Traditional L&D teams often struggle to prove their value—but at Comcast, Martha Soehren built a Talent Development function that drove measurable business impact at scale.
In this episode, Martha shares how her team aligned with strategic priorities, built trusted stakeholder relationships, and embedded governance to keep L&D at the heart of business conversations. She also explains how data, storytelling, and a focus on succession planning helped elevate the function’s credibility across the organisation.
Packed with hard-won insights from leading L&D in one of the world’s largest companies, this episode is essential listening for L&D leaders ready to lead with influence and impact.
Take your L&D to the next level
Take advantage of thousands of hours of analysis. Hundreds of conversations with industry innovators and 25+ years of hands-on global L&D leadership.
It's all distilled into one framework to help you level up L&D. Access the L&D Maturity Model here - https://360learning.com/maturity-model
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Build strategic alignment through an executive learning council.
Design learning solutions with clear business metric analysis incorporated.
For impact, use data in your storytelling.
Once you get senior executives on side they will stand up for you when you are not at the table.
At all levels, people should mentor others and develop talent.
BEST MOMENTS
"You can never over communicate to those senior executives."
“By having that data and telling the story of the way things were being done, I got a lot of buy in."
"Care about your people and the people around you, get the job done and do it right, and always act with integrity."
Martha Soehren Bio
Martha Soehren is the former Chief Talent Development Officer and SVP at Comcast Cable, where she led enterprise-wide learning and talent initiatives for nearly 15 years. With a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and a background that spans 25 years in the U.S. Army, Martha brings deep expertise in instructional design, workforce planning, and organisational effectiveness to her corporate roles.
She has served on numerous boards, including ATD, the Wharton/UPenn Doctorate of Learning Advisory Board, and SCTE, and is a recognized industry leader—named one of CableFax’s Most Powerful Women in Cable and a recipient of the WICT Liberty Award. Martha continues to contribute to the field through thought leadership, mentoring, and active participation in the Elliott Masie Learning Consortium.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/martha-soehren-phd-a012074/
VALUABLE RESOURCES
The Learning And Development Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-learning-development-podcast/id1466927523
L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home
ABOUT THE HOST
David James
David has been a People Development professional for more than 20 years, most notably as Director of Talent, Learning & OD for The Walt Disney Company across Europe, the Middle East & Africa.
As well as being the Chief Learning Officer at 360Learning, David is a prominent writer and speaker on topics around modern and digital L&D.
CONTACT METHOD
https://twitter.com/davidinlearning
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjameslinkedin
https://360learning.com/the-l-and-d-collective
https://360learning.com/blog
L&D Master Class Series: https://360learning.com/blog/l-and-d-masterclass-home
This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
The Learning & Development Podcast