Human Resources Unveils New Leadership Training Lineup

The mission of Baylor University emphasizes the importance of leadership not only among its nearly 17,000 students, but also among faculty and staff from every department, division and office across campus.

Seasoned leaders move into more demanding roles, leave to work for other organizations or retire, and it is important that less experienced employees are prepared to take their places. But a change in title or pay doesn’t magically confer any advanced leadership skills or expertise in personnel management.

“That is probably the toughest career leap, stepping into a role where you are managing people,” said Tami Nutt, director of employee experience and engagement.

In recent years, the Office of Human Resources has received an increasing number of requests for expanded leadership training. Finding resources to help staff learn at their own pace and in group settings as well as a professional to shepherd this initiative became imperative.

“Leadership is a priority at Baylor,” Nutt said. “The University’s mission and our commitment to professional wellbeing as part of the Baylor Wellbeing initiative led us to dedicate a full-time position to overseeing learning and development for all Baylor employees.”

Enter Drexel King, a Naval Academy graduate who transitioned from the U.S. Marine Corps as a Captain and is now the Manager of Learning and Development.

Arguably a born leader, King played cornerback for the Navy football team. Following graduation in 2009, six months of training at Quantico, Va., and a three-month infantry officer’s course, he made his way to Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif. in 2010. Deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, he served as a platoon commander, gaining a great deal of leadership experience over his own patrol base.

Following his second deployment with a Marine Expeditionary Unit just off Okinawa, Japan and the Australian coast, King returned to Annapolis with his family in 2014 to teach at the Naval Academy. Initially, he was hand-picked to focus on player development for the football team, later moving into classroom roles, emphasizing student leadership development, improving curriculum and performance standards and mentoring students through their rigorous academic and athletic commitments.

In late 2016, King decided to leave the Marine Corps and return to civilian life.

“Drexel’s role brings focus to our leadership efforts,” Nutt said. “He brings passion to equipping others in leadership, believing that leaders serve as some of the most influential people in our employees’ daily lives.

Leadership Essentials

King’s first objective when he started at Baylor was to improve the support provided to new managers — either newly hired to Baylor or those newly promoted from within the University to managerial roles. A half-day seminar called “Leadership Essentials” has been developed to meet this need, utilizing a targeted curriculum and guest speakers to improve self-awareness and performance management. Participants explore and answer questions like, "How do I set my employees up for success? What is expected of me as a leader? How do I get results and retain my people? What employment laws do I need to know?"

Leadership Lunch and Learns

Registration is free for Leadership Lunch and Learn sessions, which take place every second Thursday of the month at noon in the HR training room. These sessions have been available for some time, but recent and upcoming speakers have been carefully selected to emphasize the interplay between Baylor’s Christian mission and effective leadership.

Coming Soon

In the pipeline, King is developing three new courses — one designed to help managers optimize their one-on-one conversations with direct reports, a coaching class for managers and finally a self-awareness class. Keeping in mind those employees who can’t be physically present at scheduled training sessions, online training modules also are in the works. Each new course will emphasize the centrality of humility to effective leadership.

“Humility is two-fold in my opinion. You don’t know everything, which is something I think everyone can agree to. But also, even those things you think you know could be distorted or wrong,” King explained. “If you approach a conversation with an employee with the mindset that ‘even the things I think I know may be wrong,’ that changes the dynamic entirely. And it helps to ask questions.”

Because exploring the list of learning and development opportunities on Compass without context can seem overwhelming, faculty and staff are encouraged to watch their inboxes for the monthly HR Advisory email which contains a “Learning and Leadership” section and a learning and development planner for the designated month.

For more information about leadership development, visit baylor.edu/hr/leaders.