The market for continuing education, professional development, and lifelong learning is large and evolving rapidly. Competition is growing and learners have more options than ever. The Leading Learning Podcast is for learning business professionals who want to thrive in this new landscape. In each episode, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele provide actionable insights based on their own deep experience and expertise or invite in experts and practitioners to share their perspectives.
In Leading Learning Podcast episode 440, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele share the questions and topics probed in Leading Learning’s annual survey on learning businesses—questions and topics that can provide a solid basis for strategy conversations in your learning business. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode440 .
COVID changed how we live and work in many ways. One example is the increased need for remote communication and for managing and leading hybrid teams. Wayne Turmel is part of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, and he and Kevin co-wrote The Long-Distance Leader , originally published in 2018, with a revised edition out in 2024. Wayne’s work focuses on remote and virtual communication in the evolving workplace. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 439, Wayne and Leading Learning Podcas...
Effort contributes to lasting, durable learning, which means learning businesses have a responsibility to expect learners to put in effort and an incentive to support them in doing so. Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele discuss the role of effort in learning and how learning businesses can scaffold effort in this episode, number 438. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode438 ....
Content marketing at its core is educational. It’s about raising awareness not only of a brand but of that brand’s ability to help and to act as a partner. For many learning businesses, content marketing is the start of the learner journey and the way they establish both expertise and trust with prospective learners. Deirdre Reid is a writer, a content marketer, and the publisher of Association Brain Food, a weekly list of free Webinars and other events and recommended reading. In this episode, ...
Impact is a theme we circle back to again and again on the Leading Learning Podcast because we believe that any learning business needs to create impact for the learners and other stakeholders it serves. And measurement and evaluation are critical for knowing if we’re creating impact and for showing that impact. Dr. Alaina Szlachta is author of the book Measurement and Evaluation on a Shoestring . In this episode, number 436, Alaina talks with co-host Jeff Cobb about what measurement and evaluat...
If the goal of so much professional learning is improving the skills and abilities of learners on the job, then why put theory and methods before practice opportunities? That question gets at the core of reflective practice-based learning, which is an approach that emphasizes practice before theory. Annasofie Wædeled-Møller, a learning and development expert, is passionate about helping educators and leaders create more practice-based, learner-centered experiences. In episode 435, Annasofie talk...
As parents, as partners, as colleagues, as professionals, people are constantly being asked for some of their time, and learning businesses are part of the clamor for people’s time. Learning requires time, yet many people feel they don’t have enough of it. How do learning businesses secure a share of people’s limited time, and how can they help learners make the most of the time they do invest? In this episode, number 434, Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele focus on th...
Amrit Ahluwalia is executive director of Continuing Studies at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, where he’s focused on growing Western’s professional and continuing education reputation and approach to match the reputation and approach the institution already brings to its research and undergraduate programing. Before joining Western, Amrit founded The EvoLLLution, and he ran the publication for a little over ten years. He also hosts the EdUp PCO podcast. In episode 433 of the Leadi...
Nuno Fernandes is president of American Public University System. One of the pioneers of online education in the United States, APUS now offers 200 programs serving more than 90,000 students in 50 states and almost 50 countries around the world. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 432, Nuno shares how he came to lead a higher education institution, and he and co-host Jeff Cobb talk about the current state of higher ed, the rising costs of a university degree, marketing and ed...
Motivation and mindset are two of the baseline requirements for effective, lasting, and enjoyable learning. Through thoughtful design and delivery, learning businesses have the ability and opportunity to influence the motivation and mindset of the learners they serve. In this episode, number 431, Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele look at these two related but different concepts and talk about how each impacts learning. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are avai...
Impact is one of the core goals at the heart of most learning businesses, and we believe that impact should be as broad as possible—meaning ideally your learning business delivers significant and relevant results for learners, for the organizations that employ those learners, and for the fields, professions, and industries those learners work in. In this episode, number 430, Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele look at how providing learning paths, offering valued creden...
Having a strategy is part of what any learning business needs to thrive. But what does establishing a strategy look like? In this episode, number 429, we get a peek behind the strategy-developing curtain in a conversation. Pam Rosenberg, director of education for the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, has been in the exciting role of helping to develop ASNT’s first formal education strategy. Pam talks with Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele about build, borrow, and buy choi...
Most learning businesses have three goals at heart: reach, revenue, and impact. Reach deals with clearly identifying who you can and should serve and then connecting with them. Impact involves delivering real results for learners, organizations, fields, professions, and industries. Revenue is the lifeblood that keeps a learning business alive. Very few would disagree that impact and reach are important, but making money off education can cause discomfort to some. And so in this episode we focus ...
Heutagogy might be the most important and powerful idea in learning that you never heard mentioned on the Leading Learning Podcast. Until today. If a learning business embraces heutagogy, it will be well positioned to lead learning in the field, industry, or profession it serves because it will have enlisted the help of all learners. In this episode, number 427, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele talk about the emergence of heutagogy, its relationship to andragogy, and the potential it might r...
