Leading Learning Podcast

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.

Explore the myth of effortless expertise and how mastery requires dedication, much like the journeys of iconic figures. Discover the crucial role of effort in learning, understanding how meaningful challenges enhance retention. Learn about strategies to minimize distractions, boost focus, and the benefits of 'desirable difficulties' in education. Hear personal anecdotes that illustrate overcoming obstacles, all while emphasizing the importance of active reflection and lifestyle choices in deepening the learning experience.

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