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ELE brings leaders together across companies and industries to develop leadership closer to real work — so decisions get made faster, change lands harder, and business value follows.

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Bring a real bottleneck. Name what's stuck, what's at stake, and why it matters now.

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Find the peer conversation that moves your work forward.The right exchange builds better leaders, closes capability gaps, and cuts through what internal meetings can't.

Figure out if ELE is for you. Straight answers on what ELE is, who it’s built for, and how contributing members actually work together. Still have a question? Contact us.

Get answers about how Executive Learning Exchange (ELE) works — peer-powered leadership development that fixes real work issues, reverses burnout, and accelerates business value. No programs. No vendors. In the flow of work.

Real challenges. Real peers. Clear next moves.

This is where people-leaders get sharper.

Want ELE to come to you? Propose a local gathering — the community decides what gets scheduled.

Allstate Insurance

Abilitie

What if you could practice your toughest leadership conversations in a completely safe environment, with AI characters who respond realistically to your every choice?

Join Luke Owings, VP of Product at Abilitie, and Lorna Malloy, Education Design Manager at Allstate Insurance, as they explore solutions to a fundamental challenge: how to practice essential management conversations without real-world consequences.  In this fishbowl-style session, you’ll witness your peers navigate real leadership scenarios, from delivering difficult feedback to influencing without authority, while AI-enabled characters react authentically to their decisions.

This session brings together two perspectives on using AI to elevate (not replace) humanity. Luke will share insights on designing AI-native products that amplify human capabilities, while Lorna provides context on the realities of implementing AI learning solutions.

Leadership With, And For, The Age of AI

Digital &amp; AI

Leadership

leadership development

talent development

lorna.malloy

CHIE2025

human capabilities

Leadership Skills

HR Technology

Influencing Skills

AI-enabled learning

L&amp;D strategy

luke.owings

management conversations

immersive practice

difficult feedback

AI native products

learning implementation

safe learning environment

Northern Trust

ACH Food

Alter Domus

Lead Belay

Link Logistics

This session provided a masterclass in leadership development, offering valuable strategies and actionable insights for senior HR talent leaders.

In a rapidly changing world, leaders at every level face unique challenges, from individual contributors seeking alignment with their values to managers navigating chaos and stress, to leaders of leaders transitioning to strategic roles. One powerful takeaway stood out:
<blockquote>“If you don’t have time to reflect on how you lead, you need to find that time—otherwise, you’re inviting chaos.” -- <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/mike-kester" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Kester</a></blockquote>
This call to action underscores the critical need for leaders to pause, reflect, and recalibrate their approach to fostering team and organizational success. Here are the key lessons from the session that senior HR leaders can apply to build impactful leadership programs:
<ol>
 	<li>Tailored Development for Every Leadership Level: Address the distinct needs of individual contributors, managers, and leaders of leaders, focusing on mental model shifts that promote growth and alignment with organizational goals.</li>
 	<li>Dual Career Pathways: Create clear paths for individual contributors to excel without requiring a move into management roles, ensuring talent retention and satisfaction.</li>
 	<li>Cohort-Based Learning: Use safe spaces and peer accountability to enable leaders to share challenges, foster psychological safety, and apply new skills effectively.</li>
 	<li>Practical, Immediate Application: Programs should focus on "Monday morning impact," ensuring participants can apply insights in real-world scenarios without delay.</li>
 	<li>Embedding Leadership in Systems: Align leadership expectations with organizational values, performance management systems, and cultural initiatives for sustained change.</li>
 	<li>Adapting to Rapid Change: Equip leaders with tools for adaptability and resilience, ensuring they can thrive amidst evolving demands.</li>
</ol>
By fostering a culture of reflection, accountability, and adaptability, senior HR leaders can build leadership pipelines that not only navigate the complexities of today’s workplace but also drive sustainable organizational success.

What are your thoughts on prioritizing reflection as a leadership practice? How do you embed these principles into your development programs? Let’s discuss on ELE <a href="https://www.ele.llc/idea-exchange" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Idea Exchange</a>!

Building Tomorrow’s Leaders: Cohort Development for Each Level of Leader

Engagement &amp; Culture

Change Management

mike.kester

performance management

talent management

anton.maletich

missy.gonzales

kim.ludwig

employee engagement

psychological safety

workforce development

ana.bedard

continuous learning

lindy.stockton

CHIE2024

HR Strategy

Organizational Growth

adaptive leadership

Reflective Leadership

Coaching Culture

Leadership Mindset

Session Focus: CDW develops line managers globally to become better remote leaders.


This session provided valuable insights into rethinking leadership development in a remote-first world. One of the standout lessons was the need to move beyond traditional, rigid training programs.
<blockquote>As Katrina Williams shared, “We didn’t want this to be a checkbox; we designed it to be flexible and engaging, something that leaders could consume in their own time.”</blockquote>
This approach led to one of the most effective leadership programs CDW had ever run, driven by peer collaboration and a flexible structure.

