Karen Kocher's guest appearances

Karen Kocher

Ahead of Our Time

Chief Learning Officer Podcast

Workplace Stories by RedThread Research

Zack Shinar

Laurie Cameron

Kate Shaw

Booz Allen Hamilton

Greg Friedman

Evan Selinger

Karie Willyerd

Dawn Klinghoffer

Rob Cross

Scott Shute

Alissa Wilkinson

Akhtar Badshah

John Boudreau

Heather Whiteman

Phil Rhodes

OwlTail

What actually happens when your boss tells you one day he’d like you to teach a few people new digital skills… say, 25 million or so? You’re going to find out this week, because that really did happen to our great guest, Microsoft Global General Manager, Talent and Learning Experiences and Workforce of the Future Karen Kocher, who is leading the huge-scale Microsoft-LinkedIn global Skills Initiative. But important as that large-scale L&amp;D experiment is, it’s far from all Karen wanted to talk to us about; think of the Skills program as an appetiser for a Learning and Skills banquet that includes life/career and pay advise, as well as useful notes on credentialing and what transitioning to a ‘learn-it-all’ culture entails at company street level. Quite a woman. Quite a conversation. And quite a Workplace Story.

The Skills Obsession: What a mindset of enablement actually looks like w/Microsoft’s Karen Kocher

After a career spent primarily in internal learning and development roles, Karen Kocher took a new turn in 2017. As Microsoft’s general manager for 21st Century jobs, skills and employability, she has a broad mandate to work inside and outside the Seattle-based technology company to develop a pipeline of talented people who can fill the jobs companies like hers need to be successful. Microsoft is a company at an interesting place – it’s a massive legacy technology business yet simultaneously trying to be more more like a start-up disruptor. To make that shift, CEO Satya Nadella is pushing the company to operate in different ways than past leaders and Karen finds herself at the vanguard of those initiatives. In many ways, it’s the perfect meld of experience and opportunity. In this podcast recorded in Seattle at our CLO Breakfast Club event, we talk to Karen about what her new role means for other internal learning executives, how she built her credibility and confidence by focusing on evidence-based practice and what she sees as the critical capabilities of successful learning leaders. Show Notes: Chief Learning Officer 2013 Profile: Karen Kocher Quartz: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Takes Control of the Microsoft Narrative With His Book

After a career spent primarily in internal learning and development roles, Karen Kocher took a new turn in 2017. As Microsoft’s general manager for 21st Century jobs, skills and employability, she has a broad mandate to work inside and outside the Seattle-based technology company to develop a pipeline of talented people who can fill the jobs companies like hers need to be successful. Microsoft is a company at an interesting place – it’s a massive legacy technology business yet simultaneously trying to be more more like a start-up disruptor. To make that shift, CEO Satya Nadella is pushing the company to operate in different ways than past leaders and Karen finds herself at the vanguard of those initiatives. In many ways, it’s the perfect meld of experience and opportunity. In this podcast recorded in Seattle at our CLO Breakfast Club event, we talk to Karen about what her new role means for other internal learning executives, how she built her credibility and confidence by focusing on evidence-based practice and what she sees as the critical capabilities of successful learning leaders. Show Notes: Chief Learning Officer 2013 Profile: <a href="https://www.clomedia.com/2013/12/16/karen-kocher-kiss-and-tell-at-cigna/?__hstc=21858660.d9a749dd5f11ae7d91ec989b94aca3ad.1546963653988.1546963653988.1547144721956.2&amp;__hssc=21858660.12.1547144721956&amp;__hsfp=558458815" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Karen Kocher</a> Quartz: <a href="https://qz.com/1086618/satya-nadella-takes-control-of-the-microsoft-narrative-with-his-book-hit-refresh-msft/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Takes Control of the Microsoft Narrative With His Book</a>

Episode 4: Karen Kocher on Linking Learning to Strategy

Unearthing your true capabilities as a learner and a leader begins with listening, and Karen Kocher, head of 21st Century Jobs, Skills, and Employability at Microsoft, is a world-class listener. We find out through her stories of learning from both her family and her global network of thought leaders about how we too can make a “dollar feel like a million,” as a colleague of Karen’s said about her time as Chief Learning Officer at Cigna. Karen’s mastery of impact and efficiency comes from her boundless curiosity and optimism that says we are all innate learners, and so we are all capable of greatness—we just need nudges from signals beyond ourselves in order to develop an ear and a hunger for what’s different and innovative. Listen in on how Karen’s lessons on leadership come together in heartfelt care for her team member’s individual and collective purposes. For more information about the podcast and this week's show notes, visit www.aheadofourtime.com/listen.

Unearthing your true capabilities as a learner and a leader begins with listening, and Karen Kocher, head of 21st Century Jobs, Skills, and Employability at Microsoft, is a world-class listener. We find out through her stories of learning from both her family and her global network of thought leaders about how we too can make a “dollar feel like a million,” as a colleague of Karen’s said about her time as Chief Learning Officer at Cigna. Karen’s mastery of impact and efficiency comes from her boundless curiosity and optimism that says we are all innate learners, and so we are all capable of greatness—we just need nudges from signals beyond ourselves in order to develop an ear and a hunger for what’s different and innovative. Listen in on how Karen’s lessons on leadership come together in heartfelt care for her team member’s individual and collective purposes. For more information about the podcast and this week's show notes, visit <a href="https://exit.sc/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aheadofourtime.com%2Flisten" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">www.aheadofourtime.com/listen</a>.

Listen with Everything You've Got — Karen Kocher