Self-Directed Informal Workplace Learning
"Self-directed learning is more than a form of education. It is a component in human
development.”
—Thomas D. Fisher
In an effort to apply recently-validated principles of performance improvement by
reducing classroom time and increasing informal workplace learning and individualized
self-development, a significant portion of the learning within the Penn State Emerging
Leaders program will take place outside of the scheduled seminars.
The Self-Directed Informal Workplace Learning component of the Penn State Emerging
Leaders Certificate program will help you to:
 Increase your effectiveness in your roles as you “learn to learn” from your own
work experiences and apply what you’ve learned on a regular basis.
 Partake in learning opportunities that extend beyond the barriers of your job
description, which will offer you exposure to knowledge, skills, and abilities
required for success in your current and future roles.
 Increase your breadth of exposure to different areas of the University.
 Benefit from the guidance and example provided by current leaders in the
institution.
Self-Directed Informal Workplace Learning will enable you to customize your learning in
order to reflect your own unique configuration of relative leadership strengths and needs.
This approach allows for flexibility and convenience around how, when, and where the
learning activities take place.
The outcomes of the Self-Directed Informal Workplace Learning component include the
development and implementation of a Leadership Learning Plan and a Personal
Leadership Philosophy Statement.
Penn State Emerging Leaders
1
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Timeline for Self-Directed Informal Workplace Learning Component
Introductory Session
During the Introductory Session and one-on-one meetings, we will:
 Review the overall program requirements
 Review the Self-Directed Informal Workplace Learning component and outcomes
including:
 The Leadership Learning Plan and action items:
 Discuss Self-Reflection activities
 Participate in Kolb Learning Styles Inventory activity
 Meet with Learning Group and develop “rules of engagement”
 Self-Directed Informal Workplace Learning activity options
 The Leadership Philosophy Statement:
 Discuss how you will gather information throughout the certificate
program to create your Leadership Philosophy Statement
 Review learning group objectives
 Review the instructional technologies to be incorporated into the certificate
Summer Month Concentration
Once you have mapped out your Leadership Learning Plan, you will begin to concentrate
on your self-directed learning. Seminars will not be held over the summer months to
facilitate your success with this initiative. (Note: you will be meeting monthly with your
learning group, and once with the program leader to discuss progress.)
Completion of Self-Directed Learning
Self-directed learning will culminate with you sharing your experiences and your
Leadership Philosophy Statements:
 During the final participant meeting
 Prior to the Capstone Event, submit completed Leadership Learning Plan and SelfDirected Informal Workplace Learning At A Glance to PSEL project leader
 At the Capstone Event
Your Supervisor’s Role
Your supervisor is in an excellent position to support your growth and development, as
well as your participation in The Penn State Emerging Leaders program in several ways
by:
 Providing feedback on your performance in your current job and identifying your
strengths and areas for improvement.
 Acting as a mentor and coach.
 Representing the organization’s needs, goals, and opportunities.
 Keeping you apprised with what is happening within your unit/department and
within Penn State.
Penn State Emerging Leaders
2
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance




Helping assess your advancement potential and your qualifications for other
positions.
Acting as a resource and referral for exploring your options.
Supporting your training and development by providing training opportunities
and resources, including funding and time.
Meeting with you on a monthly basis to discuss your progress within the program.
