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Parker A. Grant is an instructional designer, e-learning developer, cartoonist, and learning consultant in the L&D community. He's also the brainchild and co-head honcho of IDLance along with fellow co-head honcho Andrea Dottling. Parker worked for a Fortune 50 company for over 21 years as an engineer, trainer, instructional designer, and training manager before starting his own consulting biz in 2008.He earned his Master's in Educational Technology and a PhD in Adult Learning, with a specialization in mental models and concept mapping. Stuff he digs: drawing, running on the trails, traveling, golfing, spending time with family and friends (including four teenage kids who constantly eat him out of house and home).

Parker A. Grant

As we evolve in the workplace, L&D managers are increasingly adopting immersive learning solutions to help learners grasp new concepts and skills in their appropriate contexts.

2D-Immersive E-Learning: Why We Think It’s a No Brainer

“Acquiring and keeping good people is a leader’s most important task.”—John Maxwell Many organizations hire and promote using the wrong criteria. The results can be disastrous: egomaniacs, poor team players, or ethical corner-cutters who cause embarrassment and financial loss to the organization.When hiring, many organizations focus on “head” characteristics, such as knowledge, expertise, intelligence, education, experience, and skills. Of course, those factors are important. Ron Sugar, former CEO and chairman of Northrop-Grumman, told us, “A lot of our work is literally rocket science, so we have 45,000 outstanding scientists and engineers.”“Heart,” on the other hand, includes such intangibles as character, will, passion, courage, and persistence. Parker Palmer, a distinguished author and teacher, captured this sentiment well: “I’m using the word ‘heart’ as they did in ancient times. It meant that center in the human self where everything comes together—where will and intellect and values and feeling and intuition and vision all converge. It meant the source of one’s integrity. It takes courage to lead from the heart.”As Lynn Easterling, vice president and deputy general counsel at Cisco Systems, told us, “I can teach the hard skills, but I can’t teach good character or good relational skills.”CharacterThe search for heart in people begins with ascertaining their personal character. People with character do the right thing even when it is costly or hard. Character involves trustworthiness, humility, courage, willingness to serve, and the realization that there is something bigger than the self. We cannot expect perfection, but we can probe for what people learned when they made mistakes.We need to look for character flaws in new recruits and colleagues, including excessive ambition, controlling behaviors, hyper-competitiveness, bullying, narcissism, arrogance, and greed. Perhaps the biggest red flag is ego. Our friend Chuck Wachendorfer quips, “My ego is not my amigo.”Emotional intelligenceAnother important component of heart is emotional intelligence. Ursula Burns, CEO of Xerox, told us she no longer interviews to determine task skills, relying on others to screen such head matters. Instead, she probes for character, humility, empathy, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, authenticity, and fearlessness.According to psychologist Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence entails “managing feelings so that they are expressed appropriately and effectively, enabling people to work together smoothly toward their common goals.” It also includes the ability to work well with others despite differences and challenges.Phil Soucy, co-president and CEO of Modern Technology Solutions, told us, “They may be very knowledgeable in their discipline, but if they lack emotional intelligence, it just does not work.”Cultural fitThe next component of heart is cultural fit. Burns focuses on “fit and fitness” for the Xerox culture when interviewing executives. She explained to us. “I want them to fit with our values and culture.”Alan Lewis, owner and chairman of Grand Circle Corporation, says, “Alignment with my company’s culture and values counts far more than do skills or experience. In most cases, if an associate shares our values, we can teach the job skills.”Be selectiveWe need to be very selective about whom we hire and promote. We recommend panels of multiple interviewers to get different perspectives on candidates. Start reading resumes “upside down,” the way Google does, to find the hidden gems at the bottom under “activities and interests.”Remember to be patient. Resist pressure to fill a vacancy rapidly—because someone weak in heart will be a painful mistake. Take the time to get it right.Some sample questions we have uncovered for interviewing for heart can be viewed on our website at http://triplecrownleadership.com/assets/Interviewing-for-Heart.pdf.Core concept: Recruit and promote for both head and heart. Head involves the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary. Heart involves integrity, emotional intelligence, and fit with the desired culture.“A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.”—Nelson MandelaPractical Applications for Leaders    Do people in your organization have good head and heart qualities?  How have leaders in your organization shown heart?  What else could you do to assess a candidate’s heart qualities?  Do you recognize and reward people for both head and heart?  What more could you do to build both head and heart in your organization?

