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L&D are Business Execs First, Learning Leaders Second | Acorn Skip to main content

Why You Need to Think of Yourself as a Business Executive First, Learning Leader Second

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Why You Need to Think of Yourself as a Business Executive First, Learning Leader Second

Learn how to effectively diagnose performance needs and create self-sustaining learning solutions that position L&D as business leaders

Keith Meyerson, Director of Talent Management at POWDR joins Blake Proberts on the Strategic L&D Podcast to discuss the need for stakeholder buy-in to deliver results in L&D, diagnosing L&D problems based on the symptoms stakeholders describe, and how to use a needs analysis to move from being a transactional cost centre to a true business partner. Listen to the full episode above or watch below.

Key takeaways

“I don’t consider myself a learning and development or talent management leader, I consider myself a business executive. I just happen to solve problems through people development.”

1. Consult & diagnose.

No one walks into their doctor’s office and says, this is what I need. Your job is to address the root cause of business problems.

“I do make fun training, but that’s not the goal. The goal is to make it impactful. We need to be held accountable to the same KPIs as the organisation is.”

2. Prove your value.

Want a seat at the table? Build credibility by showing L&D’s impact on the KPIs that matter.

“Link learning resources on the LMS side to the competency and behaviours on the performance side.”

3. Look for gaps in performance.

“I think the best way to approach is to be very targeted, and make it extremely relevant to the individual’s needs.”

4. Performance support is the name of the game.

Focus on changing behaviours and relevant learning opportunities to ensure effective development.

“We’re in the business of solving business problems, so we need to think of ourselves as business leaders and business executives.”

5. Align with business.

So nice, we’ll say it twice: If your solutions don’t address real business and performance problems, they’re not focused on the right things. Double whammy: You’ll also send the message you don’t understand and you don’t care.

See more from our host: Blake Proberts

Learn about our guest: Keith Meyerson

Hear more of the Strategic L&D Podcast on Spotify and Apple. You’ll also find us in video form on YouTube.

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