Leading Learning Podcast

It can be frustrating when your marketing doesn’t convert the way you expect. You put in the time to craft messages that you feel are clear, compelling, and persuasive—and still prospective learners don’t act. Part of the challenge is that people don’t make decisions the way we think they do.In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Nancy Harhut, author of Using Behavioral Science in Marketing. Listen in for practical takeaways in three areas: understanding what drives learner decisions, crafting messages that prompt action, and increasing engagement and follow-through once learners enroll.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode478.

Learning businesses are operating in an environment that feels more demanding, more uncertain, and harder to parse than ever. It’s natural to rely on familiar instincts—gather more data, add new offerings, work harder. But those instincts are sometimes counterproductive.In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb explore what learning business leaders may need to stop doing. Against the backdrop of BANI, they examine common habits—like optimizing for efficiency and pursuing certainty—that can increase fragility and limit impact. They also offer a set of reflective questions to help leaders make more intentional decisions and create space for resilience, more nuanced judgment, and meaningful progress towards the most important goals.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode477.

Many learning businesses struggle with decisions about what to create, improve, and retire. With input coming from committees, volunteers, subject matter experts, and staff across the organization, it’s easy for the learning portfolio to become fragmented, duplicative, and difficult to manage in a coherent, sane way.In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb explore what happens when responsibility for the learning portfolio is too dispersed and why that’s a business problem, not just an organizational nuisance. They discuss the difference between input and decision rights, outline the four steps in portfolio management, and share questions organizations can use to bring greater clarity—and sanity—to portfolio decision-making.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://leadinglearning.com/episode476.

Many associations struggle with pricing their education offerings. Should education be bundled into membership? Sold à la carte? Packaged as a subscription? And how can learning businesses set prices in a way that reflects the value they provide and supports financial sustainability?In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Dr. Michael Carr-Tatonetti, founder and CEO of Pricing for Associations. They discuss value-based pricing, the growing use of bundling and subscription models, and why to test pricing before building products. The conversation also explores governance around pricing decisions and how associations can balance mission, market realities, and revenue when pricing education.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode475.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb wrap up their three-part look at reach, revenue, and impact by focusing on impact—often the least clearly defined and measured of the three pillars.Celisa and Jeff explore how impact looks different depending on whose perspective you consider—that of learners, employers, and the learning business itself—and why measuring impact doesn’t have to be perfect to be useful. When learning businesses treat impact data as strategic intelligence, it can inform key decisions about what to offer, what to improve, and what to retire.They also discuss how evidence of impact strengthens marketing, improves learning design, supports smarter portfolio decisions, and deepens business development conversations.When reach, revenue, and impact reinforce one another, learning businesses are better positioned not just to grow but to thrive.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode474.

In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb focus on revenue and why it—along with reach and impact—is fundamental to the success of any learning business.If you’re unsure which offerings are truly pulling their weight, whether you’re leaving money on the table, or how to decide what to keep, cut, or redesign, this conversation can help. Celisa and Jeff explore why clarity about net revenue on a product-by-product basis is essential—not just for financial health but for strategic focus. Revenue data can reveal which offerings the market genuinely values, where your reach is strongest, and where impact is most likely being felt.They also discuss how pricing, prioritization, and portfolio structure influence both performance and perception and why investing more intentionally in business development and relationship-building can unlock new growth opportunities.If you want greater confidence in your revenue decisions and a clearer path to strengthening your learning portfolio, this episode offers practical strategic insight.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode473.

Reach, revenue, and impact are familiar concepts to long-time listeners of the Leading Learning Podcast. But they’re often treated as separate challenges. In this episode, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb revisit these three pillars and explore why they need to be approached as a connected system rather than isolated priorities.Drawing on recent research, client experience, and conversations with learning leaders, Celisa and Jeff discuss why earning attention has become harder, why revenue pressures are intensifying, and why impact remains difficult for many organizations to measure and articulate. They examine common missteps and highlight how clearer portfolio decisions, better use of data, and stronger business development practices can help learning businesses move forward.If you’re thinking about how to grow reach, sustain revenue, and demonstrate meaningful impact—without treating them as competing goals—this episode offers a strategic lens.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode472.

