We’re Not ‘Order Takers’: Become a Trusted Business Advisor

The term “order-taker” makes many of us shudder. It reduces our work to a simple transaction that often fails to solve organizational problems. Without a solution, the learning we deliver becomes a “nice to have,” wasting time and resources while dinging our own credibility. We long to create transformational experiences, yet we continue to be called upon to fill orders. To escape this cycle, we need to become trusted business advisors who work with stakeholders as equals, solving problems and infusing L&D into organizational strategy. Any L&D professional can play this role—if they know how.

Join this session to learn a two-part formula to move from order-taker to trusted business advisor with your key stakeholders. You will begin by identifying stakeholders for a current or upcoming project(s). You will then place your identified stakeholders on the “Trusted Business Advisor Grid,” a tool that exposes exactly where you need to apply your efforts to move away from order taker status.

Next, we will move to solutioning, where we will outline the specific actions you can take based on your results from the Trusted Business Advisor Grid. You will create a plan to move forward with the help of your fellow attendees.

You will leave this session with a simple tool to assess your status with each stakeholder, along with practical action steps that you can put in place as soon as you return to your workplace. Thus, you will be prepared to launch your journey to become a trusted business advisor.

In this session you will learn:

• How to apply a two-part formula to your individual situation that will move you from order taker to trusted business advisor in your work with stakeholders
• How to use the “Trusted Business Advisor Grid,” a tool that is used to expose the area(s) where you need to focus your own efforts to move away from order taker status
• Specific actions to take based on your results from the “Trusted Business Advisor Grid,” along with a practical action plan to put in place immediately upon return to your workplace
• A repeatable process to use when working with any stakeholder to achieve trusted business advisor status