> THE PODCAST
L&D in Action is a podcast for learning leaders whose goal is to create a culture of learning within their organization.
Each episode features conversations on how learning and development can maximize your employees’ potential, keep them engaged and have some fun along the way.
ABOUT THE PODCAST
We’ll speak with CLOs, instructional designers, executive coaches, HR leaders, consultants and more.
If you’re looking for the best ways to turn learning into action, empower your employees, and boldly drive your organization into the future, this is the community for you.
> THE HOST
YOUR HOST
Tyler Lay has been working with top learning leaders for nearly a decade, bringing their expertise to the fore through literature, online courses, podcasts, and more. As the host of L&D in Action, he has interviewed more than 50 major players in the learning world. You can also find Tyler on getAbstract's social media teaching microlessons on intriguing innovations.
> EPISODES & GUESTS
Leading Your People to Bloom
How far has the concept of work-life balance gotten us? Is it really best to seek "balance" between the forces of work and life? According to Dan Pontefract, the answer to thriving between the personal and the professional is not balance, but bloom, and to experience fulfillment (and help those who work for us do the same) we must actively tend the gardens of work and life.
Developing High Achievers
Olympians, astronauts, Nobel Prize winners… There are high achievers everywhere. We can find them within our organizations, but we can also find them seeking an organization to give them a platform from which they can shoot for the moon. This week, Dr. Ruth Gotian joins the show to share her research on what makes high achievers and how to identify, support, and develop them.
Valuing Just Organizations
We've seen discouraging trends when it comes to layoffs, failures in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and generally slow business cycles. All in all, there's been a clear erosion of trust between employee and organization. This week, Peter Rahbar joins the show to share insights as to how we can rebuild organizational trust when and where it matters most.
…But I’m Grateful
Preserving social connections must become a deliberate practice for anyone who wishes to lead a happy and healthy life. But being deliberate with relationships we typically take for granted is surprisingly difficult. Lori Saitz joins the show this week to share her ideas on gratitude and grounding practices that will help us return to the positive energy that fulfills us.
Teaching The Geek
it is very difficult to distance oneself from one's expertise realm of expertise. And yet, helping others understand what we know as experts is an invaluable skill. Neil Thompson, founder of Teach The Geek, joins the show this week to share some speaking and presentation principles that will help experts reach their non-expert audiences much more effectively.
Highlight Episode II
For this 50th episode, we take a look at the top moments from the show since our last highlight episode. Guests include best-selling author Roberta Matuson, globally renowned Executive Transition Coach Navid Nazemian, getAbstract book award winners Minette Norman and Kevin Wilde, and Donald Taylor in his return to discuss the annual L&D Global Sentiment Survey.
HR Deconstructed
HR professionals from different industries and organizations are likely to have different ideas as to what their primary purpose should be. Beyond that, many of them will disagree on how tto achieve the goals they inevitably share. This week, Jon Ingham joins us to offer his insights on HR from decades teaching, writing, and practicing in the world of people strategy.
Courage America
Rather than dive headlong into an uncertain future or challenge our assumptions about how we serve our customers, “business as usual” avoids risk. But what if it was bold action that was most likely to achieve our goals? Courage catalyst Ryan Berman joins us this week to share how leaders can release themselves from feeling stuck, scared, stale or safe.
Successful Executive Transitions
According to Navid Nazemian, organizations are up to 35x more complex than they were 15 years ago. And when it comes to maintaining strong leadership, the cost of a failed CEO transition can be as much as 30x the executive's annual salary. This week, Navid joins shares his Double Diamond framework for maximizing the chances of success during an executive transition.
Anniversary Special: Reflection Culture
Happy One-year Anniversary, L&D In Action! That's right: We've been delivering L&D insights from the greatest minds in learning for 365 days now–366 thanks to the leap year. In this special-edition episode, host Tyler Lay takes the reins and delivers a brief reflection on the power of… reflection! Thanks for listening and supporting the show!
Practical AI Insights
Ross Stevenson is an L&D veteran who has been filling an ever-growing gap by regularly educating the L&D world with practical insight on using generative AI and AI-enabled learning tools. In this episode, Ross shares his advice for getting started individually and organizationally with AI in learning, with a special focus on maximizing the value we can extract from generative AI tools liek ChatGPT.
L&D Sentiment 2024
The results of The L&D Global Sentiment Survey are in! And AI “won” the primary question, “what will be hot in workplace L&D this year?” earning more than 21% of selections from the 3,200+ respondents. Donald Taylor joins us to discuss the free-text responses he received, how respondents are feeling about AI (and why), the change in significance of social learning, and more.
