Too often learning businesses think too much about the end product without considering all the phases in the learning product lifecycle. By focusing too much on the end result, there’s a missed opportunity in producing the best product possible. In this fourth episode in our informal series on tools for learning businesses, we highlight the MIDDLE ME learning product lifecycle. We break down the four components of MIDDLE ME—market interface (MI), design and development (DD), learning experience ...
Aug 30, 2022•20 min
Megan Torrance is CEO—chief energy officer—at TorranceLearning, a full-stack learning services firm. TorranceLearning also provide professional development for the learning and development industry, including the free xAPI Learning Cohort, which they ran before handing the baton to the Learning Guild. Megan is an evangelist for xAPI and has over 25 years of consulting, instructional design, and project management experience. She’s also the author of Agile for Instructional Designers: Iterative P...
Aug 23, 2022•37 min
Understanding the value your learning business delivers with its range of offerings is hugely insightful. But objectively evaluating the value of your products can be a challenge. That’s why we created the Product Value Profile, a free tool that offers a way to assess and visually represent the value you currently deliver with a specific product or product line and the perception of that value in the market. In this third episode in our informal series on tools for learning businesses, we explai...
Aug 16, 2022•26 min
Pricing plays a fundamental role in the success of all learning businesses. But determining appropriate prices can be complex. Dr. Michael Tatonetti is founder and CEO of Pricing for Associations, where he helps associations navigate these pricing complexities. As a certified association executive (CAE) and certified pricing professional (CPP), he speaks, trains, and consults on value-based pricing. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb and Michael talk about value-b...
Aug 09, 2022•41 min
Shelley Osborne is head of learning experience at Modal, an employee education platform built with cohort-based, hands-on, and expert guidance for critical skills. She’s also the author of The Upskilling Imperative: Five Ways to Make Learning Core to the Way We Work . In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with return guest Shelley about cohort-based learning, including what it is, why it’s so valuable, how to do it well, and how to scale it. They also talk ...
Aug 02, 2022•43 min
Pricing is a perennial challenge for learning businesses. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply put, what you are able to charge for your offerings depends on the value your prospective customers place on them. And once you really understand the value of your products and services, figuring out how to price them becomes much easier. In this installment of out tool talks, an informal series on tools for learning businesses, we revisit the Tagoras Value Ramp™, a simple but powerful tool fo...
Jul 26, 2022•21 min
We all know that books play a critical role in both personal and professional learning. They have the power to transform your life and help you achieve your potential in all areas of life. And when it comes to lifelong learning, there are quite a few that stand out as classics. In fact, Jerel Bonner, managing director and co-founder of Corralling Chaos, recently reached out to us to share the particular books he’s found most valuable in his work focused on creating authentic leaders and high-per...
Jul 19, 2022•36 min
Jaimie Francis is vice president of policy and programs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Center for Education and Workforce. This nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to strengthening the nation’s educational standards and the quality of its workforce. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Jaimie about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Talent Pipeline Management initiative and its related TPM Academy and ...
Jul 12, 2022•32 min
Over the years, we’ve created a variety of tools aimed at helping elevate learning businesses. And while we’ve mentioned them in various places before, we’ve decided to shine the spotlight on each one in an informal series we’re calling “Tool Talks”. These episodes, which will air in between interviews over the next few months, will showcase how and why to use each tool. In this first installment of Tool Talks, we’re highlighting the Market Insight Matrix . We explain what it is, why you should ...
Jul 05, 2022•35 min
As a seasoned adult education and leadership expert, Debra Zabloudil is the recently appointed vice president of learning at the American Society of Association Executives. ASAE is a professional society with more than 44,000 members that educates and develops association professionals at all stages of their careers. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Debra about her priorities as she steps into the role of leading ASAE’s learning portfolio, her phi...
Jun 28, 2022•42 min
Stephanie Mercado is CEO of the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ), whose mission is to prepare a coordinated, competent workforce to lead and advance healthcare quality across the continuum of healthcare. They believe that workforce readiness and healthcare quality competencies are key to achieving quality, safety, equity, and value in healthcare. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Stephanie about NAHQ certifications, competency fra...
Jun 21, 2022•33 min
It’s been an exciting year here at Leading Learning. We recently reached the 300th episode of the podcast. And last month Tagoras, our parent company, marked 15 years in business, yet another celebratory milestone. If you’ve been listening to Leading Learning Podcast for a while, you know that we’re big fans of the power of reflection. That’s why in this episode we highlight some of the biggest changes—15 to be exact—that have fundamentally changed the learning business landscape over the 15 yea...
Jun 14, 2022•49 min
Dr. Veronica Diaz is director of professional learning at EDUCAUSE, an international nonprofit professional association whose mission is to advance higher education through the use of information technology. In her role, she ensures that learning and development programs support and advance the overall strategic priorities of the professional learning, member communities, and research teams. She also supports the development and design of career pathways that guide the professionals supporting a...
Jun 07, 2022•38 min
A passionate advocate for the global association community, Peter O’Neil is a seasoned leader known for transforming organizations by creating high-performing, diverse, and inclusive teams and cultures. Since 2016, he has been CEO of ASIS International, which serves over 30,000 security management professionals from around the globe. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Peter about the important role associations play both in society and in lifelong learn...
May 31, 2022•38 min
After not attending in-person conferences for a couple of years due to COVID, we had the chance to attend several. That return to in-person sparked some serious thinking related to learning (or not) at conferences. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we apply our unscientific but deep first-hand knowledge of the world of conferences to unpack key elements conference planners need to incorporate to foster effective learning. We also discuss the broader conference landscape and the co...
