The Learning + Performance Podcast

The Learning + Performance Podcast

By Patrick HealyEducationSelf-Improvement
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The Learning + Performance Podcast episodes

  • #7 - Michael Sweeney on L&D, Coaching, Leadership, Teams, and Beyond!

    In this episode of the L&P Podcast, I speak with Michael Sweeney, Chief Strategy Officer at RallyBright and founder of SaberCoaching, about his career enhancing the capacity and performance of individuals, teams, and organizations. Formerly VP of Digital Learning at Bain & Company, Mike has over two decades of experience in operations management, L&D, learning design, leadership development, coaching, and technology training.

    A lifelong learner himself, Mike enjoys finding ways to help others perform better and master their crafts. Mike holds a Masters in Organizational Psychology from William James College and is a Co-Active Training Institute (CTI) coach. Outside of work, Mike enjoys reading, running marathons, coaching athletes, playing with his dog, and being the best dad he can be for his three teenage daughters. Mike currently lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts.


    In our conversation, we hit on a wide range of topics, including:

    • The critical role of culture, values, and behaviors in organizational effectiveness
    • The difference between peak performance and high performance
    • The neuroscience of learning and skill development
    • After-action reviews (AARs)
    • Leadership and leadership development
    • Coaching and feedback
    • Motivation vs. inspiration
    • Recruiting sponsors to drive organizational change
    • And a whole lot more!

      • Mentioned in the conversation:

      • 6:28 - Values-Based Leadership
      • 7:28 - Deliberate vs. Evolutionary/Emergent Strategy
      • 8:18 - Values: Espoused vs. Enacted/In-Use
      • 8:30 - Bain Values and Operating Principles
      • 8:52 - Definition of culture
      • 13:00 - Operationalizing values
      • 14:02 - Edgar Schein on culture
      • 14:59 - Humble Inquiry
      • 17:42 - Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
      • 20:11 - Peak vs. High Performance
      • 21:05 - Learning in the brain
      • 23:11 - Unlearning
      • 23:52 - The P/PC Balance
      • 24:58 - Atomic Habits
      • 24:59 - The Power of Habit
      • 25:56 - After-Action Review
      • 26:36 - Teams that Work
      • 28:30 - Agile retrospective
      • 28:45 - Lean manufacturing
      • 30:06 - John Maxwell's Leadership Law #2 - Leadership as influence
      • 31:07 - Maxwell's Leadership Law #1 - Law of the Lid
      • 32:12 - Feedback Model - Situation, Behavior, Impact
      • 34:13 - Tim Ferriss on Learning to Learn
      • 42:39 - Tim Gallwey's The Inner Game of Tennis
      • 44:12 - Building High-Performing Teams course
      • 48:29 - The Losada Ratio
      • 48:55 - Designing the Coach-Client Alliance
      • 50:25 - Alfie Kohn on the Downsides of Punishment
      • 51:22 - Positive Intelligence
      • 53:58 - Radical Candor
      • 1:05:00 - The Sponsorship Spine
      • 1:07:15 - John Kotter's Leading Change
      • 1:07:45 - John Kotter's The Heart of Change
      • 1:09:45 - Spaced repetition
      • 1:11:30 - Learning moments of truth
      • 1:16:23 - Outlive by Peter Attia
      • 1:20:06 - CTI Fundamentals

        • Connect with Mike:

        • Michael Sweeney
        • Saber Coaching
        • Rally Bright
          • 1 hr 39 min
        • #6 - Rachel Koblic on Designing Online Programs and Professional Development Communities

          In this episode of the L&P Podcast, I speak with ⁠Rachel Koblic, former VP of Learning Experience at 2U and co-founder of StarlingLX, a professional development startup that offers mid-level leaders the learning experiences, real-world resources, and social support they need to thrive in their roles, nurture the people around them, and create better workplaces. A generalist at heart, Rachel has held a variety of roles designing learning experiences and leading learning teams across a range of industries. She has a Masters in instructional technology from Indiana University and is a true lifelong learner. Rachel lives and works in upstate New York with her partner on a farm with a whole mess of critters!

          In our conversation, we touch on a range of topics in online learning and professional development including:

          • Rachel’s journey into edtech and learning design

          • The 4 key elements of impactful online learning

          • Rachel’s role in developing 2U’s Learning Experience Framework

          • The evolution of online learning in higher education

          • What “quality” online learning means to learners

          • Rachel’s decision to start Starling and the need it serves

          • Starling’s unique approach to professional development for mid-level professionals

          • Much more!