Map, Match, Meaning, Move
Far too often, we classify our emotions as “soft” skills, effectively secondarizing them behind the skillsets we think of as critical to our work. This week, Dr. David Caruso joins the show to help us better understand how and why our bodies and brains experience emotions, as well as how we can best control and utilize them as managers, learning leaders, and human beings.
Buffer Zone Learning
If you're anything like the rest of us with too much data and not enough time, you're hoping that AI will eventually step in and support the learning process process–content generation, assessment, personalization and adaptation, etc. This week, we speak with CEO of Bongo, Josh Kamrath, whose service offers a unique perspective on the efficacy of AI-enhanced learner feedback.
Know Yourself First
All too often, a degree of detachment from the people in our professional lives means that we’re more likely to fall into bad communication habits. Mindset and mental wellness coach Kirsten Larsen helps us identify and work through the thought patterns and conversation traps that have negative impacts on relationships at work, and with our families and friends.
Boldly Inclusive Leadership
Many leaders understand the organizational, social, and ethical need to build inclusive teams. Minette Norman, award-winning author, speaker and leadership consultant, describes the tools and strategies that will help leaders overcome the traditional expectations of emotionless, hard-nosed leadership, and build thriving, joyful, creative teams.
AI In L&D
Artificial Intelligence has made a noticeable impact on the world of learning–especially since the launch of ChatGPT and the advent of generative AI. However, the degree to which AI-enabled tools are delivering positive impact for organizational learning remains unclear. To discuss AI progress in the world of L&D, Egle Vinauskaite, co-author of AI in L&D: The State of Play joins us this week.
Kindness in HR
What is it that results in HR taking on the stigmas of being a blocker to progress, or just a compulsory administrative arm for hiring and firing? According to Jessica Winder, there’s a lack of forthright communication between HR and leadership. Jessica shares her insights on the kinds of conversations and initiatives that get leadership on the same page as HR early and effectively.
Integrated Learning and Development
As we observe greater competition, more scrupulous consumers, and an ever-growing pool of technology with which to optimize work, L&D can have a greater business impact than ever before. Join Litmos’s Chief People Officer, Kyile Stair this week for insight as to how to drive an organization through integrated, precise learning initiatives.
Trusted Learning Advisors
What if, instead of accepting requests from leadership and acting on them to the best of our ability, L&D delivered solutions we devised on our own? Beyond that, what if we identified the root problem of the symptoms typically identified by leadership, and devised a bespoke learning fix? This evolution is the mission of Dr. Keith Keating, author of The Trusted Learning Advisor.
Learning-Based Work
Rachel Fichter has spent years studying the relationship between learning and work, both as a learning practitioner and as an academic. She describes an industrial future that rethinks the hierarchies and management practices that currently characterize our professional lives. Can we progress from leadership that is focused on individuals, to leadership that relies on the collective capabilities of a diverse group of people?
The (Dis)Comfort Quotient
Through a nearly 40-year career since being put “suddenly in charge,” as a 24-year old executive, Roberta Matuson has written 7 books, spanning the topics of leadership, attracting and keeping talent, and feedback and communication. She shares insights on turning the discomfort of challenging work relationships into thriving team cohesion and performance.
DevLearn 2023 Recap
Each year at DevLearn, tens of thousands of learning professionals gather to share insights with each other and explore what’s new in ed tech. This year, your host joined the getAbstract booth in Las Vegas, meeting with dozens of L&D practitioners. To discuss some key learnings from the event, getAbstract’s Head of Sales, America, Danielle Goodrum joins the show this week.
The Happiness Quotient
Author of Career Self-Care Minda Zetlin joins us this week to explain how organizations and their employees can double down on genuine wellbeing for all by refocusing on what matters most and stepping back from toxic competitive tendencies. Minda’s approach centers the principles of hard work while forcing us to reconsider platitudes like work-life balance and pursuing one’s passion.
The Power Quotient
Shelmina Babai Abji broke many barriers when she rose through the ranks at IBM, ultimately achieving the title of Director of Sales and overseeing $1 Billion in annual revenue. Along the way, there were many instances where she was the only woman in the room. She describes how women can advance their careers and become leaders through intentionality and by delivering unique value.
Getting The Brain Right
There’s more that we don’t understand about the brain than we do understand. But that doesn’t mean we can’t capitalize on what we have been able to glean through neuroscience and psychological studies over the years. To help us do just that on the perpetual journey to becoming better learners (and educators), Lauren Waldman, the Learning Pirate joins this week’s episode.
AI-enabled Recruiting
Talent intelligence platforms such as Loxo have been helping recruiters turn seemingly limitless data on candidates into simplified and expedited recruiting decisions. This week, we speak with Sam Kuehnle, VP of Marketing at Loxo, about the benefits of talent intelligence, and how to get optimize, expedite, and improve the recruitment process with this technology.
