How being a learner helps me thrive!

Being curious in a fast-changing world has saved me so many times.

Asking the right questions, paying attention to details, and understanding the circumstances are essential when finding the perfect new talent for an overworked team, building webinars and communication action plans for high-ranking DHS leaders, or creating microlearning for a targeted audience. Curiosity has led me to success in these endeavors by focusing on continuous learning and incorporating new knowledge into my work.

Staying curious has led to a successful and fruitful career of:

a. managing people and programs in complex environments with clients present,

b. attracting top talent and educating hiring managers on the significance of adhering to labor laws,

c. supporting human capital design solutions and business development proposals, and

d. creating and overseeing initiatives for the growth of the organization and its employees.

Below is a snapshot describing how the talents in Learner manifest for me most.

This screenshot contains Learner, Kaila's fourth strength in the CliftonStrengths assessment from Gallup.

The first talent identified under Learner has to do with people. I enjoy understanding why people work the way they do and validating their lived experiences with the knowledge I've gathered through research. This is a powerful tool; as a coach, as someone who translates other experts' work into training materials, and as someone who needs to create engaging and thorough compliance training. Empowering others enables group innovation and success, and it just feels good!

The second talent under Learner expands on the idea that others, when prompted, can surprise you and help you make unexpected jumps in ideation and creative problem-solving. All the revelations I've come to from thought leadership and experience expand when I reflect with others and hear how they might view the same content differently. I welcome multiple perspectives because the learners I've supported have always had diverse life experiences and technical expertise.

The remaining talents zoom in on my love of context and affirm once more my curiosity.

• Context is important because we are more likely to be effective tomorrow when we know what has worked and failed in the past and why. That's why I've always advocated for knowledge management practices in my programs—specifically onboarding and the Leadership Development Program—even when we've had to be very thoughtful about how much employee discretionary time we're using.

• Curiosity, because it feels so much like a gift in 2025. With the amount of information at our fingertips, there are many nuggets of knowledge to gain. Although I won't be able to learn it all, the more expansive my knowledge gets, the more it helps me see connections between areas of life that are different in name but not always in practice.

Why this matters?

I have the privilege of overseeing a program aimed at having all Fors Marsh employees complete the CliftonStrengths assessment. The information above explains how being a learner relates to my career, similar to what employees share with me during coaching sessions about their assessment results. Through simple questions and conversation, they provide insights, and once I understand their goals, experience, and job roles, I guide them on enhancing and leveraging their strengths at work. These sessions are centered on using strengths to become more efficient, effective, and confident in their abilities to succeed.

In managing this program, I gained expertise in interpreting assessment results, which I used for one-on-one coaching with leaders. Over time, I improved the program's performance insights by analyzing team grids we developed to boost collaboration. I extracted insights based on recurring themes and strengths in the data. This allowed my team to offer performance advice to staff and create additional resources and suggestions for leaders aiming to boost motivation and efficiency in programs and team objectives. It also enabled us to connect them with other teams that had strengths where they didn't, to increase innovation and effectiveness.

CliftonStrengths required me to use the following skills regularly:

• Program management

• Performance Management

• Coaching

• Data Analysis

• ILT Design and Facilitation

• Career Mapping

• System Management (Gallup Access)