Most learning businesses are rich in content, but far fewer are intentional about which pieces of content sparks collective learning?In this episode, Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele explore the concept of social learning objects: shared artifacts that anchor attention, create common language, and turn individual consumption into collective learning. Social learning objects can take many forms—frameworks, visuals, podcasts, standards, events—but what matters is that they’re generative rather than inert.Jeff and Celisa discuss what makes a social learning object effective, why simplicity beats complexity, and how questions, visuals, and intentional design can dramatically increase learning impact. They also consider what social learning objects make possible for groups, communities, and learning businesses operating in increasingly uncertain environments.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode471.

Many learning businesses know they need to innovate, but moving faster and experimenting can run headlong into culture and the fear of being wrong. This episode of the Leading Learning Podcast looks at why that happens and what to do about it.Elizabeth Engel and Jamie Notter, co-authors of the white paper “Lean at Ten: Culture Eats Methodology for Lunch,” join co-host Celisa Steele to discuss the core elements of lean startup, the cultural patterns that can undermine using the methodology, and how pairing lean startup with design thinking can help organizations build empathy, surface assumptions, and learn more effectively.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode470.

Strategy is about making choices—where to focus, what to invest in, and what to stop doing. Data can help bring clarity to those decisions, especially in a complex and competitive environment.In this episode, Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb share insights from a survey of learning businesses to help you think about strategy in 2026. They explore top strategic goals and drivers, key trends and challenges shaping learning businesses, and three themes that emerge from the data: the tension between mission and margin, alignment with credibility and areas of authority, and a growing confidence gap around achieving both strategic goals and revenue expectations.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode469.

Mindset shapes how adults approach learning, challenge, and change—and it has important implications for learning businesses. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 468, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb explore Mindset, the influential book by psychologist Carol Dweck, and the broader concept of mindset.They unpack the distinction between fixed and growth mindsets; examine how mindset affects learners, leaders, and organizations; and discuss practical ways learning businesses can foster conditions that support resilience, effort, and meaningful learning.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode468.

Content is everywhere, governance is slow to change, and technology expectations keep climbing—association learning businesses are feeling squeezed. Most are still operating like catalog providers in a market that now needs architects.In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb share a Rumelt-style diagnosis based on conversations with 27 association CEOs. They unpack the issues hollowing out the old education model—and what learning leaders can do to design trustworthy, employer-aligned, tech-enabled learning pathways for the future.If you want clarity on the current landscape and what it means for where your learning business needs to go next, tune in.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode467.

Building or refreshing certification prep, reviewing prices, or expanding into new formats? This conversation offers concrete examples of how to move fast, listen well, and align your portfolio with both mission and margin.Letty Kluttz, senior vice president of membership, education, and programs for the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), talks with Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele about launching three certification prep courses in under a year, developing a clear pricing philosophy, and introducing microlearning and microcredentials to meet learners where they are. Letty also discusses how APIC is using data and collaboration to focus on high-demand topics, building a content strategy that works and connecting education outcomes to measurable impact in healthcare settings.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode466.

Unsure about AI guardrails, AI data risks, or which artificial intelligence project to pick first? You’re not alone.Tori Miller Liu, president and CEO of the Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM), talks with Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele about treating artificial intelligence initiatives as data initiatives, picking one to three practical use cases that augment people (without replacing them), writing a lightweight AI usage policy that’s easily understandable and updatable, and balancing mission and margin with a simple product profitability lens. They also touch on how AIIM’s portfolio supports information leaders who are turning messy, unstructured content into fuel for generative AI—and improved performance.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode465.

Artificial intelligence often magnifies what’s already happening in an organization. If your metadata is a mess, an AI recommendation engine might help you give prospective customers recommendations faster, but those recommendations aren’t likely to be effective.In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Celisa Steele and Jeff Cobb place AI in the Learning Business Maturity Model to help you pick the next move for where your learning business is. While AI can’t fix an immature learning business, used thoughtfully, AI can help a learning business on its path to greater maturity.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode464.