New Digital Transformation
According to this week’s guest Steven Miller, the answer to ensuring sustainable work in an AI-enabled world is the virtuous cycle of automation AND augmentation. For the last two decades, he has been deeply involved in digital transformations within academic, government, and industry arenas, working with teams in IT, L&D, R&D, executive leadership, and more.
The Real-world Impact of AI
What industries and aspects of our day-to-day lives will artificial intelligence impact most? Will we become more productive individuals? How do we learn the proper methods of human-machine collaboration? This week, getAbstract CEO Thomas Bergen and Filtered CEO Marc Zao-Sanders join the show to discuss AI’s impact on education, work, and our lives at large.
Unknown Future Jobs
There’s a plethora of technologies on the horizon we can’t even begin to fathom just yet. So, how can we be sure our kids are learning effectively for such an unpredictable future, where work will look radically different from what it is today? This week, Martin Holecko joins us to offer some his expert insight from decades working in technology, and organizing educational events for youth.
Regenerative Systems
What if our calling, our “essence” as components of a greater societal whole, was a more holistic picture than the jobs we do, or the problems our organizations solve for others? Carol Sanford demonstrates how questioning everything we know is the only way to build sustainable business, develop integrated relationships, and do work we were truly meant to do.
Personalized Learning Tech
Especially at larger companies, there’s a plethora of opportunities for collaborative learning among employees who don’t typically work with each other. Mentorships, skill exchanges, and peer-to-peer feedback opportunities can be capitalized upon with the right tools. Helen Marshall describes how ed tech can help us create personalized social learning experiences.
Conscious Change Management
With a new era of technology squarely in front of us, and a global pandemic directly behind, it can feel like our organizations MUST embrace radical change if they expect to thrive. While this generally true, Consultant Erin Shearer has some words of caution and recommendations for change management drawn from more than a decade helping companies undergo major evolutions.
Becoming Coachable
Remaining coachable while in a position of leadership is one of the quintessential traits of all successful leaders. This week’s guest, Kevin Wilde, has more than 30 years leading leaders at world-renowned organizations to prove it. He shares his insights as to how we can ensure our leaders maintain the learning mindset that enabled their advancement in the first place.
Clear is Kind
Work doesn’t happen in a social vacuum. In fact, it becomes more clear by the day that sustained changes to behavior, power structures, and policy are all necessary to pursue true equity in the workplace–much like in society at large. But how do we ensure any education or solutions we deliver actually have long-term impact? To answer this, Rachel Lauren offers insight from the frontlines of real-world advocacy and consultancy.
Highlight Episode I
So far on L&D in Action, we’ve featured Learning and Development legends, renowned futurists, global leadership consultants, visionary content creators, and bestselling authors. We look back at the hottest takes on the changing nature of L&D roles, the unprecedented pace of technological progress, and what leaders must do to adapt to an ever-evolving world of work.
Better Bosses
When a business has so many moving parts, overwhelm can easily get in the way of effective leadership. Among the most important ingredients to improving are feedback loops that offer truthful insight on the impact you have on your reports. If you have this, according to this week’s guest, global keynote speaker and author Michelle Gibbings, you can take the steps necessary for long-term improvement as a leader.
The Cognitive Mosaic
Sure, a team that gets along well and shares a set of values is likely to be happy and productive. But a lack of perspective also means such a team will struggle to innovate and grow. So, how do we build teams that thrive by the virtue of cognitive diversity? This week, Shane Snow is here to share insights from a fascinating career that includes building high-performing teams around 3 successful startups.
B-Suite Influence
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the volume of information we are exposed to. Our devices and social media keep us constantly plugged in, and the pace of work only seems to increase with new tech. As leaders, how do we rise above the noise, and ensure that our impact is recognized? To help answer that question, we’re joined by Rebecca Houghton, founder of BoldHR and 25-year veteran of leadership development.
Onboarding Curiosity
There’s a small but significant chance that someone you’ve onboarded at your company… will become its next CEO. After all, don't we teach employees in hopes that they reach their greatest potential? To help us craft learning programs that treat all new starters as future CEOs, we’re joined this week by Toby Newman, who serves as head of onboarding, wellbeing and learning tech at CH Robinson.
Swear By Your People
Those who feel a sense of safety and trust around their colleagues tend to have greater success in their collaborations… and they’re more likely to swear. Why? Because they’re comfortable with each other. As a leader, how can you get your team feeling that level of cohesion and rapport (swearing optional)? Adrian Baillargeon is here to offer his insight from 20 years working with corporate and sports clients all over the world.