Penn State Emerging Leaders
3
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Self-Directed Informal Workplace Learning At a Glance
Interviews with Penn State Leaders (must complete at least three interviews):
Interview #1
Leader:
Date Completed:
Interview #2
Leader:
Date Completed:
Interview #3
Leader:
Date Completed:
Job Shadowing (must complete at least two experiences):
Experience #1
Leader:
Date Completed:
Experience #2
Leader:
Date Completed:
Independent Study (must tap into at least six resources)
Resource #1:
Resource #2
Resource #3:
Resource #4:
Resource #5:
Resource #6:
Dates of Meetings with Supervisor (must meet at least ten times)
Meeting 1:
Meeting 2:
Meeting 3:
Meeting 4:
Meeting 5:
Meeting 6:
Meeting 7:
Meeting 8:
Meeting 9:
Meeting 10:
Penn State Emerging Leaders
4
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Build Your Own Mentoring Board of Directors (must complete)
Mentor Name
Dates of Contact
Industry
Career
Development
Customer
Organization
Technology
Work/Life
Integration
Work Process
Profession/Trade
Other
Short-Term Learning Experiences (must engage in at least two experiences)
Description of Experience #1:
Description of Experience #2:
Learning Log
Format:
Frequency:
Penn State Emerging Leaders
5
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Interviews with Penn State Leaders
Objectives: Interviewing incumbents in leadership roles will help you to:
 Achieve an operational understanding of the challenges and daily activities
characteristic of specific leadership roles.
 Gain insight into the skills and knowledge required in different leadership roles.
 Cultivate individualized strategies for improving practical leadership skills.
 Recognize and assess options for your career path at Penn State.
 Establish valuable networking contacts.
Approach: You will identify at least three leaders across the University to interview,
including an Academic leader, a Unit Administrator, and a Staff leader at the
Manager/Director level or above. Interview questions will focus on the requirements,
challenges, responsibilities, and characteristics of the designated positions. You will use
what you’ve learned during these interviews to help create your Leadership Learning
Plan.
Consider: Successful Interviewing Steps
Even though leaders may agree to be interviewed, they may have some misgivings about
the process, especially if they are not sure what to expect. Take the mystery out of the
process and send them a brief description of the purpose of the interview as well as some
of the questions/topics you hope to cover during your time together.
During the interview, remember to:
 Establish rapport. Put your interviewee at ease by establishing rapport prior to
diving into the questions. The weather, the work, common friends or colleagues—
all can be non-threatening topics. A few minutes spent in this way will pay big
dividends when you get to the serious discussion.
 State the purpose of the interview. At the beginning of the interview, please cover
the points in this suggested statement:
“As part of the Penn State Emerging Leaders Certificate Program, I am meeting
with three leaders within the organization in order to gain insight into the skills
and knowledge required in different leadership roles. The questions I’ll be asking
today will focus on the requirements, challenges, responsibilities, and
characteristics of your position.
Our interview can be anonymous—so although I may share what I’ve heard with
others in the program, your name and any identifying information will not be
attributed to your insights unless you are comfortable with me doing so.
I’ll be taking notes during the interview so that I may record what I’ve learned in
my learning log or blog, as well as to refer to them when I devise my Leadership
Learning Plan.
Penn State Emerging Leaders
6
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Before we get started, I want to thank you again for being part of my leadership
development. I hope you will find our time together enjoyable. Are there any
questions you would like to ask me before we get started?”

Close the interview. At the end of the interview, ask whether the interviewee has
anything further and thank them for their time:
“That covers everything I wanted to discuss. Before we close, can you think of
anything you would like to add that we haven’t covered? Thank you again for
your time and your rich insights—I have learned a lot. You’ve been very helpful
to me as I consider the next steps in my own leadership development.”
Sample List of Leadership Questions for Interviews


















What are your values or beliefs about balancing work and home life? How do we
integrate these into our corporate culture around the world?
What talents or strengths do you rely on most in your daily life as a leader?
What is your communication strategy as a leader? What are your communication
beliefs?
How have you evolved as a leader in the last five years? What insights have you
gained about your talents and strengths?
What are the greatest lessons you've learned as a leader?
How do you recognize success?
What was your first recollection of experiencing great leadership?
What do you see as the primary role of the leader?
What do you see as your greatest strength as a leader?
What is the best and worst example of leadership that you have seen lately?
What are the three most important values you demonstrate as a leader? Tell me a
story that demonstrates each of these leadership values in practice within your
workplace.
How do you approach complex problems?
Do you consider yourself a leader?
Why is it important to be a leader?
What is a decision you made that made you a leader?