Do you want your learning business to be more than a provider of programs, to truly operate as a learning-centric organization? This episode of the Leading Learning Podcast offers a real-world example of how to do just that.Mike Moss, president of the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), joins co-host Jeff Cobb to talk about how SCUP is reshaping itself around learning. They discuss revising bylaws and governance, deconstructing curriculum, experimenting with membership and communities of practice, and investing in staff and volunteer development. Mike also shares how SCUP balances revenue with risk-taking and why giving people permission to play and experiment is key to fostering curiosity and continuous improvement.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode463.

If you’re concerned about how your learning business can keep pace with rapid change—AI, growing risks, shifting learner expectations—this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast can help. Associations, credentialing bodies, and other learning businesses face mounting pressure to do fewer things of greater value, and success requires both courage and careful risk management.Glenn Tecker, chair and co-CEO of Tecker International, joins co-host Jeff Cobb to talk about the forces reshaping continuing education and credentialing. They discuss how adaptive learning platforms are blurring the lines between education and assessment, why it’s essential to shift from an education mindset focused on information delivery to a learning mindset focused on application, the governance structures and culture of inquiry needed for innovation, the role of boards and staff in managing experimentation, and what it looks like to anticipate future competencies rather than react to the past.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode462.

If you’re wondering what role artificial intelligence should play in your learning business—or how to prepare your people and processes to use it effectively—this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast is for you. Many learning businesses are just beginning to grapple with AI’s implications, and the gap between the potential and the current reality is big.Amith Nagarajan, chairman of Blue Cypress and founder of Sidecar, joins co-host Jeff Cobb to talk about how learning businesses can build the capacity they need to thrive in an AI-driven future. They discuss patterns from past waves of technological change, where associations stand today with AI adoption, and the risks of standing still. Amith also shares practical steps for leaders to get hands-on with AI, the importance of reducing friction, and how AI tools are reshaping knowledge, insights, and personalization.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode461.

Associations have long played a role in supporting learning and education, but they may be overlooking the full extent of their potential. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele explore why associations are education’s sleeping giant and how they can awaken to the opportunity before them.They discuss the distinction between learning and education, examine what’s often holding associations back, offer concrete ideas for moving forward, and highlight the wide-ranging impact that embracing associations’ role as major providers of learning and education can have on members, learners, employers, and society at large.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode460.

If you know your learning offerings need to evolve, but you’re not sure where to start or how to bring others along, this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast can help. Whether you’re struggling with risk tolerance, engagement, or relevance, you’re not alone. And you don’t have to figure it out alone either.Mary Byers is an association consultant and author of the books Race for Relevance and Road to Relevance. Co-host Celisa Steele talks with Mary about how learning businesses can evolve through consistent innovation; what it means to adapt in uncertain times, without upending your core mission; practical ways to increase risk tolerance; how every threat is also an opportunity (AI being the case in point); and how comfort and complacency are the biggest threats.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode459.

If you’re a leader navigating change, shifting expectations, or questions about your organization’s identity and future, this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast is for you. It features Lowell Aplebaum, CEO of Vista Cova. Lowell works with association leaders and boards on visioning, governance, and strategy—and he brings a thoughtful, deeply human approach to the challenges facing organizations today.Co-host Celisa Steele talks with Lowell about how identity has to come before strategy because you can’t lead effectively if you’re unclear on who you are as an organization. They also delve into bravery, stability (even in volatile times), empathy, and curiosity. And, while those might sound like highfalutin topics, Lowell translates them into practical advice.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode458.

If you’re leading a learning business right now, you’re almost certainly navigating uncertainty—political, economic, technological. It can be hard to know how to lead well, plan strategically, and stay responsive without burning out.Our guest in this Leading Learning Podcast episode, number 457, is someone who has spent years helping association leaders. Seth Kahan is the founder of Visionary Leadership and the author of the books Getting Change Right and Getting Innovation Right. Co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Seth about his Disruption Playbook and the seven elements he sees as essential for leading in uncertain times.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode457.

