Learning Resources
Are you looking for something to watch or listen to about a specific learning topic, such as emotional intelligence? Or, perhaps you’re looking for a book or article about leadership skills? Maybe you’re looking for a self-paced course on communication skills?
HR ELE has gathered the following resources on popular and trending employee learning topics. We hope that this flexibility – a choose your own learning adventure – enables you to continue to develop and grow as your time and energy permit.
Watch/Listen
- TED talk: Grit: the power of passion and perseverance
- TED playlist: Craft your curiosity
- TED talk: “Squiggly” careers and the end of the traditional path
- Identity Capital, The Rounds with Brandon & Taylor
Read/Practice/Reflect
- Give & Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success (Adam Grant)
- 21 books that’ll get you ahead at work, according to career coaches (The Muse)
- The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter and How to Make the Most of Them Now (Meg Jay)
- The American Upskilling Study: Empowering Workers for the Jobs of Tomorrow (Gallup)
- Stanford d.school reading list (list of books on design thinking)
Watch/listen:
TED talk: Want to get great at something? Get a coach
TED talk: Leaders who coach are creating better workplaces
Audiobook: Co-Active Coaching: Changing Business, Transforming Lives (available through VU Libraries)
Read/practice/reflect:
Book: The Tao of Coaching: Boost Your Effectiveness at Work by Inspiring and Developing Those Around You
Book: Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want
Book: Helping People Change: Coaching with Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth
Book: Coaching for Performance: GROWing People, Performance, and Purpose
Self-paced courses:
Coaching Techniques that Inspire Coachees to Action (Skillsoft course)
Watch/Listen
- TED talk: 4 tips to kickstart honest conversations at work
- TED talk: The art of finding common ground
Read/Practice/Reflect
- Contributing to virtual meetings (ELE infographic)
- Leading your team in contributing in virtual meetings (ELE infographic)
- Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time (Susan Scott)
- The Science of What Makes People Care (article)
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
- *Skills for Communication Success (Skillsoft course
Watch/Listen
- TED playlist: How to bring empathy and authenticity to your life
Read/Practice/Reflect
- Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive (Dr. Marc Brackett)
- Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive (Susan Scott)
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
Understanding Higher Education (three e-learning courses from CUPA-HR):
- Course 1: An overview of higher education for all employees (including information on types of institutions, cultural hallmarks, basics of higher education funding, and more) (open access – no registration required)
- Course 2: Higher education employment practices (for HR practitioners; includes information on tenure, academic titles, reporting structures, and more)
- Course 3: Succeeding and leading in higher education (for leaders; includes strategies, resources, and key leadership skills)
To access Course 2 or 3, please email ele@vanderbilt.edu to be added to the CUPA-HR membership roster. (There is no cost.)
Watch/Listen
- TED playlist: Tips for inclusive leadership
- TED playlist: How fearless women lead
Read/Practice/Reflect
- The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety: Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation (Timothy Clark)
- The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace (Gary Chapman & Paul White)
- How to identify and tell your most powerful stories (Harvard Business Review)
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
- *Leading Virtual Teams (Skillsoft course)
- *Taking the Lead with Workplace
- *Motivation and Engagement (Skillsoft course)
- *Inspiring and Developing as a Leader (Skillsoft course)
- *Leading in the Post-pandemic Workplace (Skillsoft course)
- *Leveraging Team Skills (Skillsoft course)
- *Coaching to Drive Success (Skillsoft course)
Watch/Listen
- TED talk: How the power of mentoring can change the world
- TED talk: Mentors: Through research, in practice, and on reality-tv
- TED talk: Science of mentorship
For mentees:
For mentors:
- TED talk: How to be a great mentor
Read/Practice/Reflect
For mentees:
- How to be a great mentee (Forbes)
For mentors:
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
Watch/Listen
Read/Practice/Reflect
- Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage (Harvard Business Review)
- Thinking Differently: Neurodiversity in the Workplace
- Neurodiversity Hub
- Autism and Neurodiversity in the Workplace (course modules from the University of British Columbia) - https://circa.educ.ubc.ca/autism-in-the-workplace/
Vanderbilt Resources
- The Frist Center for Autism and Innovation - https://www.vanderbilt.edu/autismandinnovation/
Watch/Listen
Assumptions:
