There are well over 50 ways that can be organized in five categories, in which leaders can serve as teachers. Each is important and contributes to the business as a whole and the success and value of the learning function.

• Identifying learning needs and learning solution design. Involving leader-teachers as subject matter, business and organizational experts to help identify needs and collaborate in the learning and performance solutions adds immeasurable value to the growth and success of an organization. In so doing, you can also reduce costs and build quality programming and learning services.

• Live teaching. Whether teaching alone, in pairs, teams or working with an external partner, high octane teaching and learning by leaders has great impact on learners. Many leaders love to teach and facilitate case studies and a variety of experiential learning sessions. Active learning designs helps leaders to make learning come alive. This increases learning retention and the likelihood that what is learned will be implemented successfully.

• Teaching through the use of media and technology. Examples include podcasts, use of recorded interviews, applications of web 2.0 enabled social learning, communities of practice. These and many other approaches increase the cost-effective importing and exporting of ideas, expertise, best practices, course materials and faculty across organizational boundaries.

• Pre and post-program teaching and coaching to increase impact of learning. These are essential teaching and coaching roles for business and functional leaders in highly effective teaching-learning organizations. The effect can dramatically increase the application of personal and organizational learning.

• Recruiting, training, coaching and mentoring leader-teachers. These are core talent management practices that are fundamental for the successful implementation of an organization's leaders as teachers process.