What will it take to keep your learning business relevant and thriving in 2030? In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele unpack seven strategic shifts that are reshaping continuing education—from personalization and AI to credentials and commoditization and more.You’ll come away with ideas to apply now and questions to help you think more strategically about what’s next—and what will keep your CE responsive and successful over the next five years and beyond.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode456.

Udemy, Coursera, and edX are part of the competitive landscape your learning business operates in, so it’s valuable to understand how your learners might view your catalog in light of the catalogs of Big Learning providers.This episode, number 455, features a conversation with Dhawal Shah, founder and CEO of Class Central, which Dhawal describes as a Tripadvisor for online education. Class Central aggregates reviews of hundreds of thousands of courses from platforms all over the world, bringing together the learning-verse in a single searchable and discoverable interface.Dhawal discusses the evolution of MOOCs, community in the context of online courses, business models (including pricing and the relevant benefits of business-to-business models versus business-to-consumer), and the importance of partnerships.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode455.

This episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 454, is the second installment in a two-part look at how learning businesses can best navigate uncertainty. Co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele discuss five practice levers: pulse monitoring, scenario planning, revenue model innovation, ecosystem partnerships, and tech awareness. These levers can help you translate the four habitsets discussed in episode 453 into action.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode454.

If one thing is certain these days, it’s that uncertainty is top of mind for many leaders. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 453, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele discuss four habitsets that can help learning businesses navigate uncertain times: informed agility, strategic foresight, stakeholder intimacy, and portfolio thinking.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode453.

Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele discuss the powerful and sometimes limiting role of credit (CE, CME, CLE, CPE, etc.) and subject matter experts (SMEs) in learning businesses. Both are mainstays, but they can restrict innovation, often unintentionally.This episode unpacks how credit and SMEs function as enablers and as limiters—and what learning businesses can do to navigate those dynamics more intentionally.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode452.

Drawing on their own experience and insights from experts like Richard Rumelt, Roger Martin, and Michael Porter, Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele look at the importance of coherence and posit that strategic coherence occurs when a learning business’s choices and actions reinforce each other in the service of its strategy.They unpack what coherence means, how to spot when coherence is missing, and ways to build and sustain coherence to help make your learning business’s strategy stick.Show notes and downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode451.

Flexibility is an essential skill for those leading learning businesses. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 450, we talk with Kevin Eikenberry about flexible leadership.Kevin Eikenberry is chief potential officer of the Kevin Eikenberry Group and an author, most recently of Flexible Leadership: Navigate Uncertainty and Lead with Confidence. The conversation covers three pillars of flexible leadership (mindset, skillset, and habitset) and four types of contexts leaders must lead in (clear, complicated, complex, and chaotic).The world feels more complex and uncertain. If you’re a leader, this episode can help you have more clarity in what you do and how you do it.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode450.

This episode of the Leading Learning Podcast looks at why and how learning businesses can and should segment their audience—what it looks like in practice and how it can lead to more engagement, better learning outcomes, and, yes, better business results.If you’re already segmenting learners, the episode will provide food for thought and an opportunity to reassess your approach. If you’re new to segmentation, then you’ll walk away with how to start.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode449.

In physics, momentum is the product of a body’s mass and velocity. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele define strategic momentum as the product of an initiative’s strategic weight and its execution speed, and they discuss why momentum matters, common barriers to maintaining momentum, and strategies for creating and maintaining momentum.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode448.

Because good strategy is organic and responsive, it needs to be revisited periodically. There are predictable, recurring whens that are be natural times for you to reassess your strategy, like the start of a new budget year.There are also less predictable whens that are important times to revisit strategy, like a global pandemic or government policy changes.While it’s easier to plan for revisiting strategy at predictable points, it’s as important to reassess strategy when the situation shifts. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele offer Marian Urquilla’s Strategy Triage Tool as an approach learning businesses can leverage for some of those unexpected times when a strategy reassessment is needed.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode477.

