Why do sports fans love opening day? The brand-new season brings with it infinite potential, renewed passion, and belief in new possibilities.

President Donald Trump has tasked his administration with creating 25 million new jobs, but a lack of jobs may not be what's holding back American business. Many experts believe a skills gap is the real problem.

An organization's talent development function exists, among other reasons, to develop employees so that they're able to contribute to achieving organizational goals. But if employees likely won't remain with one company throughout their entire careers, and given the evolving work dynamics in place, it's to employees' advantage to take professional development into their own hands, to achieve their personal goals. Right?

Rob Lauber is chief learning officer at McDonald's, where he oversees a staff of 250 people across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Under his purview are the L&D Center of Excellence and seven Hamburger Universities around the world, as well as education and accreditation programs. In all, L&D's audience is about 1.9 million McDonald's employees.

Creating and filling a leadership pipeline is a common challenge across organizations, especially for C-suite positions. It was logical that senior leaders be replaced by internal employees the company just needed to develop a group of viable candidates.To prepare for these and other key executives retirements, executive leadership including Gina Smith, head of organization development the CEO COO and HR director formed a steering committee.

The argument: Despite companies' best efforts, most leadership development programs don't work. Two thought leaders share their contrasting viewpoints on the topic.

Building and launching mentoring programs can seem daunting. Yet despite the initial challenges, mentoring programs are increasing in popularity, with more than two-thirds of top executives reporting to have a mentor.

Bestselling author, brilliant orator, and effective champion for abolition, Frederick Douglass is an inspiration to all Americans. Born a slave in 1817, Douglass escaped to freedom in 1838 while continuing to advocate for the freedom of all slaves.

The ability to understand and manage ones own emotions, and to recognize and influence others emotions, is a critical leadership skill. The emotions of individuals can either activate and motivate the team, or move them to disassociate from the goal and passively comply.

Not enough organizations develop leaders at all levels.

Key attraction, retention, and engagement issues that influence the employee experience.

Cignas talent development team estimates that less than half of physician-leaders worldwide perform well in their roles, and believes that a lack of leadership development programs for clinicians may be contributing to the problem.As a result, Cignas corporate university set itself apart in 2013 by launching the Physician Leadership Development Program (PLDP). PLDP aimed to help a select group of doctors evolve into leaders by developing their business acumen and interpersonal, leadership, and networking skills.

They fail because they do not mesh with company culture or the people on their teams.Thus, Genpacts company officers and talent development team understood how important it was for the executives to undergo smooth transitions to their new roles. If they didnt, the companys 72,000-plus employees in 25 countries would perform below their peak.To protect Genpacts interests, the organizations talent development function created the Global Integration Program to introduce the executives to company culture and the demands of their jobs.

In 1945, Ralph F. and Alice Stayer opened a butcher shop in the quaint town of Johnsonville, Wisconsin. In particular, this growth required Johnsonville to develop leaders in manufacturing who could successfully scale up operations, lead teams, and exemplify Johnsonvilles corporate culture, which valued integrity, respect, and innovation.Following the results of a survey that identified current manufacturing leaders skills gaps, the senior leader team recommended that the organizational development and learning (ODL) team launch the Building Leaders and...

They designed and implemented the Haworth Leadership Institute (HLI), which included development programs for managers and leaders at all levels of the organization. Thus, in 2014, Harten and the HR team set out to design and launch a program to help them build these skills: The Aspiring Leader Program.

Creativity dreams up ideas, but innovation carries them through. How else does a company remain both productive and adaptive?

The talent development tools of the trade. Ann Parker outlines what readers can expect in the Fall 2016 issue of the Association for Talent Development's CTDO magazine.

Talent development is an accelerator for the transition to the "new" IBM.

Change the way leaders are identified and developed at all levels of your organization.

Pat McLagan explains why knowing your business is key to impacting your organizations strategy.