{"id":4663,"date":"2020-11-18T06:39:20","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T06:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/2020\/11\/myths-vs-reality-building-leadership-skills-online\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T13:42:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T20:42:32","slug":"myths-vs-reality-building-leadership-skills-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/2020\/11\/myths-vs-reality-building-leadership-skills-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Myths vs. Reality: Building Leadership Skills Online Infographic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:85px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-key-takeaways\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Online learning can effectively develop leadership and soft skills<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Many companies still underestimate online learning\u2019s potential despite proven results<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Real-time application of skills makes online programs highly impactful<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The innovative team at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) Executive Education turned online learning on its ear when they launched their LEAD Online Business program in 2015. &nbsp;They were able to offer an <a href=\"https:\/\/novoed.com\/resources\/blog\/stanford-lead-online-executive-education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">authentic GSB experience in an online format<\/a>, preserving rigor and impact in an immersive, high-touch, and interactive experience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Five years later, many organizations still think online learning is only effective for certain types of skill development. Surprisingly, although leadership development is the #1 area of talent investment, over 50% of organizations have put leadership training on hold in 2020, rather than moving online, due to long-held misconceptions about online learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This infographic, adapted from our <a href=\"https:\/\/novoed.com\/resources\/webinars\/busting-the-myths-of-building-leadership-skills-online\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">webinar<\/a> with Audrey Witters, Managing Director, Online &amp; Entrepreneurship Programs at Stanford GSB Executive Education, dispels some of this mythical thinking and reveals that the true potential of online learning, especially for leadership development, is far greater than most people realize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Busting-the-Myths-of-Building-Leadership-Skills-Online_070924_v2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9426\" width=\"600\" height=\"3047\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-fe48e5de wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-medium-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Busting-the-Myths-of-Building-Leadership-Skills-Online_070924_v2.pdf\" style=\"background:linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(241,86,64) 0%,rgb(249,144,98) 100%);font-style:normal;font-weight:500;text-decoration:none;text-transform:uppercase\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Download Infographics<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-myth-1-online-learning-is-only-good-for-knowledge-acquisition-not-soft-skills\"><strong>Myth #1 : Online learning is only good for knowledge acquisition, not soft skills<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soft skill development\u2013such as leadership, communication, and design thinking\u2013requires feedback and iterative application<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Effective and engaging facilitators provide thought-provoking feedback and drive impact<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Reality: Modern online facilitation models enable human feedback beyond what\u2019s possible in person, developing learners\u2019 soft skills<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-myth-2-online-learning-is-a-solo-endeavor\"><strong>Myth #2: Online learning is a solo endeavor<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Catalyze real community development and foster deep social connections through collaborative learning exercises and group assignments&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Diversify teams so learners can benefit from other experiences and perspectives<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Reality: True social learning drives impact. Online learning programs can draw from a diverse population, amplifying the power of the community.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/novoed.com\/resources\/insights\/stanford-chuck-eesley-study-shows-efficacy-of-team-based-online-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Online learners in teams<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sign on 5x as frequently<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Remain active on the learning platform 2x as long than learners without teams<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-myth-3-online-learning-is-a-pale-approximation-of-face-to-face-nbsp\"><strong>Myth #3: Online learning is a pale approximation of face to face&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Immediately apply concepts in the context of real work<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collaborate with others and get feedback<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Share in each other\u2019s learnings and growth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Reality: Online learning integrates experiential learning with work, often resulting in better learning outcomes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4>Related Searches<\/h4>\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/novoed.com\/resources\/insights\/everyday-leaders-a-new-vision-for-leadership-development\/\">Leaders With Vision<\/a>,\n<a href=\"https:\/\/novoed.com\/resources\/webinars\/everyday-leaders-a-new-vision-for-leadership-development\/\">Everyday Leaders: A New Vision For Leadership Development<\/a>,\n<a href=\"https:\/\/novoed.com\/resources\/blog\/virtual-team-leadership-training\/\">Virtual Leadership Training<\/a>,\n<a href=\"https:\/\/novoed.com\/resources\/blog\/myths-busted-the-reality-of-developing-leadership-skills-online\/\">Online Learning Myths, Busted<\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leadership development is the #1 area of talent investment, yet over 50% of organizations have put leadership training on hold in 2020, rather than moving online, due to long-held misconceptions about online learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":4665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4663"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10807,"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4663\/revisions\/10807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novoed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}