Today, Maria talks with Travis Wilson, who has had extensive experience in leadership and organization development, executive coaching, and learning program management. She first met Travis as a coach during The Marketing Seminar, an online workshop designed by Seth Godin. Travis has a very diverse professional career journey through academia, corporate, private sector and online learning and has worked with college students and senior-level professionals. Together, they unpack his learning and development journey as they dive into the decisions that have shaped him into the educator and coach that he is today. Whether you are a student or a professional, their conversation will teach you how to develop essential skills for the future of work and continue to repurpose them throughout your career.
Production team:
Host : Maria Xenidou
Producer: Julie-Roxane Krikorian
Introduction Voice: David Bourne
Contact us:
impactlearningpodcast@gmail.com
Music credits:
Like Lee performed by The Mini Vandals
Transition sounds: Swamp Walks performed by Jingle Punks
Where to find Travis Wilson:
On LinkedIn
Mentioned in this episode:
Co-Active Training Institute (formerly Coaches Training Institute or CTI)
Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer
An Introduction to Vertical Development
Nick Petrie on LinkedIn
Carl Sanders-Edwards on LinkedIn
Vertical Leadership Development: Developing Leaders for a Complex World – Part I by Nick Petrie (2013)
Nick Petrie’s Website: Vertical Leadership Development
A blog post about Action Logics
Torbert’s Action Logics - A leadership perspective
Bill Torbert’s Website
Listen to this episode and explore:
Travis' childhood: the importance of treating others with respect and kindness (2:19)
His journey through college: majoring in film production and getting in touch with his creativity (4:31)
Moving to Chicago: a short-lived career in the film industry (8:57)
Figuring out a new career after reaching out to people and learning about different paths (12:11)
Becoming a Residence Life Coordinator at Northwestern: what he learnt during this time (13:40)
Moving to Saint Louis to become a training and development specialist: what surprised him in this role (17:44)
Joining career services in a small career school in Minnesota (21:57)
Leaving higher education and joining Mayo Clinic (24:30)
How a coach development program led him to join the leadership and organization development at Mayo Clinic (26:05)
The importance of being a champion for people (29:58)
Using tension to create the next generation of leaders (34:24)
Starting his private career coaching practice (38:00)
The Marketing Seminar: Joining the Akimbo community and becoming a coach (39:09)
The difference between training and development in corporations and online learning programs: a sense of agency and freedom (42:06)
The importance of owning our learning journey independently of our environment (47:33)
Travis’ advice to a college student who hasn’t decided what they want to do after college (51:47)
What he would like to leave his mark on during his lifetime: leading us into a world where corporations are here to serve society, not the other way around (52:54)
The power of our attention (56:35)
The concept of vertical development (57:45)
Where to find more about Travis and his work (1:00:57)
Maria's takeaways related to Travis’ career journey and profound ability to connect with humans (1:02:02)