Episode 157: Outside of the Box Professional Development for Emerging Leaders with Adi Clerman
Are you a leader or emerging leader wondering how to solve the professional development dilemma?
On one hand, you can choose professional development that’s rigid, vigorous, but unenjoyable. Think lots of PowerPoint slides, note taking, and a quiz at the end.
On the other hand, you can choose a professional development opportunity that your team will actually like. Think experiential learning, no right or wrong answers, and a slight bit of discomfort to propel you forward.
In today’s episode Erin and Adi Clerman discuss what it means to choose professional development opportunities that help each team member feel included in a unique way.
ICYMI – Your Post-Episode Homework: Think of one outside-the-box thing you have done recently. What's one thing that you have done in your day-to-day that's outside the norm? Write that thing down. Then challenge yourself to do one thing that is outside of the box this week.
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Connect with Erin Diehl:
Connect with Erin Diehl:
Email Erin: info@learntoimproveit.com
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Episode 157 Transcription
Erin (00:02):
Improve it peeps! Oh my God, I'm so excited for you to join the show today. Today we are talking all about outside of the box professional development for emerging leaders. So if you are a leader who is in charge of any type of young leadership groups, leaders who are on the forefront of making it happen within your organization, tune into today's show. If you are a leader and you are not leading emerging leaders, but you just want some fantastic tips and tricks on how improv can, can transform your culture, tune into today's show. And if you're not currently leading anyone, tune in because we've got some awesome tips and tricks on how outside of the box professional development can help you. Today I have my amazing friend, a Adi Clerman, who is an early talent re relationship manager at Gallagher and is based in New York City.
Erin (01:01):
She has extensive experience in recruitment and higher ed career services and has held positions at JP Morgan Edelman, DePaul University, NYU and Columbia University. Just a few small places, right? A d holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and Spanish from Beloit College and a master's degree and counseling from DePaul as a native of Cincinnati ad had a long stint in Chicago after college, which is how we met and has found her true home in New York City. Outside of work, she loves exploring dabbling and standup comedy, which you'll hear about cooking, elaborate meals for her friends and reading fancy books on the train to silently humble brag to her fellow passengers that she's smart. This show is packed with some awesome experience that AEE had and I had together working at Gallagher. I don't work at Gallagher, she works at Gallagher, but we're working together at Gallagher and we're also here.
Erin (01:58):
How we met, I'm just gonna stop talking because a day needs to show up. She is amazing. Get ready to improve it with my friend Adi Clerman. Hi new friend. I'm Erin Diehl, business improv edutainer, Failfluencer and keynote speaker who is ready to help you improve your it, it being the thing that makes you, you. So think of me as you are keeping it real. Professional development bestie who is here to help you develop yourself into the best version of you possible so you can develop your team and lead with intentionality, transparency, and authenticity. Oh, and did I mention we're improving your IT through play? That's right. I'm an improvisational comedy expert who uses experiential learning to help you have your aha haha moment. Those are the moments when the light bulb goes off and you're laughing at the same time. So grab your chicken hat, your notebook, and your inner child because I'm gonna take you on a journey that is both fun and transformative. Welcome to the Improve It Podcast. Oh my God. Sometimes the sing you went to the show a day. Isn't that so silly? Okay. I love when, this is my favorite thing that podcast hosts do. Like you'll be talking before you hit record and then they'll be like, hello and welcome to the Improve It podcast. But no, for real, welcome to the Improvement podcast today. I'm so happy to talk with you today.
Adi (03:42):
Thrilled to be here. Thank you, Erin.
Erin (03:44):
Oh my god. Well, and I was telling you before we hit record, she's tired. She's, she's already had a day. But I said to myself, if there was anybody I would wanna talk to today, it is you, you
Adi (04:02):
I will take that. I will take that compliment and receive it and enjoy it. And girl, I'm sorry you're so tired. What's the what? How you feeling?
