Post on LinkedIn - Aug 2, 2021
I’m thrilled to be starting a new full-time role today at LinkedIn - leading the instructor-focused teams of LinkedIn Learning!
I wanted to share my answer to the question - “why?”, which is the question I posed to myself as I considered a new full time role and this opportunity specifically.
I want to be part of an amazing team which can have a significant impact improving learning at scale. The LinkedIn Learning teams have already made incredible progress on this mission and I want to help drive the next phase of innovation with them. Working with Hari Srinivasan throughout the process of shaping this opportunity was an incredibly positive, collaborative experience and really sealed my excitement about this team. I also must thank Eran Megiddo and other Microsoft and LinkedIn leaders who connected me to Hari and this opportunity!
Here are three reasons this new role feels perfect for me now:
First, Learning is my passion. As I contemplated my next startup, or my next role, I mostly explored areas of personal interest - productivity tools, automation, collaboration, education, entrepreneurship - even music, video production and mechanical design (imagine!). These are the areas I’ve most recently spent time learning more about and I find myself seeking out knowledge and new skills on an almost daily basis. I now realize that the area which energizes me the most, is the learning itself - even more than the individual skills I’m learning! I love learning and truly believe that learning fuels human achievement.
Second, While I believe learning innovation must continue in schools, I believe it must ALSO be driven OUTSIDE the constraints of our current education system. When my team at Google initiated Google Classroom and other education product efforts, we were focused on helping teachers in schools. That felt tremendously impactful and, in hindsight, well-timed given the eventual, unprecedented challenges of a pandemic. But it is clear that learning innovation outside of school can move faster and have broader reach, since we all (hopefully) want to continue learning throughout our lives, beyond a classroom or degree. I want to explore this broader learning space to help people follow their passions as successful learners and instructors. I also want the dynamic skill needs of organizations to help drive the learning that is available to us.
Third, The people and teams I’ve met at LinkedIn Learning inspire me! The leaders, vision and culture of the whole company inspire me. Technology generally - and LinkedIn Learning as a platform - makes learning far more accessible and available than ever before - and I’m sure we’ve just scratched the surface of innovating new ways to help more people learn more effectively. I look forward to helping drive that innovation with this team at LinkedIn to improve economic opportunity for all of us through better learning.
I look forward to hearing your ideas and continuing my own learning!