For senior HR talent leaders, three key takeaways emerged:
<ol>
 	<li>Adaptability and Flexibility in Leadership Programs: Leadership development must adapt to changing environments. Flexible, self-paced learning enables leaders to balance professional demands while still building crucial skills.</li>
 	<li>Cohort-Based Learning and Peer Engagement: Encouraging peer-to-peer learning and authentic discussions fosters continuous collaboration. This cohort model proved highly effective in enhancing leadership capabilities through shared experiences.</li>
 	<li>Bite-Sized Learning to Enhance Retention: Delivering content in small, digestible segments ensures better engagement and retention. Leaders can reflect, collaborate, and apply their learnings in real time, making the program more impactful and manageable.</li>
</ol>
HR leaders looking to revitalize their leadership programs should consider integrating these principles to drive higher engagement and long-term success.

Remote Leadership Skills | Designing Cohort Learning to Scale

evidence-based research

Peer-to-Peer Learning

dirk.tussing

microlearning

learning design

cohort learning

collaborative learning

learning culture

edward.desrosiers

jesse.james

katrina.williams

judy.albers

flow of work

leading remote workers

Learning Agility

remote

diego.frausto

learning and development

employee development

hybrid workforce

Semi-synchronous Collaborative Peer-Learning

Scalable Global Cohorts

alan.todd

HR leadership

Designing Cohort Learning to Scale

remote work

Leadership Training

remote leadership

flexible work

workspace culture

excutive leadership

Executive Learning Exchange (ELE)

Session Focus: Summarize lessons learned from the case studies presented during previous live discussions.


This session provided invaluable insights into the evolving role of cohort-based learning and its potential to transform talent development strategies. A key takeaway was the importance of creating diverse, cross-functional learning groups.
<blockquote>As noted by Alan Todd, "Heterogeneous networks outperform homogeneous networks... The more you increase diversity across all components, the better the network performs."</blockquote>
Here are three strategic takeaways for senior HR talent leaders to consider:
<ol>
 	<li>Prioritize Diversity in Learning Groups: Building diverse cohorts—across age, role, experience, and background—can drive creativity and innovation. By encouraging cross-functional collaboration, you’ll help foster a culture of inclusivity and shared learning across your organization.</li>
 	<li>Leverage Technology for Deeper Insights: Advanced tools like AI and natural language processing can track engagement, uncover barriers, and provide real-time analytics. These technologies enable HR leaders to make informed decisions about their learning programs, boosting both participation and effectiveness.</li>
 	<li>Adopt Simple, Scalable Learning Models: Keep learning interventions manageable with bite-sized daily sessions, followed by live group discussions to reinforce knowledge. This structured, yet flexible approach not only increases retention but also allows for easier scaling across teams and departments.</li>
</ol>
By applying these insights, HR leaders can create impactful, scalable, and inclusive learning environments that meet the needs of today’s dynamic workforce.

Benchmarking | Designing Cohort Learning to Scale

future of work

azizeh.constantinescu

benchmarking

tim.chudy

tamora.martin

ira.hall

Diversity and Inclusion

HR Analytics

In his bestselling book From Values to Action, Harry Kraemer showed how self-reflection, balance, true self-confidence, and genuine humility are the traits of today's most effective leaders. In Becoming the Best, his highly anticipated follow-up, Kraemer reveals how, in practical terms, anyone can apply these principles to become a values-based leader and to help create values-based organizations.

&nbsp;

Drawing on his own experiences as the former CEO and chairman of Baxter International, as well as those of other notable leaders and organizations, Kraemer lays out a pathway for understanding the principles and putting them into practice, showing specifically, how to:

&nbsp;
<ul>
 	<li>Use self-reflection to become your "best self" as you lead yourself and others more effectively</li>
 	<li>Create a "best team" that understands and appreciates what they're doing, and why</li>
 	<li>Forge "best partnerships" through win/win collaboration with vendors and customers that enhance the end user's experience Support the mission, vision, and values of the organization to generate returns that distinguish a "best investment"</li>
 	<li>Make a difference in the world beyond the organization by becoming a "best citizen"</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;

Becoming the Best: Build a World-Class Organization Through Values-Based Leadership

team-building

julian.malnak

effective leadership

best practices

harry.kraemer

Personal Development

Professional Growth

values-based leadership

world-class organization

corporate values

leadership principles

stakeholder engagement

self-reflection

values-based organizations

values to action

Unresolved conflict is workplace kryptonite. Learn how to develop the mindset and skills to defuse disagreements, overcome division, and turn conflict into an opportunity for growth.

Unresolved workplace conflict wastes time, increases stress, and negatively affects business outcomes. But conflict isn’t the problem, mismanagement is.