How do you define leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?
Are you a natural leader or follower?
What does “motivation” mean to you?
Remember: Interviews may take unpredictable twists; you should follow the flow of the
conversation, considering where you can learn the most and avoiding rigid format.
Penn State Emerging Leaders
7
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Job Shadowing
Objectives: Job shadowing experiences will help you to:
 Achieve an operational understanding of the challenges and daily activities
characteristic of specific leadership roles.
 Gain insight into the skills and knowledge required in different leadership roles.
 Cultivate individualized strategies for improving practical leadership skills.
 Recognize and assess options for your career path at Penn State.
 Establish valuable networking contacts.
Approach: You will research an area or two within the University that you are interested
in learning more about, especially from a leadership perspective. Once you’ve identified
the areas, you will reach out to prospective job shadow leaders and schedule time for the
experience to occur. It is important that you work with your supervisor in order to
identify the most convenient time to devote to this experience, given current job
responsibilities and what is happening within the unit, to ensure coverage while away
from the office.
Consider: Job Shadowing Tips
 Be clear about what you want to gain from the experience.
 Prior to the experience, research the department in which you will be spending
time—check out their website and familiarize yourself with the mission/goals of
the department, as well as the types of roles that are present within the
department.
 During the experience, be open to new ideas and engage yourself fully by actively
listening, taking on the role of observer and being willing to participate fully.
 After the experience concludes, write a note of appreciation to the leader for their
time and insights.
 Document experiences and results in your learning log and blog.
Penn State Emerging Leaders
8
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Job Shadowing Notes:
Name of Leader:
Position:
Department/Unit:
Contact Info:
Date of Experience:
Questions to ask the leader:
My observations during this job shadowing experience:
What I learned:
How I can apply this learning to my development as a leader:
Penn State Emerging Leaders
9
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Independent Study
Objectives: Completing independent study will help you to:
 Broaden your knowledge or understanding of leadership.
 Focus on leadership philosophies or trends that are relevant to you.
Approach: You will select and read at least six resources (which could be books, articles,
online resources, etc.) focused on leadership and/or self-directed learning and
incorporate your findings into your learning log and blog. You may also choose to
discuss what you’ve learned with your peers in the Penn State Emerging Leaders
program, supervisors, and/or colleagues (either face-to-face or via technology).
Penn State Emerging Leaders
10
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Build Your Own Mentoring Board of Directors
Objectives: Having multiple mentors will help you to:
 Refine and leverage your leadership style.
 Benefit from your mentors’ insights on issues related to leadership, career advice,
and your continuing leadership development.
 Address current leadership challenges in your personal sphere of influence.
 Develop working relationships with others at Penn State and beyond.
 Develop skills and knowledge to serve as a future mentor.
Approach: This activity is based on the article Eight Types of Mentors: Which Ones Do You
Need? by Caela Farren, Ph.D., MasteryWorks, Inc. You will use this article as guide to
begin to build and connect with your Board of Directors throughout the duration of the
program. You will use your learning log and/or blog to capture your insights from the
process, as well as what you’ve learned from your mentors. You will update your
progress and share your findings during your scheduled meetings with your program
leader.
Consider: Learning from Many Mentors: The Five Key Knows
Source: Beverly Kaye and Beverly Bernstein, Career Systems International
Here are five logical and essential steps in the process of creating, building, and nurturing
learning relationships:
Step One: Know What You Want
The starting point of all mentoring relationships should be identifying your objectives.
What are you looking for? What is your purpose? Can you clearly state this purpose to
others? It is important to explore your short-term and long-term goals while focusing on
the strategies and tactics it will take to achieve these goals.
Step Two: Know Who’s Out There
The second step is to realize just who the potential mentors might be that can help you.
Once you begin identifying specific people, you will be amazed at how rich your human
resource bank really is.
It’s good to be realistic and practical, but also a bit courageous and ambitious while
identifying those individuals who you would like to serve on your Mentoring Board of
Directors.
