The Learn to Grow Podcast is an anecdotal look at the learning landscape aimed at L&D and HR professionals. I interview leaders in learning about their experience first-hand in the world of learning and development helping people and organizations reach their potential. We discuss top trends including learning technology, the role of learning cultures, and the foundations of a successful learning experience.

What's with the title?

When change is inevitable, learning and growth are essential. We believe learning and growth are intertwined, both for individuals and organizations. Individuals learn to grow within their roles, careers, and personal lives. Organizations learning programs are now major contributors to business success, helping them attract and retain top talent, upskill and reskill, and adapt to the inevitable changes the future will bring. In this podcast, we speak to leaders in the learning and development industry about the learning landscape.

Rashim Mogha is an innovative leader, mentor to many, and prominent women-in-tech evangelist. She is the best-selling author of “Fast Track your Leadership Career” and has been recognized as one of top 100 keynote speakers.

She advises startups, mentors emerging leaders, and runs a successful podcast, all while leading the global education and enablement team at Automation Anywhere.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• Disruption and change as challenge and opportunity
• The role of training strategy in business success
• The importance of culture and mindful leadership
• eWOW’s “intellectual framework for success”
• The intertwining of learning and growth for individuals and organizations

Find Rashim in the following places:

• Website: https://rashimmogha.com/
• Buy here Amazon bestseller here: Fast-Track Your Leadership Career: A definitive template for advancing your career!
• Learn more about eWOW at their webiste
• Connect with Rashim on LinkedIn

At SureSkills, we deliver learning and enablement services to the worlds leading technology companies and global organizations.

To learn more, head over to www.SureSkills.com or download our latest eBook: Foundations of a Successful Learning Experience.

After each podcast we like to do a short, follow-up musing prompted by the conversation. When I talked with Rashim Mogha, I asked her about mindful leadership and she was adamant that a productive culture begins with mindful leadership.

It reminded me of the 2020 Workplace Learning Report that emphasizes the massive role that managers play in driving learning engagement and building a culture of learning.

Changing the culture can seem like a massive task. One that requires a huge budget and months if not years of planning.

But there is so much about establishing a learning culture that is absolutely free!

• There is no budget required to share something you’ve learned with your team members.
• There is no budget required to highlight a TED talk that resonated with you.
• There is no budget required or to reach out to someone you work with, superior, peer, or subordinate, and ask them what they’re learning.

I’ve always loved dominoes as a metaphor for the big impact of small gestures.

A 2-inch domino can knock over another domino 1.5 times its size.

Line up more dominoes, each 1.5 times larger than the last, and

• the 12th domino would be 15 feet tall.
• The 17th would dwarf the statue of liberty.
• The 19th would overshadow the Empire State Building.
• The 50th would knock over a domino the size of the distance between the earth and the moon.

Small actions create big chain reactions.

Leaders can inspire their teams with small gestures like a demonstrated interest in what their team members are learning!

Leaders have this responsibility. But the thing is. We are all leaders. In a democratized learning culture, everyone is a catalyst. Everyone has the chance to inspire people around them.

All it takes is to push the first domino.

My guest this week is Christopher Lind, Head of Global Digital Learning for GE Healthcare and host of the hugely popular Learning Tech Talks.

We covered a lot of ground in this one, but the common thread was how technology is reshaping the learning landscape, and we preview Christopher’s big push to provide high-quality learning opportunities for those who consider themselves learning professionals.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• the role technology is playing in driving the emphasis on the learner experience
• the “Stockholm Syndrome” of traditional approaches to L&D
• the evolving role of content creators
• the challenges of curation
• Christopher’s plans for effective professional development for those in learning roles

You can find Christopher on LinkedIn or check out his Learning Tech Talks to stay up to date with emerging technologies and the people behind them.

At SureSkills, we deliver learning and enablement services to the worlds leading technology companies and global organizations.

To learn more, head over to www.SureSkills.com or download our latest eBook: Foundations of a Successful Learning Experience.

On Learn to Grow Shorts, we follow up on the most recent podcast conversation to highlight one topic of particular interest.

This week I was talking to Christopher Lind, and we talked about the extent to which L&D roles are evolving because of the increasing emphasis on learning experience design over traditional create and deliver approaches to training.