For learning businesses, bringing in revenue is an essential function. Revenue is what keeps the organization going and delivering on its mission, whether that mission is solely focused on learning and training or whether it’s a broader mission tied to improving a field, industry, or profession.In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele offer five ways to increase the revenue from your portfolio that don’t involve massive investments of time or money: raising prices, packaging products, borrowing to expand, running flash sales, and offering free courses.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at: https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode446.

Culture, mindset, money—these are big and important concepts for any learning business. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 445, we talk with Erin Pressley about all three.Erin Pressley is senior vice president of education, training, and events at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Erin describes herself as being passionate about serving NRECA’s members and making money while doing it. She’s a thoughtful and energetic leader with practical and aspirational advice for other learning business leaders.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at: https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode445.

Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele share four actionable ideas grounded in survey data collected by Leading Learning and informed by their experience with and observation of learning businesses and the global market for continuing education, professional development, and other lifelong learning.All four ideas tie to the common theme of resourcefulness—Cobb and Steele’s watchword for learning businesses in 2025.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode444.

Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele share key data points from Leading Learning’s latest year-end survey of learning businesses. They cover top strategic goals and the strategic drivers behind those goals, trends and issues impacting strategy, challenges with maintaining or growing enrollments and registrations, barriers to innovation in education offerings, and top areas of investment for the year ahead.Your learning business can use this data for benchmarking and to help frame internal discussions about what you’re doing, what you’re not doing, and why.Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode443.

Innovation is an aspiration of many organizations, including learning businesses. This episode, number 442, features a conversation with Mary Byers. Mary is an author, speaker, facilitator, consultant, CEO coach, and mastermind facilitator, and she’s deeply knowledgeable about innovation. Mary wrote Race for Relevance: Five Radical Changes for Associations, and her work focuses on helping organizations remain relevant in a rapidly changing environment. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode442.

A learning business must understand learning theory and put that theory into practice if it is to create offerings that result in positive change and impact. This episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 441, features a conversation with instructional psychologist Dr. Ruth Colvin Clark and co-host Celisa Steele. Ruth has spent her spent her career translating academic research into practical guidelines and advocating for the use of evidence-based approaches to learning. She’s the author of many articles and books, including Evidence-Based Training Methods and E-learning and the Science of Instruction. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode441.

In Leading Learning Podcast episode 440, co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele share the questions and topics probed in Leading Learning’s annual survey on learning businesses—questions and topics that can provide a solid basis for strategy conversations in your learning business. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode440.

COVID changed how we live and work in many ways. One example is the increased need for remote communication and for managing and leading hybrid teams. Wayne Turmel is part of the Kevin Eikenberry Group, and he and Kevin co-wrote The Long-Distance Leader, originally published in 2018, with a revised edition out in 2024. Wayne’s work focuses on remote and virtual communication in the evolving workplace. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 439, Wayne and Leading Learning Podcast co-host Jeff Cobb talk about what leadership is; how leadership does and doesn’t change in the context of remote, virtual, and hybrid work; the importance of trust and of choosing the appropriate communication tools for the situation; and what mules and hybrid work have in common. Whether you lead a team, are part of a team, or both, you’ll benefit from the advice and insight Wayne offers around effective communication. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode439.

Effort contributes to lasting, durable learning, which means learning businesses have a responsibility to expect learners to put in effort and an incentive to support them in doing so. Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele discuss the role of effort in learning and how learning businesses can scaffold effort in this episode, number 438. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode438.

Content marketing at its core is educational. It’s about raising awareness not only of a brand but of that brand’s ability to help and to act as a partner. For many learning businesses, content marketing is the start of the learner journey and the way they establish both expertise and trust with prospective learners. Deirdre Reid is a writer, a content marketer, and the publisher of Association Brain Food, a weekly list of free Webinars and other events and recommended reading. In this episode, number 437, Deirdre talks with Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele about content marketing, AI’s influence on marketing, data analytics, the role of taxonomy in personalization, search engine optimization, customer acquisition and retention, partnering with employers, cohort-based learning, unconferences, and self-assessments as marketing tools. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode437.