Penn State Emerging Leaders
11
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Step Three: Know How Others Can Help
The third step is to determine specific ways in which the various mentors you have
identified can help you. People will play different roles that are directly related to your
needs. Understanding that help, guidance, information, counsel, and support can come
from a variety of people in diverse ways is key to ensuring that your mentoring
relationships are dynamic and flexible.
Step Four: Know the Odds
The fourth step is to evaluate your own level of commitment to the mentoring process.
How much effort are you willing to put in so that this process becomes an on-going part
of your professional life? Think about the effort necessary for all successful mentoring
relationships including taking the initiative, making the time, and being open to learning.
Step Five: Know How to Reciprocate
The final step is to creatively determine how you can make all of your work with mentors
a true two-way street. What can you give back so that the mentors on your Board of
Directors feel that the time and energy they have given to you has been well spent?
Think about and identify unique ways in which you can help and appreciate others who
have helped you.
Penn State Emerging Leaders
12
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Short-Term Learning Experiences
Objectives: A short-term learning experience [that goes beyond your typical duties and
department] will help you to:
 Assess the match between your talents and interests relative to a specific
leadership challenge or role.
 Develop, refine, and apply new knowledge and skills.
 Increase your breadth of exposure to different areas of the University.
 Become more familiar with challenges and available resources in different areas at
Penn State.
 Increase your visibility within the institution.
Approach: Examples of short term learning experiences could include:
 Attending or joining a commission (e.g. Commission for Women, Commission on
Racial/Ethnic Diversity, etc.)
 Joining or leading a taskforce or ad hoc team
 Improving a designated workflow or work process
 Contributing to or leading an effort to improve workplace climate in a designated
area
 Contributing to a campus, college, or other area’s strategic plan—or attending a
strategic plan presentation
 Helping to plan or launch a new initiative, program, or service (e.g., start a green
team)
 Assessing customer satisfaction, needs, and preferences for a designated area
 Managing work with a broad, interdisciplinary scope
 Interacting with people from different disciplines, cultures, or countries who have
different perspectives
 Serving as a temporary “fill-in” while your boss is away from the office
 Helping to implement new office technology in a designated area
 Increasing breadth of experience by taking on a temporary assignment that
requires new knowledge or skills
 Mentoring a coworker
 Supporting the United Way fund drive
 Serving as a member on a Board of Directors
 Negotiating with a customer or vendor
 Leading a staff meeting, including preparing an agenda
Penn State Emerging Leaders
13
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Consider: Plan Ahead—But Be Flexible
Adapted from: Grow Your Own Leaders: How to Identify, Develop, and Retain Leadership Talent
As Penn State Emerging Leaders, you are encouraged to get involved in as many
different short-term learning experiences as possible. Learning opportunities should be
discussed and identified with the help of your supervisor, as well as the program leader.
That said, it’s also important to realize that many short-term development experiences
can’t be planned, because the workplace is full of surprises! Be vigilant about seeking out
new learning opportunities and be prepared to move swiftly when those opportunities
arise.
Closing Thoughts
“You can't learn leadership in a classroom alone. Leadership is a contact sport that must
be learned on-the-job with the help of mentors and a personal coach to guide you along
in self-development. As you learn effective leadership over time, you build your
capability to lead others. The bottom line is: leadership development is selfdevelopment.” –John Agno
Penn State Emerging Leaders
14
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Learning Log
Objectives: Keeping a learning log will help you to:
 Journal your learning and experiences.
 Allow for present and future self-reflection of lessons learned.
 Create a resource for the creation of your Leadership Philosophy Statement.
Approach: You are required to keep a learning log in order to capture insights acquired
as part of your Penn State Emerging Leaders experience, including the self-directed
informal workplace learning activities, as well as the seminars and learning group
takeaways. This log will be helpful to you as you continue to hone your Leadership
Learning Plan. It also will be a rich resource to return to throughout your career. The log
will include suggested guidelines for how to organize your thoughts and data. It is
important for you to create a learning log that fits your own style and circumstances in
order to sustain the use and relevance of the log over time.