Here, I explain how hermit crabs can help us understand the need for vulnerability in times of change.

Enjoy!

Please reach out with any feedback or follow ups! You can find me on LinkedIn or email me at simon.behan@sureskills.com.

My guest this week is the super talented and engaging Ed Monk, CEO of the Learning and Performance Institute.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• The difference between a training landscape and a learning landscape
• The need for agile, democratized learning
• The accelerated nature of digital transformation in recent months
• The three C’s of learning: Constructive, Compelling, and Convenient
• How to define success and for your learning program
• Using data to improve learning in your organization
• Learning as an economic imperative
• The piece of technology that has most impacted the learning landscape
• Jurgen Klopp’s "relentless inclusivity"
• A prediction for the 2021 English Premier League

Here are a couple of links to resources Ed mentions in the show:

• Jurgen Klopp on Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat
• Heather McGowan on "How The Coronavirus Pandemic Is Accelerating The Future Of Work"

Reach out Ed on LinkedIn to connect!

To get in touch with me, Simon Behan, reach out on LinkedIn or email me at simon.behan@sureskills.com

At SureSkills, we deliver learning services to the worlds leading technology companies and global organizations.

To learn more, head over to www.SureSkills.com or download our latest eBook: Foundations of a Successful Learning Experience.

Thanks for listening!

On Learn to Grow Shorts, we follow up on the most recent podcast conversation to highlight one topic of particular interest.

I had a great time talking to Ed, and looking back on our conversation, the thing I want to highlight this week is the importance of practically applying what you learn. Loved the examples Ed gives for how learning takes place in his own life and how he uses technology like YouTube and practical application to make progress.

He describes using YouTube to find soccer games, drills and exercises for the U15 team he coaches, then takes puts what he learned into practice that night.

If we think about what’s happening there, it’s the combination of the research and content consumption with the instant practical application that makes the learning successful. He becomes better at his role (coach) and his organization (in this case an U15 soccer team!) benefit directly from what he has learned – everyone wins.

And the cool thing is, as Ed finds content that works for him and applies it in practice, he gets better at finding the right content for his team and his own personal coaching style.

What’s key to remember here, however, is that without the practical application piece, we actually lose much of what we consume in learning content.

And there is actually research to back this up.

For example, there was a fantastic episode of Morning Edition on NPR.

They explored the idea that many people believe they can master something simply by watching instructional videos.

Psychologists Ed O’Brien and Michael Kardas wondered about instructional videos and whether there was a gap between the perception of learning and actual learning.

So they studied it, and the best example is around the moonwalk. It’s objectively hard to do, a challenging skill.

Basically, here’s what they found:

If you show a group of people an instructional video 20 times, then ask them to rate their likely success when they try to perform it, they will way overstate their ability compared to a group who had not watched the instructional videos.

Sometimes viewing content or attending a seminar gives us the perception that we have gained a new skill – but we have to put skill into action as soon as possible to embed skills and capabilities and really grow.

This is why Ed has had such success – he hasn’t just spent hours watching videos, he has gone out and applied them each week with his team.

Thanks for taking the time to listen – Next week I talk to Kris Reynolds from Gitlab.

My guest this week is enablement guru Kris Reynolds who has vast experience and is currently the Field Enablement Manager at GitLab.

In this conversation, we talk about:

• A definition for “enablement”, which often means different things to different people, and why it matters so much
• The importance of practical application of learning “in the wild”
• How to empower learners with the skills they need to thrive in their roles
• How to identify the skills team members need for success
• Moving from “monolithic” training to “just-in-time” training
• The role of collaboration in building a workplace culture, particularly in a fully remote company
• Gitlab’s iterative approach to learning development in an “always-on culture”
• How agility is the name of the game in a rapidly changing environment
• Hiring for “value-fit as opposed to “culture-fit”

Reach out Kris on LinkedIn to connect!

To get in touch with me, Simon Behan, reach out on LinkedIn or email me at simon.behan@sureskills.com

At SureSkills, we deliver learning services to the worlds leading technology companies and global organizations.

To learn more, head over to www.SureSkills.com or download our latest eBook: Foundations of a Successful Learning Experience.

Thanks for listening!