Learning at Work: Why Courses Fail and What Leaders Should Do Instead

Learn why traditional training courses often fail and how to replace them with high-impact learning experiences that drive real performance. In this episode, globally recognised learning expert Nick Shackleton-Jones explores the "courses to resources" shift, the importance of getting to know your team at an individual level, and how to intentionally integrate AI to enhance human capability without eroding essential skills.We are joined by Nick Shackleton-Jones, CEO of Shackleton Consulting and former Chief Learning Officer at Deloitte UK. Nick is a pioneer of the 'courses to resources' shift and the author of the critically acclaimed book How People Learn.We discuss the dangers of the 'parenting' leadership style and why treating employees like children drives away top talent. Nick explains the 'Sat Nav' effect: how over-reliance on performance support tools can erode long-term capability. Key Takeaways:The Context Model: Why learning is driven by emotion and personal significance rather than content delivery.Leadership Traps: How new leaders frequently default to 'parenting' styles & how to avoid this common pitfall.Capability vs Performance Support: Understanding when to build deep skills Vs when to provide immediate guidance.AI in L&D: Practical examples of using AI for thematic analysis and creating competitive avatars for role-play scenarios.01:03 – Introduction to Nick Shackleton-Jones and the 'courses to resources' shift.03:10 – Nick's first leadership role: Learning not to 'cosplay' the boss.05:43 – The Parenting Trap: Why new leaders often treat teams like children.08:35 – Learning through challenge: Why development is about opportunity, not classrooms.11:15 – Staff mobility: How organisations like the BBC and the Army build capability through rotation.14:35 – The vital importance of knowing your team on an individual level.16:15 – The Sat Nav Analogy: The trade-off between easy performance and deep capability.20:15 – The impact of AI on white-collar work and the 'Apprentice Gap'.23:00 – AI Companions: Will we all have a digital buddy guiding our careers?27:45 – Practical AI: How Nick used AI to create 'Eva', a virtual judge and competitor.31:45 – Leadership Idols: Lessons from Barack Obama and Ernest Shackleton.Connect with Nick on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shackletonjones/Shackleton Consulting: shackleton-consulting.com/Book: How People Learn by Nick Shackleton-Jones#ad Editing my podcast used to be the most time-consuming part of my week. I now use Descript to edit my audio and video by simply deleting words from a transcript. It allows me to create my YouTube Shorts and TikTok clips in a fraction of the time.If you want to try it for your own projects, you can sign up here: https://get.descript.com/LevelUpUsing this link costs you nothing extra, but the small commission I receive helps support the work I do on my podcast and articles. Paid plans start at around £12 / $16 per month (billed annually) for the Hobbyist tier.Thank you for watching/ listening.https://www.levelupleadership.uk/Music, jingles, and images - attribution.Podcast Background Track: https://pixabay.com/users/poorartistt-45918667/Guitar Jingle: https://pixabay.com/music/introoutro-guitar-intro-ident-151972/Images: https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation/ & https://www.perplexity.ai/Background: https://pixabay.com/users/tommyvideo-3092371/Disclaimer.LevelUp and the podcast host do not endorse, verify, or take responsibility for any products, services, views, or claims presented by guests during podcast episodes. Any opinions or statements made by podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or  positions of LevelUp or its representatives.© 2025 LevelUp.This episode is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/