The average learning business does a lot. Add what a learning business could or should do to what it already does, and the list of possibilities is overwhelming. This episode of the Leading Learning Podcast focuses on four often-overlooked areas where we think investing more time and energy will pay off for learning businesses: supporting subject matter experts, providing practice opportunities, evaluating impact, and telling a coherent value story. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are a...
Oct 24, 2023•35 min
Developing effective learning products should be a central goal of all learning businesses, and one way to gauge effectiveness and then refine learning products is with learner surveys. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with a true expert in the domains of learner surveys and learning effectiveness: Dr. Will Thalheimer. Will is a consultant, speaker, researcher, and author of Performance-Focused Learner Surveys: Using Distinctive Questioning to Get Actionab...
Oct 17, 2023•39 min
Learning businesses should base their design choices on evidence-based practices. But keeping up with the latest research takes time and energy that many learning business professionals simply don’t have. Luckily, people like Jane Bozarth exist to help bridge the gap between academic research and the implications for the design and delivery of learning experiences. Jane Bozarth has spent many years as a trainer, a facilitator, and an e-learning designer, and she currently serves as the director ...
Oct 10, 2023•39 min
Practice is a powerful tool for learning, and, when you stop to look at what you do on a daily or weekly basis, you’ll see how common and natural practice is in so many realms. But too often learning businesses don’t incorporate practice into their portfolio of offerings. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we focus on practice, but, rather than take a learning science-backed view, we take a look at a specific, real-world example of practice. Co-host Celisa Steele interviews co-host...
Oct 03, 2023•31 min
Soft skills training is a different beast than technical training, and Manny Avramidis, president and CEO of the American Management Association, knows this well. AMA provides management development and educational services to individuals and organizations in over 100 countries, with a primary focus on soft skills. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, Manny talks with co-host Jeff Cobb about how the market for professional development and education has changed and matured during his ...
Sep 26, 2023•35 min
Social learning is a fundamental, age-old method of learning. But it got somewhat lost in the broader adoption of digital learning, especially self-paced e-learning, that happened in the last 20 years, and social learning suffered again during COVID. But, done right, social learning is a highly effective and efficient way to learn. Our guest in this episode is Nellie Wartoft, founder and CEO of Tigerhall, a social learning platform that’s trying to change how professionals learn from one another...
Sep 19, 2023•38 min
The Leading Learning Podcast is just one part of what we do at Leading Learning. In this episode, we reintroduce Leading Learning and the range of resources, education, and insights Learning Learning provides to learning business professionals. In brief, Leading Learning provides resources, education, and insights to learning business professionals, and we provide those resources, education, and insights via several avenues, of which the Leading Learning Podcast is just one. Show notes and a dow...
Sep 12, 2023•35 min
On the Leading Learning Podcast, sometimes we get to talk with someone whose thinking and research have deeply influenced our work and lives. Such is the case with Ellen J. Langer, AKA the mother of mindfulness. Dr. Langer was the first woman to be tenured in psychology at Harvard, where she is still professor of psychology. The recipient of three Distinguished Scientists awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Liberty Science Genius Award, Dr. Langer wrote the international bestseller Mindfuln...
Sep 05, 2023•41 min
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are important goals for any business, including learning businesses. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, DEI gained ground, but many initiatives, unfortunately, have faltered or been cut completely in the years since. Our guest in this episode is Miranda McKie, founder and CEO of McKie Consultants, a strategic consulting firm focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion and inclusive product design. Miranda believes in the need for evidence-based, long-te...
Aug 29, 2023•32 min
Business models are a key part of the strategy of any business. But, in our experience, learning businesses often take a set-it-and-forget-it approach to business models. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we make the argument for why you should regularly revisit your business model. We also discuss the four key facets that are part of any business model: those are who you charge, what you charge for, how much you charge, and who you share costs or profits with. Show notes and a do...
Aug 22, 2023•32 min
There are three goals at the heart of almost all learning businesses: reach, revenue, and impact. Generating revenue is essential in helping learning businesses reach the right audience and make an impact. In this episode, co-host Celisa Steele delves into the topic of revenue with Brent Keltner. Brent began his career as a PhD social scientist and spent 10 years conducting qualitative research interviews at Stanford University and the RAND Corporation. He’s now president of Winaltyics, a go-to-...
Aug 15, 2023•30 min
Learning ecosystems, learning engineering, learning in the flow of life and work—these could be a list of top buzzwords. But each has gained attention for a reason. Each is important in the design and delivery of effective lifelong learning, continuing education, and professional development, and each gets its due in this episode, which features a conversation with Sae Schatz. Sae formerly served as director of the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative, and she was ...
Aug 08, 2023•34 min
Innovation is crucial to the continued success of any organization, and that’s arguably truer for learning businesses than it is for many other types of organizations because of their focus on external learners and the field, industry, or profession those learners serve. In this episode, we unpack that assertion while also breaking innovation down. Innovation isn’t monolithic and uniform. Rather innovation is variable and nuanced, and that’s what we want look at, with an eye specifically to exte...
Aug 01, 2023•26 min
Managing content well and communicating effectively with audiences are two key competencies needed by a learning business that wants to thrive, and taxonomies and metadata can play an important role in both. Stephanie Lemieux is an information management consultant specializing in taxonomies and metadata. Educated as a librarian, Stephanie is now president and principal consultant at Dovecot Studio, which helps organizations optimize the way they structure and manage their mission-critical conte...
Jul 25, 2023•38 min
Empathy is essential to both learner-centered design and effective leadership, and empathy with doubly disadvantaged individuals, like Black women, can be that much more important—and rare. L. Michelle Smith is a certified executive and personal coach whose work is informed by positive psychology and neuroscience. She’s the author of three books, including Yes Please! 7 Ways to Say I’m Entitled to the C-Suite . L. Michelle’s specialty is moving women and women of color to the C suite and E suite...