Hire and Promote for Heart

As the talent development field continues to grapple with the impact of AI, ATD’s talent development leader communities are finding their own unique ways to help their members upskill on AI. The ATD Forum’s Collaborative Approach to AI Best PracticesThe ATD Forum is a consortium for member organizations to connect, collaborate, and share, with the goal of leveraging proven practices to address organizational challenges and accelerate performance. As with all Forum content, their approach to AI is informed by the needs of their members. In 2025, the Forum formed a working group dedicated to AI practice and experimentation. This group aims to go beyond the theoretical and showcase specific ways that members such as Whole Foods Market, Accenture, and Gant Travel are already using AI in their talent development practices. Because Forum members have all signed a non-disclosure agreement, companies have been very open about sharing AI use-case details, such as prompt libraries and agent instructions.In addition to the bi-monthly meetings, the Forum’s AI cohort group also has access to the ATD Community platform. This allows members to collaborate in between meetings and share questions and resources related to AI as they emerge in real time.Outside of the cohort group, the Forum is helping members upskill on AI through quarterly roundtables that bring in experts in the field to share their insights on the current AI landscape. These roundtable sessions are smaller and more interactive than traditional webinars, making them a great way for members to ask questions of and get facetime with AI thought leaders, as well as continuing to connect with other Forum members who are interested in AI.The Forum also fields an annual survey that asks members about the impact and usage of AI in their talent development programs. This allows Forum members to track usage over time and access up-to-date information on other members’ practices, so they can reach out to peer companies with specific questions or challenges. Forum members can also field surveys on specific AI or learning tech questions as they emerge throughout the year.You’ll find all related materials—cohort resources, recordings, surveys, and curated AI content from ATD and the field—on a dedicated landing page inside the Forum’s members-only site. Forum members are also encouraged to reach out to each other directly to brainstorm and collaborate on AI-related questions as needed.CTDO’s Tools for Leading Talent Development in AI StrategyCTDO is ATD’s premier membership for talent development executives who want to shape the future of the profession. This network of global learning leaders focuses on transformations that are influencing the field, including skills-based talent development, the expanding role of the TD leader, and how to reimagine traditional career journeys for the future of work. In 2025, AI topped the list of transformations CTDO explored, and the community developed a series of practical tools to help the talent development profession navigate this significant disruption. These resources were designed to move beyond theory, giving TD leaders the frameworks and methods they need to evaluate, adopt, and apply AI with confidence. Together, these tools provide TD leaders a practical roadmap for leveraging AI to drive workforce capability, organizational performance, and business credibility. They include the following, among others:Are You Ready to Be in the AI Strategy Conversation? This self-assessment is structured as a practical checklist across 13 dimensions, including AI literacy, alignment with business goals, ethical governance, change management, and workforce analytics. It provides a clear picture of where a TD function stands today and what gaps must be addressed to lead confidently in an AI-enabled workplace. AI Job Impact Toolkit. As AI continues to reshape the workplace, talent professionals face a critical challenge: understanding how AI will affect the jobs and skills within their organization. This toolkit helps the TD function navigate that challenge with clarity, consistency, and strategic insight.Six Essentials to Keep Talent Development at the Center of AI. As organizations adopt AI, TD professionals must secure their role in shaping AI strategies. Follow these steps to ensure TD remains central to AI-driven workforce transformation.AI for Strategic Readiness. This toolset helps talent development leaders move beyond reaction to strategy, pinpointing the areas where AI can create the most meaningful value and ensuring that implementation aligns with organizational priorities.CTDO follows a THINC approach to create content outputs, such as the tools mentioned previously for the profession. Together, the community discusses, shares best practices, and learns about each Transformation. Then, they determine the Necessary Changes and New Capabilities required to ensure the success of talent development in the future.Explore how the ATD Forum and CTDO senior leader communities can help you stay ahead in AI practices and strategy.

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