In the U.S., higher education institutions are increasingly interested in serving nontraditional students, in providing credentials beyond degrees, and in using online learning to extend their reach beyond physical campuses. As those changes happen in higher ed, ripples are created that impact the learning business landscape. Luke Dowden is the chief online learning officer at the Alamo Colleges District, located in San Antonio, Texas. In this episode, number 426, Luke talks with Leading Learnin...
Learning is both a natural, intuitive activity all humans engage in and a complicated process we haven’t yet fully appreciated or understood. While there are plenty of nuances and neuroscientific details that factor in, fundamentally learning requires three elements: motivation, time, and effort. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 425, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele focus on some of the most important takeaways from andragogy and learning science, things that can help ...
Fundamentally there are only two factors to consider when looking to grow the reach, revenue, and impact of your learning business: audiences (those you sell to) and products (what you sell). In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 424, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele break down four high-level approaches to growing your learning business, weigh the generic risks of each, and then focus in on ways to maximize adoption of existing products among your existing audiences. Show ...
In a crowded and competitive market, high quality signaled by accreditation can help a learning business stand out. That’s why we wanted to talk with Randy Bowman, president and CEO of the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training, a nonprofit standards development and accrediting body. In episode 423, Randy talks with Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele about what IACET does to support providers of learning, the development and maintenance of important standards...
Competitive advantage, whether sustained or transient, is becoming harder and harder to maintain. Collaborative advantage may be the answer. In this episode, number 422, we recap competitive advantage, sustained advantage, and transient advantage and then posit a fourth type of advantage for learning businesses to consider: collaborative advantage. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode422 ....
Self-reflection is an important tool for learners and an important activity for learning business leaders. Dr. Will Thalheimer includes a succinct list of what a great learning leader should be in his book The CEO’s Guide to Training, eLearning & Work . In episode 421 of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele use his list as the basis for a look at what goes into leading a learning business well. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://ww...
Learning businesses are part of the third sector of education—the sector that serves the adult learner after they work through the K-12 sector and, then for some, the degree-granting higher education sector. Higher education institutions are increasingly playing a role in serving lifelong and continuing learners. Kemi Jona is the vice provost for online education and digital innovation at the University of Virginia, and he’s our guest for this episode, number 420, of the Leading Learning Podcast...
In our Learning Business Maturity Model, marketing is one of the five fundamental domains learning businesses need to work on and in to mature and be successful. The Inquiring Mind by Cyril Houle was written in 1961, but it’s a foundational text that can still provide learning businesses with a better understanding of the motivations of the learners they aim to serve. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode419 ....
For learning businesses, it’s important to truly understand the learners they aim to serve. To help with that understanding, in this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 418, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele turn to a text that’s over 60 years old but still incredibly relevant. In The Inquiring Mind , Cyril Houle divides lifelong learners into three categories: goal-oriented, activity-oriented, and learning-oriented. Learning businesses that understand the motivations and activiti...
It’s gotten incredibly easy to produce and consume content. That means the market value of content is approaching zero. And that means that learning businesses need to provide more than just content. Learning businesses that can provide connection are going to attract and retain passionate and engaged learners. Ginger Johnson focuses her work on the power of human connection and the why and the how of connecting on purpose with purpose, and Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele talks to...
If you’re looking to improve the reach, revenue, and impact of your learning business, focus on engagement, not content. Content is no longer king. Engagement is everything. In episode 416 of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele talk about why the importance of content and even context is waning and why a focus on engagement is a savvy move for learning businesses committed to creating and delivering value. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at h...
Finding the right balance of online and offline learning to have in a portfolio is one of the critical concerns facing learning businesses in our post-pandemic world because getting that mix as close to ideal as possible is key to securing a learning business’s reach, revenue, and impact. In episode 415 of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele offer nine criteria, accompanying guiding questions, and a scoring rubric that learning businesses might use when aiming for ...
On January 1, 2025, we’ll enter the second half of the turbulent 2020s and come that much closer to the Threatening 30s, to borrow the terms of our guest for episode 414 of the Leading Learning Podcast. Organizations of all kinds have a vested interest in seeing the future as clearly as possible and taking action—action to bring about the best possible future for those they serve. Leading Learning Podcast co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Jeff De Cagna about this and much more. Jeff De Cagna is execu...
For learning businesses that want to thrive in the evolving lifelong learning market, identifying metatrends and unpacking what they might mean in terms of risks and opportunities is crucial. In episode 413 of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele offer ten metatrends they see when looking at how lifelong learning is shifting to keep pace with change. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode413 ....
What does a world that learns better look like? It’s an intriguing question for learning businesses to consider because learning businesses have an opportunity and a responsibility to build a world that learns better, and it’s that question that Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele explore in episode 412. The question has a philosophical bent, but trying to answer it can have very practical implications for learning businesses in what they choose to do operationally and ...
We’ve reached a point in history where it’s essentially a given that learning products will make use of technology to deliver, support, or deepen learning. Geoff Stead has dedicated his career to building learning tools that sit in what he calls the messy middle between the power of new technologies and real human learning needs. He’s currently chief product officer at MyTutor, and he’s co-author of Engines of Engagement: A Curious Book About Generative AI . In this episode, number 411, Leading ...
