Talent Development

Case Study
According to Nancy Reardon (2011), senior vice president and chief human resources and communications officer at Campbell Soup Company, the goal the company’s CEO Institute is to “create the most meaningful leadership experience participants have ever had” (p. 46). The two-year residential programs are capped at 20-24 participants, and include members from across the company, representing a wide variety of positions, physical locations, and departments.

Participants begin by hand-writing a letter to the CEO of the company, affirming their commitment to the program. They are then are instructed and supported through a five-module program, consisting of intensive multi-day workshops with homework and reflective activities between each meeting. The modules begin with fundamentals, then work through exemplary leadership across the field and participants’ internal reasons for leading. Finally, modules four and five focus on inspiring others, coaching, and “paying it forward” (p. 48).
Based on the case study, imagine you are the Vice President of Learning at the CEO Institute:

*Evaluate the design elements that help ensure that participants learn about leadership and put it into practice
*Analyze how these design elements encourage learning and transfer