Leaders unintentionally mismanage conflict when they fall into patterns of what Marlene Chism calls “the Three As:” aggression, avoidance, and appeasing. “These coping mechanisms are ways human beings avoid the emotions that come with conflict, but in the end it’s all avoidance,” says Chism. In this book she shows how to fearlessly deal with conflict head-on by expanding your conflict capacity.

Conflict capacity is a combination of three elements. The foundation is the Inner Game—the leader’s self-awareness, values, discernment, and emotional integrity. The Outer Game is the skills, tools, and communication techniques built on that foundation. Finally, there’s Culture—the visible and invisible structures around you that can encourage or discourage conflict.

Chism offers exercises, examples, and expert guidance on developing all three elements. Leaders will discover techniques to increase leadership clarity, identify obstacles, and reduce resistance. They’ll develop powerful skills for dealing with high-conflict people and for initiating, engaging in, and staying with difficult conversations.

Readers will learn that when they see conflict as a teacher, courageously face it, and continually work on transforming themselves, they can get the resolution they are seeking. They can change minds.

From Conflict to Courage: How to Stop Avoiding and Start Leading

leadership

emotional intelligence

decision making

organizational culture

Personal Growth

Conflict Resolution

Effective Communication

Management Strategies

thomas.bergen

Professional Development

courageous leadership

workplace conflict

conflict management

business leadership

ashanti.morgan

How do you do two seemingly opposite things at once? How can you be candid and diplomatic, provide structure and flexibility, keep things stable, lead change, and focus on organizational interests while doing what's best for employees? Many approach these polarities with either/or thinking, but leaders, teams, and organizations that navigate them using a both/and mindset significantly outperform those who don't. The trick is knowing how.

In their work with thousands of people across the globe, Brian Emerson and Kelly Lewis have seen the tension and stress polarities can create in relationships, teams, and organizations. In this book, they share the practical tools to transform that tension into a positive driving force by expanding either/or thinking to include a both/and mindset.

Navigating Polarities: Using Both/And Thinking to Lead Transformation

transformation

jane.shlaes

collaboration

organizational development

problem solving

Both/And Thinking

Team Dynamics

Work Relationships

Communication Strategies

Why do some people seem magnetic while others seem to repel people? Why are some people so happy, even at those way-too-early board meetings? While seemingly complicated, the answer is straightforward: that individual probably has a positive mindset.

In his book Positive Mindshift: Making Good Things Happen in Life and Work, <a href="https://www.ele.llc/members/don-sandel">Donald Sandel</a> provides a roadmap to creating a better life by improving your mindset with positivity. Using science and real-life stories, Sandel asks the questions needed to accomplish this, including:
<ul class="a-unordered-list a-vertical">
 	<li>Are there health benefits to adopting a positive attitude?</li>
 	<li>How does one overcome negative biases?</li>
 	<li>Is happiness a choice?</li>
 	<li>Does positivity create better outcomes?</li>
</ul>
Sandel has dedicated this chapter of his life to creating a better world through mindset and attitude and now wants to share his insights with you. After all, why should we settle for each day being ordinary when it can be extraordinary?

Positive Mindshift: Making Good Things Happen in Life and Work

wellness

don.sandel

happiness

Career Success

Mindset Shift

sitive Mindset

Life Improvement

Positive Psychology

Motivational

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of The Power of Habit and Supercommunicators and “master of the life hack” (GQ) explores the fascinating science of productivity and offers real-world takeaways to apply your life, whether you’re chasing peak productivity or simply trying to get back on track.

In The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Charles Duhigg explained why we do what we do. In Smarter Faster Better, he applies the same relentless curiosity and rich storytelling to how we can improve at the things we do.

At the core of Smarter Faster Better are eight key concepts—from motivation and goal setting to focus and decision making—that explain why some people and companies get so much done. Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics—as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and Broadway songwriters—this book reveals that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don’t merely act differently. They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly different ways.

Smarter Faster Better is a story-filled exploration of the science of productivity, one that can help us learn to succeed with less stress and struggle—and become smarter, faster, and better at everything we do.

Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity

Performance Improvement

organizational effectiveness

time management

productivity

motivation

Focus

Goal Setting

workplace productivity

laura.sandera

Efficiency

Team Productivity

Strategic Planning

When politics, sex, race, religion, and other polarizing subjects come up in conversation among co-workers, what happens next? SHRM Chief Knowledge Officer Alexander Alonso, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, explains why some topics are taboo while others are not then brings them to life with real-world conversations on taboo topics, such as politics, race, religion, sex and gender. Based on the extensive findings of the “2020 SHRM Survey of Politics and Polarizing Discussions in the Workplace”, Alonso looks into the future of Talking Taboo, delivers proven assessment and guidance tools, and wraps up by showing how to make taboo topics work in your workplace.

Talking Taboo: Making the Most of Polarizing Discussions at Work

DEIB

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