- TEDxStanford: 5 Steps to Designing the Life You Want, by Bill Burnett
Communication strategies
Energy
- The Accidental Creative: How to Captivate with Vanessa Van Edwards
- TED Talk: Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are, by Amy Cuddy
Read/Practice/Reflect
- Own the Room: Discover Your Signature Voice to Master Your Leadership Presence (Amy Jen Su & Murial Maignan Wilkins)
- Develop your signature voice Harvard Business Review
Assumptions:
- Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life (Bill Burnett & Dave Evans)
- The 15-Minute Method to Writing an Unforgettable Elevator Speech (The Muse)
Communication strategies:
- How to Frame Your Messages for Maximum Impact (Harvard Business Review)
- 3 Communication Mistakes You’re Making at Work (The Muse)
Energy:
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
- *First Time Manager Essentials (Skillsoft course)
- *Inspiring and Developing as a Leader (Skillsoft course)
- *Leveraging Team Skills (Skillsoft course)
- *Coaching to Drive Success (Skillsoft course)
- *Gaining Insight through Organizational Awareness (Skillsoft course)
- Purpose in Life Quiz, by the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley
Watch/Listen
- TED talk: Who are you, really? The puzzle of personality
- TED talk: The power of introverts
Read/Practice/Reflect
- The Complete Enneagram: 27 Paths to Greater Self-Knowledge (Beatrice Chestnut)
- The Four Tendencies: The Indispensible Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too) (Gretchen Rubin)
- Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type (Isabel Briggs Myers)
- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (Susan Cain)
- Contributing in virtual meetings (ELE infographic)
- Leading your team in contributing in virtual meetings (ELE infographic)
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
- 16 Personalities (quiz)
Watch/Listen
- TED talk: The 3 magic ingredients of amazing presentations
- TED playlist: How to make a great presentation
- ELE Workshop: Creating Presentations That Stick: Design Principles
- ELE Workshop: Creating Presentations That Stick: Engaging Your Audience
Read/Practice/Reflect
- Vanderbilt Center for Teaching
- Accessibility
- Color wheel
- Coblis — Color Blindness Simulator – Colblindor (color-blindness.com)
- Alt text
- 10 Tips for Improving Your Presentations (Presentation Zen)
- Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel)
- Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Garr Reynolds)
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
- Khan Academy/Pixar in a Box – The Art of Storytelling
- *Office 365: PowerPoint (Skillsoft course)
Watch/Listen
Read/Practice/Reflect
- Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones (James Clear)
- Which of these 6 time traps is eating up all your time? (TED)
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
- *Project Management for All (Skillsoft course)
- *Project Management Professional Certification (6th ed.) (Skillsoft course)
Watch/Listen
- TED playlist: Before public speaking
Read/Practice/Reflect
- The Art of Public Speaking (Dale Carnegie)
- Talk like TED: The 9 Public Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds (Carmine Gallo)
- How to identify and tell your most powerful stories (Harvard Business Review)
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
- *Public Speaking Strategies (Skillsoft course)
Watch/Listen
- TED playlist: The power of collaboration
Read/Practice/Reflect
- The secrets of great teamwork (Harvard Business Review)
- The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team (Patrick Lencioni)
- Gamestorming: A playbook for innovators, rulebreakers, and changemakers (Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, & James Macanufo)
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
- *Contributing as a Virtual Team Member (Skillsoft course)
- *Cultivating Cross-functional Team Collaboration (Skillsoft course)
Watch/Listen
- TED talk: The power of vulnerability
- TED talk: What we don’t understand about trust
Read/Practice/Reflect
- Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. (Brené Brown)
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
- *The Building Blocks of Building Trust (Skillsoft course)
Watch/Listen
- TED talk: Why we all need to practice emotional first aid
- TED talk: The art of stillness
- TED talk: The cure for burnout (hint: it isn’t self-care)
- TED talk: How to turn off work thoughts during your free time
- TED talk: 4 lessons the pandemic taught us about work, life and balance
Read/Practice/Reflect
- Mind going a million miles a minute? Slow it down with this breathing exercise (TED)
- Are you a procrastinator or a pre-crastinator? (TED)
- Faculty & Staff Health and Wellness
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
- *Mental Health Awareness (Skillsoft course)
- Kognito At-Risk
Watch/Listen
Read/Practice/Reflect
Self-paced Courses (incl. Skillsoft)
If you have any suggestions for topics to include in this list, or resources to include, please let us know at ele@vanderbilt.edu.