Erin (04:11):
What's the what? I know. Well, she fell flud today. I told you this earlier. I just, I did the most when I said I'm gonna do the least. And so that's really what this is. And then while doing the most, there were many fails per usual in the journey that are now comical. You know, you gotta laugh at 'em. But I just, you know, it was like one of those things where I'm like rushing around for like five hours. She gets home, I speak in third person, now she gets a smoothie and then she's like, here we go. We're going with a D. And so I'm, I mean, truly like you bring joy to my life. I've known you for a long time. Tell our audience who we call the Improve it peeps, how we met.
Adi (04:53):
Oh, all right. Well thank you and hello. Improve it. Peeps excited to chat with you and hopefully you enjoy our conversation today. I feel like we're all having a conversation, which is nice. I feel like a fair amount of people know the story if they know both Erin and myself. But we met a long time ago in Chicago probably, what, 13 years ago now? 12. 13 years, yeah.
Erin (05:14):
Oh wow. Yeah.
Adi (05:16):
We were at a Chicago land chamber networking event when I was working in higher ed. It's Paul University and you were not doing improve it yet, but thinking about it, you were looking to hire interns and we met at this networking event next to the cheese board and we were both eating cheese and wanted to chat with each other, but our mouths were full. And then we both said hi, we'll talk in a second, but this cheese is really good. And then it was fine. We were inseparable after that. And so it has been great. I think it's hilarious that that's how we met. And then we ended up doing, you hired a lot of DePaul interns when you started improve it, which was wonderful. We have kept in touch beautifully. We, neither of us live in Chicago anymore. I'm in New York and you are in a city that begins with a sea, because I got it wrong the first time I was like Charleston or Charlotte and I'm gonna say it was Charleston. You are in Charleston.
Erin (06:16):
I met Charleston. You crushed it. That's a good thing. Yes.
Adi (06:19):
It was like, I'm not gonna get it wrong again. And I can't believe, I don't know that. But yeah, we, that's how we met. We met over cheese and then when we both lived in Chicago, we had a lot of old lady lunches at a really fancy steakhouse and we felt like we were like, you know, making it happen. And now you're interviewing me for your podcast for your incredibly successful like business venture that you talked about and made happen. So kudos to you.
Erin (06:47):
Oh my God, I love you that, you know what? I feel like the universe is trying to tell me today, Hey, like remember where you came from, you know, cuz some days you have those days where you wanna beat yourself up about certain things, but that is the power of networking. Our story is so awesome to me and I will never forget. Just I know, I can picture us exactly in this room. It was a giant cheeseboard too. I mean it was a beautiful,
Adi (07:14):
It was really good and they had multiple levels and the cheese was really good. It wasn't just cheddar cubes. They had like Huda and they had big blue cheese. I remember I had a lot of blue cheese cuz I was like getting crumbles on my desk. But you know what, that just makes me more real and more authentic. Yeah,
Erin (07:29):
That is a thousand percent. And, and I feel like if you ever struggle with networking and prove it peeps and you want to meet an amazing human, like a d go find a cheeseboard. Go find a cheeseboard. Stand near the cheese because that's where the real magic happens. Say cheese say it will happen. Say cheese. So cheesy. Ha <laugh>. Oh my god. She, okay, so now you were in New York. It's so ridiculous. You're in New York. I'm here in Charleston. I only like cities that start with a c h. Yes. <Laugh>. So you are now working, which just is another full circle moment. So let's talk about your role at Gallagher AJ Gallagher, which is where you currently work because improvement worked with Gallagher years ago. And then I hear from a certain client, oh, we have this amazing new hire a d that you're gonna be working with on this potential project. And I was so happy and you and I just were like, oh my God, this is full circle life moment. So tell us what you do at AJ Gallagher.
Adi (08:42):
Isn't, it wasn't that it was like wacky in the most wonderful way. Like, I remember my current manager, Julia, she said, oh, we're doing this, like, we're working with this like corporate improv group called Improvement. And I was like, like Erin deal, like, is that who you mean? And she's like, yeah. And I was like, I know her very well, <laugh>. And then I told her about the Cheeseboard and she's like, okay, you can run with that, that's fine then if you guys know each other. And it worked out great. And also we had improve it this past year at one of our biggest intern events. And it was so wonderful and special to see how exci how big and how important and, and exciting and fun like improvement has grown. And to meet your staff. I was like, your staff, like, I mean look at you and your staff.
