"The Upskilling Imperative offers a remarkable amount of insight into how knowledge and learning can be unleashed in an organization. Every leader hoping to build or maintain a successful learning culture within their company should read this book!"
--Marshall Goldsmith, New York Times #1 bestselling author of Triggers, Mojo, and What Got You Here Won't Get You There"In a workplace with five generations, there's one skill that's important no matter your age: continuous learning. The Upskilling Imperative is a road map for anyone who wants to build learning into the flow of work, foster growth throughout every stage of an employee's career, and ultimately use continuous upskilling as a competitive advantage."
--Chip Conley, Airbnb Strategic Advisor for Hospitality and Leadership and founder of Modern Elder Academy
"In today's workplace, employees want to grow on the job--up, down, and sideways. Companies that will thrive in today's world of work take professional development personally, and are creating a culture where learning is valued. The Upskilling Imperative makes the case for learning as the way we grow and transform as individuals and organizations. Just about every page has an idea that you can put to use right away to make your workplace more human and be more productive."
--Erica Keswin, workplace strategist and author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Bring Your Human To Work
"Every top performer I ever meet always has one thing in common: they're lifetime learners. Rather than settling after formal education, they embrace a love of learning for the long run. Shelley Osborne's The Upskilling Imperative gives a fresh and honest take on how organizations can harness that mentality and cultivate top performers every day."
--Josh Linkner, New York Times bestselling author, tech entrepreneur, venture capitalist
"With the excruciating speed with which work, and learning, is changing--automating, shifting to machines, disrupting every part of our lives--creating workplaces of rich, diverse, perpetual learning is no longer an aspiration. It's a moral imperative. We owe it to those who've served our companies well to prepare them for the future and to keep our enterprises viable and thriving. Osborne and Witkin, and their Udemy team, have done a marvelous job in this book providing a blueprint for how to do it. Scrap everything you thought you knew about what learning really is, and start over by reading this book. Learning is a consequence of thinking and being, not teaching. The Upskilling Imperative will guide you on your journey to real learning if you have the courage to follow."
--Ron Carucci, Managing Partner at Navalent and author of Rising to Power
"When employees think about learning and development, they typically picture a workshop or program that aims to inspire, motivate, and educate--and rarely does any of those. And yet, organizations are still offering them, and employees are still attending them, costing both of them time and money. Why? The Upskilling Imperative not only answers that question, but offers fresh and actionable insights into how we can change the learning game into one where everybody wins. Written for readability and packed with relevant research, this book should be top of mind for anyone charged with helping people get better, faster."
--Deborah Grayson Riegel, CEO and Chief Communication Coach, Talk Support and author of Overcoming Overthinking
"We're going to live to a hundred! Or more. That means lifelong learning isn't a nice to have, it's a necessity--for individuals and organizations. In her new book The Upskilling Imperative, Shelley Osborne, Vice President of Learning at Udemy, pro-vides practical advice along with psychological research (on why certain methods work) and the science behind successful sales (so you can market educational opportunities)to demonstrate that democratizing learning is the key to organizational inclusion and personal empowerment. It's a must-read for learning and development professionals and the people enlisting their services."
--Melanie Katzman, PhD, author of the #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller Connect First
"It's time for individuals and companies to recognize that we must never stop learning. The way to survive and thrive in today's world is to learn--again and again. In The Upskilling Imperative, Shelley Osborne not only makes the case for continuous learning, but provides an action plan we can all adopt."
--Diane Flynn, CEO of ReBoot Accel, Udemy instructor on Growth Mindset, and author of The Upside
"Keeping up with the rapid pace of change is an uphill battle for many employees. Yet learning, upskilling, and just trying to stay relevant has never been more important than right now. How can companies today best support continuous learning and development for employees? With The Upskilling Imperative, Shelley Osborne maps out exactly how we can infuse our workplaces with a learning culture that will fuel performance, boost success, and add more meaning for companies and employees alike."
--Ginny Brzezinski, coauthor of Comeback Careers