The State of L&D
What will be hot in L&D in 2023? What challenges will learning leaders face this year? If you’re an L&D pro, you may have answered a survey asking these exact questions. They come from Donald Taylor’s indispensable L&D Global Sentiment Survey. This week, we discuss with Don his findings from 4,000 respondents, covering the challenge of tightened budgets, burgeoning tech, showing a learning ROI and much more.
Motivating Learners
Let’s admit it: Not every training and course we make is getting our learners to jump out of their seats in excitement. But by peering deeper into the psychology of our learners, we can invite them to craft their own story around their development. To explain the power of gamification to boost learner motivation, consultant, speaker and author Karl Kapp joins us on the show this week.
Learning about Learning
Organizations have a responsibility to their people to create a sustainable future, both in terms of the world we live in, and the careers they create. To discuss how leaders can craft such a future through learning, we speak with author, work futurist, and VP – Head of Talent Development at Zurich NA, Teri Hart. Teri describes the major barriers to learning, and explains how leaders can help the people in their companies overcome them.
Inspiring Confidence
In this episode of L&D in Action, we speak with coach, speaker and author of Quick Confidence, Selena Rezvani. As a consultant to the Fortune 500, Selena trains some of the brightest minds in business on self-advocacy and inclusive leadership behaviors. Today, we address growing mental health issues among workers, for which Selena prescribes a revitalized brand of warmth-first leadership.
Content for Modern Learners
When it comes to self-development, financial, legal and lifestyle tips, more and more people flock to TikTok. The revolutionary rise in accessibility of video content means that anyone can influence and educate, and new social media is impacting how we all learn. Vanessa Alzate, Founder and CEO of Anchored Training, believes that L&D practitioners have much to learn from these burgeoning styles, starting with authenticity, flexibility and fun.
Domino Effect Leadership
In this episode of L&D in Action, we speak with Jon Westover. Jon is a Department Chair at Utah Valley University’s Woodbury School of Business, as well as the host of the top 0.1%-ranked podcast Human Capital Innovations. He addresses the challenges that people leaders feel during this tumultuous time that has employees struggling to feel the psychological safety necessary within a thriving creative and agile business.
The Technology Question
The onslaught of new technology, especially in this age of AI, creates numerous challenges for every business leader. When do we adopt these cutting-edge, often untested tools? How can we us them in a way that best supports our organizational goals and people? To answer these questions, look no further than Christopher Lind, who has dedicated his career to finding the "healthy center" of integrating technology with human operations.
Authentic Leadership
Great leaders are comfortable in their own skin. An authentic leader brings their truest self to the workplace, and, through their actions, encourages their team to so as well. But it’s one of the hardest times to be a leader, with the 21st century being driven by decentralization and rapid change. Our guest today, Bill Treasurer, shares insights from 20+ years in consulting that will help new and old leaders alike navigate this volatile world of business.
Coaching for Problem-Solving
Most managers share one key trait: They are superb problem solvers. This is good… until solving problems becomes the bulk of one’s work. Leaders must have space to focus on innovation and growth. So, it's critical that managers teach their people to be self-sufficient problem-solvers. Irial O'Farrell has an 8-step problem-solving framework and insights from nearly two decades of consulting to help make this a reality at your organization.
Reframing L&D
Nigel Paine believes that we are in the "Century of People." As organizations grapple with what it means to be wholly supportive of their employees during a tumultuous time, it is Learning and Development practitioners who have the key to the future. By activating the full potential of ALL employees through learning, organizations increase their problem-solving creativity tenfold.
LONGER LIFE AND SMARTER TECH
Michelle Weise is an author, advisor, and founder of the education consultancy Rise and Design. Few organizations are preparing their employees to learn at the rate needed to keep them on par with new tech. Michelle offers guidance as to how leaders can develop "learning and earning" ecosystems to get people ready for jobs of the future.
CREATING RELATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Michael Lee Stallard is an executive coach and author of Connection Culture. Mike had an illustrious finance career before leaving Wall Street to become a coach and consultant. He believes the power of interpersonal connection is the single most important force in creating effective, thriving organizations.
EMPLOYING TALENT, NOT JOBS
Ravin Jesuthasan is a consultant, researcher, futurist and co-author of Work Without Jobs. A thought leader on work in the face of AI and automation, his scholarship proposes a radical re-envisioning of the workplace where impactful adoption of new automation goes hand-in-hand with thriving careers for employees.
THE 5% SOLUTION
Simon Brown is the Chief Learning Officer at Novartis and co-author of The Curious Advantage. He launched an initiative that gave all 105,000 Novartis employees around 100 hours of learning per year, about 5% of their time at work. He believes in fostering curiosity as a key catalyst to a learning culture that accelerates your organization.