolutionized its well-known Leadership Road™ training virtually via VirtualGlass™ and applied it to great success. This platform is now available for facilitators to access and run virtual learning.
The VirtualGlass program earned Glass of Learning both a Silver and Gold Stevie Award in the 2022 edition of the StevieⓇ Awards for Great Employers, for Most Innovative Leadership Program and for Achievement in Leadership Development, respectively.
VirtualGlass™ Program
Approximately 95% of organizations invest in leadership training, an investment that equates to a whopping $366 billion globally. However, most leaders are still not trained on how to properly step up to the plate—leadership training rarely if ever “sticks.”
After 25 years of training Fortune 500 leaders, Priest quit in 2014 to start Glass. She wanted to customize programs (versus templates), develop programs quickly (in days instead of months), and for training to be effective in practice. Priest decided to take on the challenge of working with large manufacturers and specializing in training frontline leaders and plant management—nearly all men.
In early 2018, Priest launched her revolutionary global leadership training program, Leadership Road™ for frontline Supervisors, a groundbreaking 27-week “journey,” with the timeframe chosen as it is thought to be the required time for training to “stick” psychologically. The journey begins with in-depth “discovery” aimed at finding the “burning issue” at hand. The Program is based on the premise that adults learn through play as children do.
In 2019 Priest launched the Manager version of Leadership Road™. Then as COVID ravaged the globe, the 27-week program went virtual and was called VirtualGlass™, fully customizable because one size never fits all.
For example, Glass had a large international manufacturer whose managers were increasingly overwhelmed and disenfranchised during COVID. The Glass team created virtual activities to teach them how to move forward in their thinking vs engaging in perceptions and paradigms that block progress; how to transition easily in challenging situations; and how to avoid assumptions that can disrupt teams.
As more and more managers and staff became ill, missing out on entire skill sets, Glass customized VirtualGlass™ to teach emotional intelligence as well. Teaching empathy increased problem-solving and professional coaching skills.
Next, complementary videos taught teams how to work and manage remotely. Glass released the “Leadership to Life” program, customized for graduates of Leadership Road™. This program took the Journey’s leadership principles and extended them to daily and family life and activities. Many participants have since reported being better partners and parents.
Finally, Glass was asked to create an innovative Supervisor Peer Mentoring program, enabling graduates now working off the floor to continue learning and growing by taking on the role of coach and mentor to new participants moving through the 27-week program. This program was designed to increase confidence in the Supervisor graduates and enable new participants to quickly take on the learning role with a mentor to help escalate the learning process.
As of mid-2021, the VirtualGlass™ became available for facilitators to purchase subscriptions and access ready-made content.
Glass of Learning won a Gold Stevie Award for Achievement in Leadership Development and a Silver Stevie for Most Innovative Leadership Program and in the 2022 Stevie® Awards for Great Employers.
Interested in entering the 2023 Stevie® Awards for Great Employers?