Impact is a theme we circle back to again and again on the Leading Learning Podcast because we believe that any learning business needs to create impact for the learners and other stakeholders it serves. And measurement and evaluation are critical for knowing if we’re creating impact and for showing that impact. Dr. Alaina Szlachta is author of the book Measurement and Evaluation on a Shoestring. In this episode, number 436, Alaina talks with co-host Jeff Cobb about what measurement and evaluation are (listen for her short but elegant definition). They also talk about data, ways to go beyond smile sheets and completion stats to get at long-term impact, the importance of an impact hypothesis, and automation and AI. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode436

If the goal of so much professional learning is improving the skills and abilities of learners on the job, then why put theory and methods before practice opportunities? That question gets at the core of reflective practice-based learning, which is an approach that emphasizes practice before theory. Annasofie Wædeled-Møller, a learning and development expert, is passionate about helping educators and leaders create more practice-based, learner-centered experiences. In episode 435, Annasofie talks with Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele about how reflective practice-based learning works and how it’s being applied in various contexts, including her experience with the Danish defense. Celisa and Annasofie also discuss the importance of psychological safety in learning environments, emotional intelligence in leadership, and how self-determination theory aligns with reflective learning. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode435.

As parents, as partners, as colleagues, as professionals, people are constantly being asked for some of their time, and learning businesses are part of the clamor for people’s time. Learning requires time, yet many people feel they don’t have enough of it. How do learning businesses secure a share of people’s limited time, and how can they help learners make the most of the time they do invest? In this episode, number 434, Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele focus on the small matter of time for learning and for learning businesses. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode434.

Amrit Ahluwalia is executive director of Continuing Studies at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, where he’s focused on growing Western’s professional and continuing education reputation and approach to match the reputation and approach the institution already brings to its research and undergraduate programing. Before joining Western, Amrit founded The EvoLLLution, and he ran the publication for a little over ten years. He also hosts the EdUp PCO podcast. In episode 433 of the Leading Learning Podcast, Amrit talks with co-host Jeff Cobb about the revenue imperative facing most professional, continuing, and online (PCO) education units; the need for the 60-year curriculum; collaboration between higher ed and associations; COVID’s impact on learner expectations; the value for many learning businesses of moving beyond a content producer mentality to being a curator and a guide; and Pink Floyd. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode433. 

Nuno Fernandes is president of American Public University System. One of the pioneers of online education in the United States, APUS now offers 200 programs serving more than 90,000 students in 50 states and almost 50 countries around the world. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, number 432, Nuno shares how he came to lead a higher education institution, and he and co-host Jeff Cobb talk about the current state of higher ed, the rising costs of a university degree, marketing and education, the impact of artificial intelligence on education, the role of partnerships in the future of adult learning, and more. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode432

Motivation and mindset are two of the baseline requirements for effective, lasting, and enjoyable learning. Through thoughtful design and delivery, learning businesses have the ability and opportunity to influence the motivation and mindset of the learners they serve. In this episode, number 431, Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele look at these two related but different concepts and talk about how each impacts learning. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode431.

Impact is one of the core goals at the heart of most learning businesses, and we believe that impact should be as broad as possible—meaning ideally your learning business delivers significant and relevant results for learners, for the organizations that employ those learners, and for the fields, professions, and industries those learners work in. In this episode, number 430, Leading Learning Podcast co-hosts Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele look at how providing learning paths, offering valued credentials, and aligning with employer needs are three activities that can deliver impact on their own and how the combination of all three is more potent—and a bullseye learning businesses might want to aim for. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode430.

Having a strategy is part of what any learning business needs to thrive. But what does establishing a strategy look like? In this episode, number 429, we get a peek behind the strategy-developing curtain in a conversation. Pam Rosenberg, director of education for the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, has been in the exciting role of helping to develop ASNT’s first formal education strategy. Pam talks with Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele about build, borrow, and buy choices for creating a catalog; the need to assess the quality of learning content; competition from subject matter experts; the reality and challenge of serving check-the-box learners; the importance of connection; and more. Show notes and a downloadable transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode429.