Sterling Institute was founded in 1967 by J. Sterling Livingston, a tenured professor for many years at the Harvard Business School. Two of his articles, "The Myth of the Well-Educated Manager" and "Pygmalion in Management," published in the Harvard Business Review, have become HBR classics. They remain two of the most requested reprints by HBR readers. Dr. Livingston's concern with linking training and development programs to real and measurable improvements on the job has been Sterling Institute's main focus from the outset.

Over the years, this has led to a series of pioneering methods aimed at giving training more impact, linking it more directly to organizational objectives and the participants' jobs, and ensuring sustained support for on-going professional development. For example, we at Sterling Institute were among the first to utilize video-based case studies—and, later, computer simulations—in our training programs, and the first to implement multi-level training to involve participants and their supervisors. Our surveys are now web-enabled, so we can administer and deliver surveys results directly to our clients over the Internet. Further, we are in the process of repurposing our classroom course materials as part of an e-learning initiative that will bring our training to your desktop.

We have also discovered that learning is more likely to be applied effectively in the workplace if it is self-directed. For this reason, we have created sophisticated diagnostic instruments that enable participants to discover their own strengths and improvement opportunities and to see themselves as others see them. We often work with clients to design training programs around our survey instruments so that our clients are in position to not only measure key practices, but to follow-up with training that teaches participants to increase their effectiveness in the areas where they have identified gaps between their performance and the performance of the most effective in their organizations. These assessments also provide a means of periodically measuring progress and confirming improved performance on the job.

Finally, we have long recognized that the more accurately training materials reflect the actual work environment and business issues faced on the job, the higher the impact, and the greater the likelihood that new skills and behaviors practiced during training will actually be applied at work. We are highly skilled at tailoring our programs to meet your requirements.

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