Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2008 - (Page 40)

MEET MARK MYETTE PEER REVIEW A ny labor of love can involve sacrifice; it just sort of goes with the territory. For Mark Myette, a learning leader with a background in sales, the sacrifice came behind a dollar sign, but the price was more than worth it. Now director of Pitney Bowes Sales Center for Learning and Performance (www.pb.com), Myette started his career in sales, and then moved into management. But as many a trainer has discovered, he was the type of learner who was free with his feedback on training sessions and how they could be enhanced. “I always found myself leaning toward tweaking lessons for the sales people,” Myette said. “And as a manager, I loved being in front of a crowd and helping people understand concepts.” In April 1989, when the chance to step into training came along, Myette leaped. His managers at the time tried to talk him out of it, but as Myette said, he was more motivated by the chance to make a difference than to make money. “People in this field are not usually motivated by money,” he said. “If they are, they might be in the wrong profession sometimes. You do have to make some financial sacrifices, but I’ve enjoyed it tremendously.” At Pitney Bowes Management Services, Myette currently manages a team of six learning professionals who oversee, develop and implement the education of 13,000 employees in that division of the mail-stream technology company. He’s also become active in the wider learning community, including serving as a vice president of the Atlanta chapter of ASTD. For someone who started in education without a formal education in that discipline, Myette has made some noteworthy strides, including being recognized in 2008 as one of the top 10% of managers at Pitney Bowes in terms of employee engagement. He’s also part of the Pitney Bowes Learning Alliance, meeting monthly with learning and performance leaders of other business units to work jointly to on learning and development initiatives. “From that you uncover best practices as well as opportunities for alignment in regard to initiatives and program development,” Myette said. Another benefit of the alliance is the opportunity for professional networking, which Myette considers key in training programs. “Anyone who wants to listen, even if they don’t, you have to in this part of the business,” he said. “Not to be self-serving, but to continue to add value that training and development can provide to the organization.” For Myette, it’s all comes down to desire, and wanting something enough to do what it takes. “Like everything else, as long as you have the inner drive and passion to do well, in this case to make a difference, then everything else usually takes care of itself,” Myette said. “That’s the one thing I try to build into folks I work with. If you get up every day and you don’t like what you do, life’s too short. Enjoy what you’re doing and everything else will take care of itself.” 40 Training Industry Quarterly, Fall 2008 / A Training Industry, Inc. ezine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ http://www.pb.com http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2008

Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2008
At the Editor's Desk
Contents
Ezine Email
Winning Organizations Through People
Before You Buy...
Learning Technologies
Informal Learning: Embracing Web 2.0
Leveraging Cutting-Edge Technologies for Learning
Reshaping the Learning Function to Think and Act Globally
The Importance and Growth of Customer Training
Meet Josh Blair
Meet Bob Dean
Meet Mark Myette
Training America's High-Flying Heroes
Closing Arguments

Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2008