L&D Must Change

It's time to dive into performance consulting with today's guest, Christopher Adams, Principal Consultant for Performance Change Strategies LLC. Performance consulting focuses on the gaps that exist between the performance of people and the desired business results. Sometimes training can help to close those gaps and sometimes it cannot. We owe it to our stakeholders, who come to us with a pain point that needs solving, to help figure out the best solution.

Christopher and I discuss:

• Why it isn't enough for L&D to be experts in producing specific learning solutions.
• How L&D needs to develop a clear mindset around how work, the performance of people, and business results work together (and a mental model to do this).
• Asking questions that influence instead of simply gather data.
• The importance of investing in relationships in order to move from serving as a helper to working as a partner.

As principal consultant for Performance Change Strategies LLC in Charlotte, NC, Christopher (Chris) has facilitated capability building programs for leading organizations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He is also an associate member of the graduate faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He frequently writes and speaks about performance consulting, leading educational sessions at international conferences. In 2019, Chris co-authored the 2019 TD@Work: Focus First on Results. He has also been personally endorsed by Jim and Dana Robinson, authors of the book, Performance Consulting, to carry forward their work of building strategic capability in talent teams.

Find and connect with Christopher Adams here:

• Website: www.resultscomefirst.com
• LinkedIn

Find and connect with Jess Almlie here:

• LinkedIn
• Subscribe to the L&D Must Change Newsletter
• Learning Business Advisor Consulting

Additional resources mentioned in this Episode:

• Book: Performance Consulting: A Strategic Process to Improve, Measure, and Sustain Organizational Results by Jim & Dana Robinson, et. al.
• Book: Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Peformance by Thomas F. Gilbert
• Book: Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organizational Chart by Geary A. Rummler and Alan P. Brache

It's episode 4 and we're talking all things belonging with researcher Wendy Gates Corbett. She's on a mission to show everyone who wants to make a difference in their work culture how easy and possible it is to do just that, especially when it comes to belonging in the workplace. It turns out, a sense of belonging doesn't stem from big engagement programs and events, but from small (free) actions that anyone can do. As L&D professionals, we are in a unique position to help lead the way for these small actions to ultimately turn the tide on retention and engagement.

Wendy and I discuss:

• The importance of creating a sense of belonging at work
• Three main components of belonging: connect, respect, and protect
• How we can simplify (and not overcomplicate) actions that lead to belonging
• How L&D can lead the way to model and advocate for belonging in the workplace
• The need for rest and recovery as an important part of belonging
• One thing you can do today to get started

Wendy Gates Corbett, CPTD, stands at the forefront of Belonging and Leadership, wielding her expertise with a vibrant energy that transforms workplaces and speaking stages alike. Her personal journey as a biracial individual has profoundly influenced her mission to cultivate spaces of unconditional acceptance, a mission that she brings to life as a top-tier organizational culture consultant, global training executive, belonging researcher, and Adjunct Professor of Leadership and Management in all of Duke University's graduate engineering programs. Wendy's research, which has touched over 150,000 people worldwide, pinpoints the behaviors that foster a genuine sense of belonging within organizations. Wendy's #1 bestselling book, "The Energy of Belonging: 75 Ideas to Spark Workplace Community," is a continuation of her vital discourse on the subject. Whether consulting in the boardroom, lecturing in the classroom, or captivating an audience on stage, Wendy Gates Corbett is a beacon of progress, hope, and action guiding a path toward a more inclusive, empowered, and thriving future. Her work sparks impactful change, encouraging everyone to claim their space, their voice, and their power to create spaces where belonging thrives.

Find and connect with Wendy Gates Corbett here:

• LinkedIn
• Websites: www.wendygatescorbett.com / www.signature-presentations.com
• Book: "The Energy of Belonging: 75 Ideas to Spark Workplace Community" on Amazon: https://bit.ly/belongingenergy

Find and connect with Jess Almlie here:

• LinkedIn
• Subscribe to the L&D Must Change Newsletter
• Learning Business Advisor Consulting

In Episode 3, I'm starting with a topic that's currently abuzz in the L&D Must Change community, check the box training. Then, I'll talk with Massimo Backus, executive coach and leadership development consultant about a leadership skill that we rarely discuss and even more rarely include as part of our leadership development strategies - self-compassion. Based on his experience with over 3,000 leaders, Massimo has found that a lack of self-compassion is the thing that is most often likely to contribute to leaders feeling "stuck" and also most likely to make them ineffective. How can we, as L&D practitioners, help the leaders in our organization to develop self-compassion?

Massimo and I discuss:

• One common struggle that exists for all leaders
• The three core pillars of self-compassion
• Benefits of self-compassion in the workplace
• Changing our relationship with our "Well Intentioned Misinformed Protectors" (WIMPs)
• How a lack of self-compassion contributes to leaders feeling stuck and ineffective
• The first step to help leaders in our organizations improve their self-compassion
• The simplest way to start becoming more self-compassionate

Massimo is a Seattle-based executive coach and leadership development consultant who specializes in managing the shadow side of the top performers in organizations. He is on a mission to help one million leaders believe they are enough. Prior to starting his firm, he was the head of global leadership development at Slalom Consulting and now works with executives at Amazon, Nintendo, Sony Entertainment, and more. In September, he'll publish his first book, Human First, Leader Second: How Self-Compassion Outperforms Self-Criticism.