May 24, 2022•32 min
David M. Rozsa is CEO of Metacred, an association management company dedicated to developing, managing, and growing the best credentialing programs in the world. They act as the certification or accreditation department for its clients, which include both not-for-profit associations and for-profit companies. In this episode, co-host Celisa Steele gets David’s expert perspective on the world of credentialing, including current related opportunities and threats; what it takes to create a successfu...
May 17, 2022•29 min
Diane Elkins, founder of Artisan E-Learning and E-Learning Uncovered, is passionate about helping others design thoughtful, equitable, and impactful learning experiences. She has over two decades of experience in the e-learning industry, speaks regularly at national conferences, and is co-author of E-Learning Fundamentals: A Practical Guide and the E-Learning Uncovered book series. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with return guest Diane about the likely l...
May 10, 2022•39 min
Whitney Johnson is an innovation and disruption theorist and CEO of the tech-enabled talent development company Disruption Advisors. She hosts the long-running Disrupt Yourself Podcast and is the author of multiple books, including Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work and, most recently, Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company . Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele and Whitney dive into key concepts from Smart Growth , particularly the...
May 03, 2022•28 min
Workforce development and credentialing have both been the focus of recent episodes. Though we didn’t set out to treat these as a series, some common themes have naturally emerged that we would like to call out and connect. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we synthesize our thoughts around workforce development and credentials, and the related challenges and opportunities they present for learning businesses. We analogize them to the tried-and-true combination of peanut butter an...
Apr 26, 2022•41 min
Jenna Cohen is the workforce product manager at ACT. where their mission is to help people achieve education and workplace success. ACT’s mission is to help people achieve education and workplace success. It serves millions of people around the world with learning resources, assessments, research, and credentials to help them succeed from elementary school throughout their careers. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Jenna about ACT’s WorkKeys produc...
Apr 19, 2022•26 min
It’s hard to believe, but here we are at episode 300 of the Leading Learning Podcast. When we sat down to record episode 1 back in 2015, we had no idea we’d make it this far. We are truly grateful for the thousands of learning business professionals who tune in each month and make this show part of their own lifelong learning. Milestones are a natural time to pause and reflect, so we’re doing exactly that. In this commemorative episode, we highlight the value of embracing your integral role as a...
Apr 12, 2022•26 min
Having escaped with her family from the Vietnam War to start again in the U.S., Van Ton-Quinlivan is passionate about paying forward the opportunities that an education afforded her. She has built a career as a highly impactful workforce development expert and currently serves as CEO of Futuro Health, a nonprofit with the mission of improving the health and wealth of communities by growing the largest network of credentialed allied healthcare workers in the nation. In this episode of the Leading...
Apr 05, 2022•36 min
Jim Fong is chief research officer at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), where he and his research team help university leaders understand the trends impacting higher education. They also support the development of new programs and credentials to meet the complex needs of the ever-changing learner and the new economy. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb and return guest Jim Fong talk about why higher ed needs to evolve to meet...
Mar 29, 2022•38 min
When it comes to workforce development, learning businesses play a critical role in identifying and then delivering the skills employees need and those that employers want. From attracting and educating workers new to the field to upskilling and reskilling those already working, learning businesses can have a significant impact on the profession or industry they serve. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we break down the topic of workforce development, including how we define it, k...
Mar 22, 2022•25 min
Clare Marsch is senior vice president of training and development at the American Bankers Association (ABA). Throughout her career, she’s been involved in developing training and learning programs for customers, members, and clients across a wide range of industries and in a variety of formats. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Clare about her role in leading learning for ABA, credentialing, and workforce development. They discuss the evolution of lear...
Mar 15, 2022•29 min
Credentials offer more potential than ever to learners and to the organizations offering them. And learning businesses in particular are uniquely positioned to leverage them to address challenges and create opportunities for the people and industries they serve. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we share the key macrotrends making credentialing even more valuable today and what learning businesses may need to consider when offering credentials. We also break down and compare vario...
Mar 08, 2022•34 min
Tamer Ali, a seasoned learntech entrepreneur and founder of Authentic Learning Labs, believes in the power of technology to deliver transformative learning experiences. Authentic aims to address the challenges and elevate the status of learning within organizations through learning technologies and a global team to support initiatives. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Tamer about entrepreneurship, the evolution of the learntech market, and typical cha...
Mar 01, 2022•31 min
Courtney Vital, vice president of learning at the Association for Talent Development, describes herself as a learning leader for learning leaders—and for good reason. ATD is the largest association for professionals who develop others in the workplace, and its membership reflects individuals from all over the world, in all industries and sectors. ATD is focused on advancing talent development, convening a community of people who do talent development work, and supporting them with the necessary ...
Feb 22, 2022•35 min
As CEO of Web Courseworks, Amber Winter is committed to helping their clients maximize value and deliver high-quality, impactful professional development to their learners. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, Jeff talks to Amber about her transition to the CEO role, the state of the learntech industry, and which trends are having an impact on learning businesses and learntech. They also talk about opportunities and threats for associations in the current learning landscape and what ...
Feb 22, 2022•31 min
Learning businesses often rely on subject matter experts (SMEs) to develop and deliver learning products. But those SMEs—although highly regarded experts in their particular field—likely don’t know how to develop and deliver products in ways that align with brain science and adult learning principles. In this episode, we focus on the importance of going beyond telling presenters what they need to do to be effective to playing an active role in showing them how. We discuss the tremendous opportun...
Feb 08, 2022•30 min