Consider: The Learning Log as a Way to Leverage Learning
By Douglas T. Hall- Boston University School of Management (adapted for PSEL participants)
Research has found that when executives reflect on their experiences, their learning
increases dramatically. Or, as we might modify the old saying, “Experience is the best
teacher – if you can learn from it!” The learning log is a way to help you learn from your
experience. Research also shows that having some structure in your reflection can help
you do it more often and do it better. Here are some suggestions about how to structure
your reflections in your learning log as part of the Penn State Emerging Leader (PSEL)
Certificate program:
Format
People often ask what form learning log entries should be in—a notebook, a computer
file, etc.? The answer is, there is no one right way—the best way is whatever works best
for you. If it is easier to carry a small notebook around with you, so that you can jot
down quick reflections when they occur to you, do it that way. If it works better to sit
down at a keyboard (if, perhaps, you type much faster than you can write by hand), do it
that way.
Frequency
First, it’s best to get in the habit of taking the time to reflect and making entries in your
learning log on a regular basis. Pick a schedule that works best for you, but get into a
habit of doing it at specific times. At a minimum, make an entry at least once or twice a
week. Some possible times for regular reflection might be:
 At the end of each PSEL seminar.
 In the evening or the morning (whichever is more of a quiet time for you) .
 After you meet with your learning group.
Penn State Emerging Leaders
15
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance


After significant events (such as meeting with a mentor, trying something new
within your role, etc.).
After reading an article, book, or visiting a helpful website.
Content
Here are some thought-provoking questions to consider answering and recording in your
log:
 What happened in this experience? Write down a brief (3- or 4-sentence)
description of the events that occurred.
 What did you learn from that experience? Or, what were the lessons of that
experience?
 How can you use that learning (or those lessons) in the future? What action can
you take, using those lessons?
 Who can I tell about this lesson? (either by teaching or sharing)
Another way to capture your reflections is to review all of the things that you did since
your last journal entry:
 Have any intriguing ideas about leadership emerged from my day-to-day
interactions with others, or as a result of a PSEL activity?
 What ideas from my PSEL experience stand out in my mind as being especially
important?
 How would I characterize my involvement in the most recent PSEL seminar or
learning group meeting? Did I reach out and actively participate? Did I just offer
my own ideas and opinions, or did I also raise questions or provide information to
others? How did other people react to my ideas?
 When did I see my energy level peak? Decline? Why?
 What made it easy or difficult for me to learn? What does that say about how I
prefer to learn?
 Are there any general themes emerging?
Conclusion
You are often under great time pressure in your daily life, with time devoted to this
certificate program, your job, family, and friends—in short, with life! So it may seem as if
there is just not enough time to jot down some reflections and lessons on a regular basis.
Thus, you may often be tempted to replace reflection time with more task activity. Please
resist this temptation to skimp on reflection time. Each time you reflect, you’ll see good
value for the time invested. Trust the power of reflection and make it a regular ritual for
ending a day or a week or an important learning experience.
Penn State Emerging Leaders
16
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance
Consider: Learning Log Guidelines
By Marilyn W. Daudelin, The Reflection Handbook










Write in the learning log regularly.
Choose a specific time of day or week to devote to writing in your log.
Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, or complete sentences. (Just get the
thoughts down.)
Explore creative ways to record in your log (a poem, a picture, a metaphor, mind
maps, colored markers, etc., in addition to thoughtful prose.)
Adopt a spirit of inquiry (go with the flow, be curious, and learn).
At regular intervals, read what you’ve written.
Allow contradictions to occur (then explore any apparent paradoxes – good
learning here!).
Observe yourself as you think and learn with your learning log writing.
Share ideas with others (provides new insights, new learning log material).
Trust that you will discover relevant information. (If you believe this activity has
value, it will!)
Penn State Emerging Leaders
17
Center for Workplace Learning & Performance