In this episode of Leading L&D, host Adrian West sits down with Darlene Weghorst, Director of Enablement at Relias. Darlene shares her insights on aligning Learning & Development with corporate strategy, the role of business acumen in L&D leadership, and how to foster collaboration with business stakeholders. From navigating shifting priorities to leveraging customer feedback, Darlene explains how L&D professionals can drive measurable impact and stay connected to the bigger organizational picture.

Key Topics:

• The importance of business strategy in L&D
• Building strong partnerships with marketing and sales
• Measuring the impact of enablement programs
• The future of LMS systems and AI-driven workflows

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We're joined by Adri Maisonet Morales, VP of Talent Management at Blue Cross NC, to discuss the future of corporate L&D.

Along with sharing a bit of her own story, Adri shares her thoughts on:

• Aligning L&D with business strategy to build a competitive and future-ready workforce
• A centralized L&D structure using a hub-and-spoke model for efficiency
• The importance of addressing current and future skill gaps
• Valuing continuous learning, business acumen, and human-centered skills
• The massive impact of AI
• Evolving roles for instructional designers
• Recruitment strategies for L&D professionals, including embracing non-traditional backgrounds
• The need for L&D to play a strategic role, contributing beyond traditional learning solutions

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We're thrilled to welcome Leah Houde, Chief Learning Officer at PwC, to discuss her journey in embracing AI and generative AI (Gen AI) within the L&D landscape and its impact in organizational upskilling. 

Leah dives into the collaborative efforts between PwC’s L&D, tech, and change management teams to upskill 75,000 employees, ensuring they become savvy and responsible AI users. She also shares insights on PwC's Gen AI strategy, innovative tools like the AI-enabled tutor, and the significance of fun, engagement, and strategic planning in successful upskilling initiatives.

You can follow Leah on Linkedin for more insight!

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The learning curve is very real, and it's different for everyone.

Sometimes, learners pick things up quickly and barely skip a beat. More often, though, training can actually lead to a temporary 'regression' as a learners work to replace the old, familiar habits and skills in pursuit of a 'new normal' with a higher ceiling.

Michael Cannon, VP of Global Learning & Enablement at Rimini Street, joins us for this month's show to discuss his experiences and insights on creating deep L&D programs that include experience and reinforcement well beyond the classroom, designed to keep learners engaged and ensure their growth.

Follow Michael on Linkedin here, and you can read his article here: The Real Learning Curve, Experiential Learning, and L&D’s Responsibility - Training Industry.

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Does anyone truly *love* their LMS? Good question, and a common point of discussion among learning leaders.

For this month's episode, Jim Farrell (Director of Learning Design & Development at SAS) stopped by to share his experience and perspective, from the decision to transition to a new LMS, evaluating potential solutions, pitching internal stakeholders, and even getting the final approval from leadership. 

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We've got a wonderful guest for this edition of Leading L&D as Tomislav Vujec, Director of Learning at Red Hat, joins us to discuss aligning L&D with corporate strategy.

When a company begins shifting its focus, that can be a tough ship to steer -- but ultimately, L&D is the sail for creating those foundational changes. 

With more than 20 years of experience at Red Hat, Tomislav has some excellent perspective and insight! 

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For this week's show, were joined by Dr. Pooneh Lari, an Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for NC State's Training & Development Program.

Dr. Lari and her colleagues are responsible for educating the next generation of instructional designers while also helping mid-career professionals further their education or get valuable credentials for advancement.

You can connect with Dr. Lari here via Linkedin, and find out more about NC State's Training & Development Program, under the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development here.

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Hybrid work arrangements have gone mainstream in recent years, but Candace Marles has been a part of — and managed — distributed learning and development teams for nearly 20 years.

Whether its effectively managing virtual meetings for on-site and remote employees, being more intentional in building culture, or simply having a little more patience for parents working from home, there's a unique set of challenges for managing a hybrid team.

Candace is excited to share her experiences and the best practices she's seen help turn happy, empowered employees become high-performing teams thanks to the flexibility of the hybrid model.

You can connect with her on Linkedin, and below, you'll find the two articles she published on managing hybrid teams:

• Part 1 
• Part 2

About Candace
Most recently the Manager of Digital Learning Development at SAS, Candace spent seven years managing the team responsible for creating digital courses that reached more than 400,000 users in the past three years.

Her journey in L&D began in 1997 when she shifted from a career as a music theory  professor to become a training consultant working on-site at GSK, where she would remain until 2008 when she joined SAS.

Originally hired as e-learning developer at SAS, Candace transitioned to management  in May 2016 and held that role until April 2023.

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In his role as Senior Director of Learning Innovation and Assessment for the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, Michael Grant is responsible for leading L&D initiatives for nearly 700,000 members.

Not only does Michael's team face the challenge of serving a diverse, global audience with differing regulations, but it also faces the responsibility of educating accountants on the growing number of dangers they face online and beyond.

Because L&D is a profit-center for AICPA, Michael brings a unique perspective on the Buy, Build or Partner decision process, as he seeks to create the best, up-to-date training content while keeping an eye on the bottom line.

In this episode, he also touches on:
- Creating engaging content on subject matter that might not hold a learner's attention.
- His approach to managing and building a culture with a remote team.
- Which Hollywood star he believes best exemplifies adaptability.

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For the inaugural episode of Leading L&D, longtime colleague and friend Laura Paramoure brings her 25+ years of experience in learning measurement to talk about how AI is shaking up her world at eParamus.

While some people believe that artificial intelligence might replace some in the workforce, Laura believes that it could actually become a massive benefit for the instructional designers, training specialists and curriculum developers who learn to harness its power. 

NOTE: We discovered an audio error in the editing process, and thankfully, it clears up around the 6-minute, 30-second mark.

Comments, questions or suggestions? We'd love to hear your thoughts at [email protected]!

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