What to pay attention to when experts gather
What does it take to be a leader? This very question is what inspired us to explore the fundamental relationship between leadership and learning by amplifying the voices of industry pioneers in our award-winning series, Leaders in Learning. It became. This article highlights five key L&D lessons that came up over and over again in our conversations, demonstrating the inextricable connection between learning and teaching.
5 L&D lessons from domain experts
1. Embrace the fear of failure
Facing your fears is common advice, as fear of failure is a major barrier to innovation and progress.
“I don’t know what to do. I’m going to fail. I need to get over that (fear),” says Josh Bersin, a prominent industry analyst who advocates for a workplace where fear of failure is replaced by curiosity. . And experiment.
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Indeed, “it’s not about perfection, it’s about progress,” Jason Wieman, a leadership development consultant at LinkedIn, reminds us. When you feel it’s okay to fail, you’re more likely to take risks, innovate, and grow.
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Amazon Web Services (AWS) Vice President of Training and Certification Maureen Lonergan also encourages others not to be limited by perceived lack of knowledge. Although she wasn’t the best academically, her willingness to work hard, accept feedback, reset and reinvent herself led her from training coordinator to leading AWS’ global training initiatives. It is.
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Wieman, Bersin, and Lonergan’s testimonies are a powerful reminder that with the right mindset (and culture), people can learn and adapt, even in difficult roles and situations. Ultimately, facing their fears makes them better leaders.
2. Develop adaptability through change
Change is inevitable, but many people fear it. That’s why leaders who embrace it are successful. Daniel García Alfisi, a global L&D expert, believes adaptability is a skill to cultivate.
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It’s a muscle that gets stronger when exposed. According to Alfisi, this includes encouraging people to try, even if the person who eventually takes up the new role leaves. “People feel successful if they can change careers at any time,” Alfisi added.
Leaders who enable growth, even growth that alienates employees, gain stronger networks of supporters and a richer, more dynamic workforce.
Jessica Winder, senior vice president of human resources and human resources expert, also challenges the idea that long-term loyalty to one job equates to success. In her view, changing jobs is more than just a career move. This is a strategy for innovation because it allows employees to build on a myriad of skills and perspectives.
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Both Alfisi and Winder emphasize how this ultimately benefits companies, as employees often return to places where they are empowered to succeed.
Leaders who value change and allow employees the freedom to explore can steer resilient, continually evolving teams and organizations.
3. Obsessed with the problem, not the solution.
Not only change is inevitable, but so are problems. But the most successful leaders, Bersin says, immerse themselves in the problem first, rather than immediately jumping to solutions.
According to Bersin, the most successful L&D initiatives are those built around real business problems.
He says L&D teams that partner with leaders to diagnose specific issues (such as sales or performance gaps) and set goals are the secret weapon to increasing ROI. Addressing the root causes ensures that learning interventions actually move the needle.
Dr. John Zlovczak, Burger King’s senior director of operational training, agrees that it’s not enough just to roll out training and hope it sticks. L&D professionals must not only be “order takers” but also strategic partners who are closely aligned with the broader business strategy.
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It’s about understanding the factors that actually drive results and tackling the problem head-on.
4. Evaluate your data, but manage your actions.
You need to look at the data to address the problem. Taggart McCurdy, Director of User Success at Databricks, emphasizes that without data on learning outcomes, it’s difficult to plan for growth.
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Data should be leveraged not only to track progress, but also to guide L&D efforts that are targeted to actual business needs.
But is that enough?
Zlovchak invites us to explore further. Instead of relying solely on numbers, you need to focus on the actions that drive the key performance indicators (KPIs) you want.
It’s the interaction between KPIs and behaviors that really helps you address workplace challenges and properly develop your employees.
5. Document everything
Sounds boring, right?
However, preserving behavior, experience, and knowledge is critical for many industries that are now seeing retiring baby boomers exporting their tacit knowledge.
For companies like the defense contractors Bersin consults with, the inability to transfer tacit knowledge fast enough could ultimately mean the company’s downfall. (In fact, we’ve seen this before: Without proper knowledge management practices, NASA reportedly lost the ability to go to the moon.)
When the Apollo program ended, the expertise, infrastructure, and tools to build the Saturn V rocket and Apollo spacecraft were lost, making it impossible to simply rebuild those systems today.
Even with a blueprint, rebuilding requires redesigning, retesting, and reusing lost expertise, highlighting the critical role of tacit knowledge and the importance of maintaining complex functionality over time. Challenges are becoming apparent.
But it doesn’t just impact day-to-day operations. It also shapes an organization’s ability to grow and expand.
Courtney Sembler, senior director at HubSpot Academy, encountered a knowledge management problem when she was trying to expand HubSpot Academy globally. She emphasizes that without a centralized system for storing organizational knowledge, it is nearly impossible to scale an organization.
“If someone leaves the team, can someone else come in and do the same?” she asks. Having talented people is not enough. Companies need to create structures that allow them to capture, document, and pass on knowledge so that new employees can quickly onboard.
Leaders are lifelong learners
The lessons from Leaders in Learning point to the powerful conclusion that leadership and learning are deeply connected. Effective leaders aren’t just knowledgeable; they’re constantly learning and willing to adapt, evolve, and change direction as needed. They are not afraid of failure. They see it as part of the process.
Learning is at the heart of leadership: tackling problems, focusing on actions rather than numbers, preserving knowledge, and adapting to inevitable change. While there may not be a clear answer to what it takes to be a leader, it is clear that successful leaders in today’s world are those who embrace learning as their most important tool.
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