Adi (09:30):
But it was really great. Very impressive, very cool. And like I felt like very excited to be part of that. So a little bit about my role. I work at AJ Gallagher and I live in New York City. It's based out of Rolling Matters Illinois. It's based outta Chicago. But, so it's kind of interesting that I'm in a office when I have nothing to do with Chicago anymore, which is crazy. I'm an early talent relationship manager. And essentially what that means is, is that myself and my team work to design and implement our intern and early talent programs with the purpose of retaining them and growing them within the organization. Or in very simple terms, we wanna make sure that our interns and our early talent really enjoy their experience and stay with our company. So basically we manufacture interesting, educational and good times, <laugh>, that's what we do.
Erin (10:28):
You know what I, I'm in a similar line of work. I get that. And you know, I will tell you that it's so cool to see your career evolve because I know, you know, we've known each other since you were back at DePaul. You're doing this now on, dare I say a national or global scale. Would I say global or would I say national?
Adi (10:48):
Our company is global, but our team is at a national level and then our team has an intern and an early talent program that is national. Our intern program is about 500. Our early talent program is about a hundred, 150. And then I handle the north and southeast region. So I handle that Eastern seaboard and I love it. It's really cool. But I get to be based outta New York, which allows me easy access to where I need to be.
Erin (11:18):
Oh, I love it so much. And we worked together at Gallagher in the past. We've worked with Gallagher before, but nothing to this extent. Last year we did you had 400 interns, if I'm saying that right,
Adi (11:32):
A little. We're gonna, we're gonna bump that up to like
Erin (11:35):
4 80, 4 8. Last year it was four 80. Okay. And I'm very wrong. Yeah. And, and we had four simultaneous sessions happening where mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, you had all of these, these groups sort of rotate throughout our workshops. And I will say you have been on this show before, but just a clip, just a sound clip because I wanna get to what happened in that workshop with Cameron later. We're gonna talk about that later and it's very exciting, improve peeps. But what made your team really think about this outside approach to professional development using improv as a tool to retain and to help them enjoy this experience and kind of gauge their interests? What was it that really stood out about improv in particular?
Adi (12:28):
Well, one, I think our personality type for the students that we hire for our internship program, it's a really robust sales internship. And just like the natural personality of that tends to be a bit more extroverted, tends to be a bit more comfortable with taking risks. That's a big generalization, but I don't think I'm too far off. And two, we are always looking for innovative and exciting ways to liven up these conferences. It's a large training conference that we were a part of. And so we wanted things that weren't dry that were really unique and absolutely improve it with the bills. So I think it was a combination. And three, we obviously just had really nice connections there, so it all worked out. And we also talked about this a little bit behind the scenes we're like women own business. Yes. It's like a great diversity initiative too. Like, and we're supporting, like it was really a lot of good pieces came together. So yeah, I think it was a combination of one, we didn't want anything to be dry, we wanted, and something that was like really fun, spontaneous, exciting, but also taught communication skills. Two are the types of students we hire ha tend to have a personality that lends itself nicely to this sort of risk. And then the third is that we always really like the organization and, and wanted to scale with it. So it's exciting.
Erin (13:52):
Oh my God, you guys are the best. Well, and I will say this too, I think seeing it in action, working with I, I physically did not facilitate these workshops, but knowing this population, knowing emerging leaders, it really is something that you have to think about from an internship perspective. You really have to think about how can we be competitive? How can we keep the, how can we give them an experience that isn't going to just be another, you know, day in the life. We want something that's outside of the box. We wanna change it up. And you're right, this group definitely rose to the occasion and I see that a lot with emerging leaders. And you've worked with early career development most of, I would say all your career, right?