Find and connect with Massimo Backus here:

• LinkedIn
• MassimoBackus.com

Find and connect with Jess Almlie here:

• LinkedIn
• Subscribe to the L&D Must Change Newsletter
• Learning Business Advisor Consulting

Additional links:

• Feelings Wheel

Here we go! Diving into Episode 2 of the L&D Must Change Podcast, I start off with a few thoughts on what's "abuzz" in the L&D Must Change community these days: Measurement and... emotion! Then, I talk with Stephen Mostrom, founder of Develop Daily, about how learning happens in the context of real life more often than it happens in the pristine environments of classrooms and e-learnings. Thus, the question becomes, how can we, as L&D professionals, develop learning experiences that align with our learners' real lives, amidst the chaos, stressors, and growing 'to do' lists?

Stephen and I discuss:

• How learning happens within the context of real life vs. within formal rational pristine environments (classrooms).
• A strategy for employees to strategically 'Develop Daily' in less than 15 minutes per day for habit-forming, skill-stacking growth that activates learning and engagement at scale.
• Specific and strategic identification of the skills each individual needs to develop within their own career.
• The ultimate skill to keep us all competitive and growing, the ability to continuously re-skill.
• The three enemies of growth that professionals run into on a dailly basis: The 'Learning Cliff,' random acts of learning, and employee disengagement (quiet quitting).
• The importance of understanding learners' everyday realities and one action L&D can take to start better understanding these realities as well as how learning might happen within them.

Stephen Mostrom has several letters behind his name – JD, MBA, and PMP. But his titles are more important: DaDa and Founder. After spending a decade building internal L&D programs at Bank of America and Silicon Valley Bank, Stephen made the jump to entrepreneurship. He's the Founder of Develop Daily, a career development consultancy. When Stephen's not delivering workshops, he's busy reading and crushing it on LinkedIn, where he publishes his Develop Daily newsletter. He enjoys hiking, red wine, podcasts, traveling, and a good indie film.

Find and connect with Stephen Mostrom here:

• LinkedIn
• Develop Daily

Find and connect with Jess Almlie here:

• LinkedIn
• Subscribe to the L&D Must Change Newsletter
• Learning Business Advisor Consulting

Additional links:

• LinkedIn 2024 Workplace Learning Report

It's Episode 1 of the L&D Must Change podcast and we are starting off with a bang! Today we welcome talent development leader, author, speaker, and Back to the Future aficionado JD Dillon to talk about shifting our L&D mindsets to creatively match the needs of the people in our businesses. In many ways, we need to get out of our own way and move away from our own legacy thinking.

You'll hear:

• The math problem that makes up our biggest challenge in L&D today and why it can no longer be addressed with traditional tactics.
• How we need to shift our mindset from that of providing traditional learning solutions to one where we are doing what is needed to help everyone in the organization do their best.
• When we, in L&D, get in our own way and create our own barriers.
• How L&D should start by using the tools, tactics, and technologies that are already easily available to people as they do their jobs.
• The necessity of L&D to have strong cross-functional partnerships in order to help people do their best work.
• The need for L&D to proactively understand how work and businesses will transform via emerging tech.
• How to start shifting perceptions of L&D by helping with minor issues, establishing a bottom-up approach.
• And most importantly, how L&D can and should act more like Alfred and less like Batman (copyright Warner Brothers).

JD Dillon is a veteran talent development leader, internationally recognized author and speaker and dedicated Back to the Future aficionado. Over the past 20 years, he's led operations and L&D teams at Disney, Kaplan and AMC. Today, JD advises organizations around the world on learning and enablement strategies as Axonify's Chief Learning Architect and Founder and Principal at LearnGeek. He's also never ridden a bicycle.

Find and connect with JD Dillon here:

• LinkedIn
• LearnGeek
• Axonify
• Find out more about JD's book (which Jess believes should be required reading for anyone in L&D) here: https://jdwroteabook.com/
• JD's talk show, In the Know

Find and connect with Jess Almlie here:

• LinkedIn
• Subscribe to the L&D Must Change Newsletter
• Learning Business Advisor Consulting

Why the L&D Must Change Podcast? In this brief introduction, Jess Almlie, host of the L&D Must Change podcast will share a little about her background as well as the reason for starting the podcast.

Jess has worked in people development fields for over 25 years from crew trainer at McDonald's to Vice President of Learning and everythign in between. Through this time, there has been one phrase that has plagued her, "There is a better way."

This evolved throughout her life in the following stages:

1. There is a better way to engage people in training
2. There is a better way to reinforce learning
3. There is a better way to get people the information they need to do their jobs well
4. There is a better way for L&D to work strategically, in partnership with the business

Jess believes those of us in the people development professions (L&D, TD, OD, etc.) are ready for impact. We have the skill and we have the smarts, but we aren't rising to our full potential.

If we truly want to make an impact on our organizations and solve talent challenges we need to do our work differently.

If we REALLY want to change, it will take all of us, working together to make that happen.

In this bi-weekly podcast, Jess will interview brilliant L&D minds who are working to change our profession in some way. Rarely, she may also share a solo episode.

The goal is to give you ideas and concrete action steps that you can use to help in changing the way we do our work in this profession to have a greater impact on our organizations and their people.

Follow and connect with Jess:

• Follow and connect with Jess on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessalmlie/
• Subscribe to Jess's biweekly LinkedIn Newsletter, L&D Must Change (same name as the podcast!): https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/learning-must-change-6883482362617872384/
• Jess's company website - Learning Business Advisor Consulting: https://www.lbacllc.com/

Additional links from this episode:

• 5 Moments of Need