            • Learn More About Rachel:

            • LinkedIn

            • StarlingLX

              • Mentioned in the Conversation

              • 7:40 - Performance vs. Mastery Objectives

              • 15:25 - Learning management systems (LMS)

                • LinkedIn Learning

                • Thinkific

                • Kajabi

                • 19:01 - Ideal Customer Personas (ICPs)

                • 19:25 - Micro-lessons and micro-learning

                • 21:02 - 2U’s Learning Experience Framework (LXF)

                • 22:17 - Bruce Spatz

                • 22:35 - Clark Quinn

                • 25:00 - Intrinsic motivation

                • 26:13 - Learning Design Hooks

                • 28:32 - The Power of Questions

                • 34:15 - StarlingLX

                • 34:38 - Disco community learning platform

                • 36:00 - Jeff Sirroni

                • 38:30 - Human-centered leadership

                • 39:45 - Capacity planning

                • 40:12 - Power to the Middle (McKinsey)

                • 44:58 - Chris Dede’s The 60-year curriculum

                • 45:04 - Stanford’s Open Loop University

                • 46:06 - MasterClass

                • 53:38 - Professional user manuals

                • 56:25 - Self-determination theory

                  • 1:00 - Ego-centrism

                  • 1:02 - Tasha Eurich’s Insight
                    • 1 hr 14 min
                  • # 5 - John Larson on Coaching for Learning and Performance

                    In this episode of the L&P Podcast, I speak with John Larson, the founder and CEO of CoachAccountable, a digital coaching platform designed to make coaches better and help clients get more out of coaching. Half coach, half coder, John has dedicated his life to improving the experience of coaching for coaches and their clients. He lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife and kids.

                    In our conversation, we discuss:

                    • What is coaching
                    • What coaches do (and don't do)
                    • The role of coaching in facilitating learning and performance
                    • John's journey into coaching and building CoachAccountable
                    • The shortcomings of many coaching conversations
                    • The importance of goals, metrics, action plans, and session notes
                    • What makes for an effective coach
                    • And much more...

                      • Mentioned in the Conversation:

                      • MacLelland (1995) - Coaching (Learn with) vs. Mentoring (Learn from)
                      • Landmark Forum
                      • What gets measured gets managed - Peter Drucker?
                      • My Body Tutor
                      • Spark by John Ratey
                      • The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin
                      • The Seventh Guest
                      • The 11th Hour
                      • Flow

                        • Learn More About John:

                        • About John
                        • LinkedIn
                        • CoachAccountable

                            • 1 hr 29 min
                          • #2 - Luke Hobson on Instructional Design in Higher Ed and Beyond

                            In this episode of the L&P podcast, I speak with Dr. Luke Hobson, an instructional designer working to build effective and engaging learning experiences for students in higher ed and beyond. Luke is also a teacher, author, and podcaster.


                            Dr. Hobson and I discuss a range of topics in instructional design, including:

                            • The linkage between learning and performance
                            • What do instructional designers do?
                            • Working with subject matter experts
                            • The importance of conducting learner research and getting feedback
                            • Integrating technology into your online courses
                            • AI tools for IDers

                              • Dr. Hobson also shares some of his personal inspirations and habits that keep him learning and performing at high levels.

                              Mentioned in the Conversation:

                              • ADDIE
                              • Spark by Jon Ratey
                                • GenAI Tools: ChatGPT, Google Bard, Microsoft Bing


                                  • More from Dr. Hobson:

                                  • Website
                                  • LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook
                                  • Podcast
                                  • Instructional Design Institute
                                  • What I Wish I Knew Before Becoming an ID (book)
                                    • 1 hr 12 min
                                  • #1 - The Science of Learning with Dr. Althea Kaminske

                                    In this episode of the L&P podcast, I speak with Dr. Althea Kaminske, a psychologist who studies the application of cognitive psychology to education. Dr. Kaminske and I discuss six evidence-based strategies from psychology that you can utilize to learn and remember information more effectively:

                                    • Retrieval Practice
                                    • Spaced Practice
                                    • Interleaving
                                    • Concrete Examples
                                    • Dual Coding
                                    • Elaboration

                                      • Dr. Kaminske also shares some of her research on the harmful effects of cell phone notifications on our ability to focus and the lessons she has learned about how to utilize the six strategies in her own life.


                                      Mentioned in the Conversation:

                                      • Performance Arousal Curve
                                      • Six Strategies for Effective Learning
                                      • Distraction from Cell Phones


                                        • More from Dr. Kaminske:

                                        • LinkedIn
                                        • @Dr.SilverFox on Twitter
                                        • The Learning Scientists
                                        • Five Teaching and Learning Myths Debunked book (2018)
                                        • Ace That Test book (forthcoming, 2023)
                                          • 1 hr 8 min
                                        • Learning + Performance Podcast Trailer

                                          Are you a student, researcher, professional, leader, athlete, or simply someone looking to learn faster and perform better? Do you want to better understand the principles and practices behind effective learning and excel in every domain of your life? Then this is the show for you!

                                          Join me, your host Patrick Healy, as I embark on a journey of discovery, where I explore the fascinating world of learning and performance and dive deep into evidence-based ideas, strategies, tools, and tactics that can enhance the way you learn and perform.

                                          Every episode, I interview researchers, practitioners, experts, leaders, educators,  and other humans who have dedicated their lives to understanding and enhancing human learning and performance. In each conversation, guests will share relevant research, practices, stories, tips, and routines—all aimed at helping you learn faster and perform better.

                                          The first episode will drop on July 4th, 2023, and future episodes will appear in the feed every month. Subscribe now!

                                          3 min

                                        About The Learning + Performance Podcast

                                        From the publisher's feed

                                        The show that explores key ideas, strategies, tools, and techniques for enhancing human learning and performance.