Adi (14:38):
Yeah. I would say the majority, if not all of my career has been in some form of early talent. Whether it was early talent recruitment, I was in higher ed career services for a long time working with undergrad, intern or sometimes like PhD or MD level students, but still early in their career or an exploratory phase. And then here at Gallagher in this role, what I really like about it is that it's a really nice combination of like my career coaching, my project management, my recruitment all into one and in a really like nice fast based environment. And it's something that I very much believe in about giving people a really strong professional break or base making people feel welcome at an organization because feeling comfortable always helps retention. Yeah. And that's what true diversity and inclusion is like making people feel included in different ways. So I feel very proud that especially at Gallagher, we're creating programs that hope with the goal of making people feel comfortable, welcome, seen, heard, valued at the company. So at the end of the day, they stay with
Erin (15:46):
Us. Yes. And I love that. And that is, you know, I love the initiatives with, I I love first of all that you brought this up about inclusion because I will say this, why I think improv really works as a teaching tool is because it puts everyone in that room on the same playing field. I mean from any, from a title perspective, from an ethnic, an ethnicity perspective you can literally have a million different types of people in the same room and you're all going through the same thing at the same time. You're all feeling this, this moment of uncertainty. And then that's my favorite thing to witness is this group of people coming together as, let's just say it's 20 individuals walk out this cohesive group of 20. Because together you have to postpone judgment through this idea of vs. And you have to allow all voices in the room to be heard in order for this art form to work. And you have to allow people to feel seen, heard and valued. That's what happens when those things happen. People feel that way and they wanna continue to show up and play. And I think it's just so cool what Gallagher is doing. I think it's so cool how you and your career have evolved so much over time and you're really implementing the things that I, I think are the most important within organizations and cultures. So kudos to you.
Adi (17:18):
Thanks. And like a little bit more context with that. And it's something that like, I really appreciate about us and our relationship. I was so lucky to take one of your improv classes back in Chicago a long time ago. What now? Like 10 years ago. And it was something that you invited me to and I'm a pretty like outgoing person, but when I did a lot of the improv, like what is it called? Like when I did a lot of the improv sessions or or
Erin (17:47):
Activities. Activities.
Adi (17:49):
What's the word? What's the word? There was a part where I got really tripped up and I could not think of whatever it was like I couldn't think of like I got stuck and I was silent and I was terrified because I felt all these emotions at once. I was like embarrassed. I was double embarrassed, <laugh>. I was scared. I felt weird. I kind of felt dumb and like every single person around me from all these different, different, like there were men, women, different industries were there and everybody was saying Go, go, go. You got it, you got it. And then I figured out whatever silly word I had to say and it felt great and I never forgot that because like all my worst fears kind of came true. And I'm still here and now you're interviewing me. So like look at that ha <laugh>
Erin (18:36):
Full circle. And I, you know what? I know exactly the workshop. I have pictures of you from it. And that is so cool because that's what it is. It's a supportive space. We all have each other's back and I love it so much as an art form. And I love that you got outside of your comfort zone years ago and trusted me enough to come to that.
Erin (19:04):
I love a tea. Get ready for some more a d later this week. I loved this outside of the box approach to professional development. That's obviously what I do for a living. But you can really see that this type of work works with this population, emerging leaders and especially the ones that Gallagher really latched on to this type of development. And what I will tell you is that I think, and I don't think I know that this type of work can serve anyone and I mean anyone. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to think of one outside of the box thing you have done recently. What's one thing that you have done in your day-to-day that's outside the norm? I want you to write that thing down. And then I want you to challenge yourself to do one thing that is outside of the box this week.
Erin (20:08):
This week. I'm not talking next week, I'm talking this week. What can you do to change it up? Not only will that change shift your perspective, it's going to energetically shift you and your development not only professionally but personally. So really think about the outside of the box approaches you've taken in the past. Give them some credit. Say I've done that and get ready for some more. I'm so excited to share more with you from a d coming tomorrow and the next day. Stay tuned. And as you know, my friends, I want you to keep failing. Keep improving. Guess what just happened? I just dropped my laptop. Cause the world needs that special it that only you can bring. I'll see you tomorrow and this is fail fluency at its finest. Improve it pees, you know, I keep it real. I'll see you soon. Hey friend, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the Improve It podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshotted and send me an email at info learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Improve It Peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.