Jul 18, 2023•33 min
Travel can serve as a field laboratory for learning. Whether a trip is short or long, near or far, done alone or with others, travel offers an opportunity to learn. In this episode, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele discuss the pre, during, and post phases that make up both travel and learning experiences; feelings of belonging and othering that can arise; and the value of learning business professionals reflecting on their own experiences to help them design better and more empathetically fo...
Jul 11, 2023•38 min
If we had to pick just one thing as the key to the success of a learning business, we would argue for the learning experiences offered because those learning experiences are at the core of what learning businesses do. In order to offer effective learning experiences, we need a solid understanding of adult learning theory. Although many of learning business professionals are already familiar adult learning theory, there can be tremendous value in taking time to periodically revisit it. In this re...
Jul 04, 2023•26 min
It’s an old debate in education, whether learning needs to be for something or whether learning in and of itself is of value. Looking at the rise of STEM and the growing focus on skills-based, job-relevant training, one might conclude that the for-something side is winning the debate. And, yet, soft skills and less immediately applicable subjects endure. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Jeffrey Scheuer about the role of the liberal arts in creatin...
Jun 27, 2023•28 min
The traditional long summer break from school in the U.S. can mean fun in the sun—and summer learning loss (SLL). While SLL is a documented phenomenon, not all K-12 students lose the same skills and knowledge over the summer. In fact, some make gains over the summer holiday. One of the most important things students can do to improve is read. And reading can be a powerful driver of learning for adults as well as K-12 students. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb a...
Jun 20, 2023•29 min
To be a learner, we have to identify as a learner, and belonging is critical to self-identification. That means all learning businesses need to think about how they can create situations and offerings where individuals feel a sense of belonging. Dr. Susie Wise is a learning experience designer and author of the book Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities . Susie coaches leaders in equity design and innovation practices and teaches at the d.school at St...
Jun 13, 2023•42 min
Competition from free and low-cost offerings is a reality for many learning businesses. But it’s also true that most learning businesses do offer—or should offer—free or low-cost options in their own portfolios. CMEpalooza offers an interesting case study to examine both for competitive insight and as a potential model to emulate. Scott Kober and Derek Warnick produce CMEpalooza, a free biannual virtual conference for CME and CE professionals. CMEpalooza is a side gig for these fearless co-produ...
Jun 06, 2023•33 min
What does the term "lifelong learning" mean for you? It’s an important question for learning business professionals to ask because taking the time to reflect can lead to a better understanding of the influential role your learning business plays in your stakeholders' lifelong learning journey. In this episode, we explore the history of lifelong learning and major viewpoints on what it is, the reasons behind a renewed interest in lifelong learning, and why taking time for to know the backstory of...
May 30, 2023•35 min
The full, complete experience of the learner—from before they decide to sign up for a course or event, until after it's over—should be a primary concern for all learning businesses. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb is joined by return guest Diana Howles, CEO and co-owner of Howles Associates, which specializes in virtual training, virtual presentation coaching, and learning experience design. They delve into the topic of learning experience design—what it is, wh...
May 23, 2023•30 min
COVID permanently altered the operations and offerings of many learning businesses, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Duke University is one such example In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with return guest Chris McLeod, who directs OLLI at Duke, about the pandemic-driven changes her group made and their related short- and long-term implications. Chris shares how COVID got them to rethink the competitive environment and the importance o...
May 16, 2023•34 min
We believe deeply in the power of learning to transform individuals, organizations, and communities. That’s why we focus the Leading Learning Podcast on serving the learning businesses and learning business professionals that create and support adult lifelong learning, continuing education, and professional development. Learning business professionals need to invest in their own learning and development so they can grow and help the learning businesses they serve improve their reach, revenue, an...
May 09, 2023•31 min
Engagement is at the heart of most thriving learning businesses. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we talk about engagement with Amanda Kaiser, an engagement strategist, keynote speaker, and author of Elevating Engagement: Uncommon Strategies for Creating a Thriving Member Community . Amanda’s background and focus are on community engagement in the context of associations, but her perspective on engagement is valuable for learning businesses of all types. Co-host Jeff Cobb talks w...
May 02, 2023•38 min
Globalization is a strategy that makes sense for many learning businesses, and going global usually involves language services. This episode features Ingrid Christensen, president and founder of INGCO International, a full-service language solutions company, and author of The Language of Trust: Communicate to Build Meaningful Relationships in Business and Life . Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele and Ingrid talk about what localization, globalization, translation, and interpretation ...
Apr 25, 2023•29 min
Competition is a significant issue for most learning businesses, and, because the lifelong learning landscape is constantly evolving, the competitive landscape is also constantly shifting, making it critical for every learning business to periodically revisit its strategy to remain relevant and competitive. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb highlight five forces driving competition for learning businesses using the framework first described by ...
Apr 18, 2023•33 min
Providing practical and valuable education and credentials is critical to the role learning businesses can play in creating and maintaining a skilled workforce. In this episode, we dig into the causes and solutions to the skills gap in a conversation with David Capranos, director of market strategy and research at Wiley University Services. Leading Learning co-host Jeff Cobb and David talk about the report David co-authored titled “Closing the Skills Gap: Employer Perspectives on Educating the P...
Apr 11, 2023•30 min
Melissa Majors is a keynote speaker, author of The Seven Simple Habits of Inclusive Leaders , and founder of Melissa Majors Consulting, where she helps leaders lead better and cultivate high-performing and engaged teams. Prior to starting her consulting practice, Melissa spent 20 years leading education services teams and divisions across a variety of industries, both large and small. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Melissa about what inclusive l...
Apr 04, 2023•31 min
