Whitney Johnson is an innovation and disruption theorist and CEO of the tech-enabled talent development company Disruption Advisors. She hosts the long-running Disrupt Yourself Podcast and is the author of multiple books, including Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work and, most recently, Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company. Leading Learning Podcast co-host Celisa Steele and Whitney dive into key concepts from Smart Growth, particularly the S Curve of Learning, and why knowing where you and others are on the curve leads to individual, team, and organizational growth. They also discuss the relationship between leading and learning and how the S curve can be used as a powerful tool to guide, assess, and elevate your learning business. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode303.

Workforce development and credentialing have both been the focus of recent episodes. Though we didn’t set out to treat these as a series, some common themes have naturally emerged that we would like to call out and connect. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we synthesize our thoughts around workforce development and credentials, and the related challenges and opportunities they present for learning businesses. We analogize them to the tried-and-true combination of peanut butter and chocolate—both are good on their own, but they take on an even richer flavor when combined. We also share the key takeaways that emerged from the credentialing and workforce development experts we recently talked with: Clare Marsch (ABA), Jim Fong (UPCEA), Van Ton-Quinlivan (Futuro Health), and Jenna Cohen (ACT). Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode302. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Jenna Cohen is the workforce product manager at ACT. where their mission is to help people achieve education and workplace success. ACT’s mission is to help people achieve education and workplace success. It serves millions of people around the world with learning resources, assessments, research, and credentials to help them succeed from elementary school throughout their careers. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele talks with Jenna about ACT’s WorkKeys products, National Career Readiness Certificate, and Work Ready Communities program. They discuss the importance of listening to the market and using data and research to truly understand needs and solve real problems. Jenna also shares how the pandemic has created opportunities around credentials, remote work, and an overall emphasis on adapting to future disruptions. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode301. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

It’s hard to believe, but here we are at episode 300 of the Leading Learning Podcast. When we sat down to record episode 1 back in 2015, we had no idea we’d make it this far. We are truly grateful for the thousands of learning business professionals who tune in each month and make this show part of their own lifelong learning. Milestones are a natural time to pause and reflect, so we’re doing exactly that. In this commemorative episode, we highlight the value of embracing your integral role as a provider of lifelong learning and as a learning business. We explain why recognizing that you are part of the ecosystem serving lifelong learners better positions you to serve them and deliver on the goals of reach, revenue, and impact. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode300. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Having escaped with her family from the Vietnam War to start again in the U.S., Van Ton-Quinlivan is passionate about paying forward the opportunities that an education afforded her. She has built a career as a highly impactful workforce development expert and currently serves as CEO of Futuro Health, a nonprofit with the mission of improving the health and wealth of communities by growing the largest network of credentialed allied healthcare workers in the nation. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Celisa Steele and Van discuss the three-legged stool of workforce development, creating a high-quality talent pool, the benefit of having clearly articulated goals, and the essential role an ecosystem of partners plays in delivering scale, equity, and agility. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode299. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Jim Fong is chief research officer at the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), where he and his research team help university leaders understand the trends impacting higher education. They also support the development of new programs and credentials to meet the complex needs of the ever-changing learner and the new economy. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb and return guest Jim Fong talk about why higher ed needs to evolve to meet the needs of employers and the new adult learner. They discuss the opportunity for unbundling the traditional degree with alternative and stackable credentials, the role of employers in shaping education and training, recent UPCEA research, and the collaboration between associations and academia to meet the needs of lifelong learners. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode298. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

When it comes to workforce development, learning businesses play a critical role in identifying and then delivering the skills employees need and those that employers want. From attracting and educating workers new to the field to upskilling and reskilling those already working, learning businesses can have a significant impact on the profession or industry they serve. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we break down the topic of workforce development, including how we define it, key stakeholders involved, and its history in the U.S. We also look at workforce development today and the related opportunities for learning businesses. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode297. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Clare Marsch is senior vice president of training and development at the American Bankers Association (ABA). Throughout her career, she’s been involved in developing training and learning programs for customers, members, and clients across a wide range of industries and in a variety of formats. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Clare about her role in leading learning for ABA, credentialing, and workforce development. They discuss the evolution of learning, the extended reach that virtual provides, and how to carry that benefit forward post-pandemic. They also talk about how to take calculated risks and innovate in smart, measured ways.  Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode296. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Credentials offer more potential than ever to learners and to the organizations offering them. And learning businesses in particular are uniquely positioned to leverage them to address challenges and create opportunities for the people and industries they serve. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, we share the key macrotrends making credentialing even more valuable today and what learning businesses may need to consider when offering credentials. We also break down and compare various types of credentials and their different purposes. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode295. We are grateful to our sponsor for this episode, BenchPrep. *** BenchPrep is an award-winning learning platform purpose-built to help learners feel confident and prepared to take difficult entrance, certification, and licensing tests by delivering an intuitive, efficient, and engaging study experience. BenchPrep helps you accelerate test prep revenue growth by offering the tools you need to create market-ready products and data to improve your content and understand learner behavior. Many of the world’s leading associations, credentialing bodies, test providers, and training companies trust BenchPrep to power their online study programs, including ACT, the Association of American Medical Colleges, CFA Institute, CompTIA, GMAC, McGraw-Hill Education, AccessLex, and more. More than 8 million learners have used BenchPrep to attain academic and professional success. To discover more, visit BenchPrep.

Tamer Ali, a seasoned learntech entrepreneur and founder of Authentic Learning Labs, believes in the power of technology to deliver transformative learning experiences. Authentic aims to address the challenges and elevate the status of learning within organizations through learning technologies and a global team to support initiatives. In this episode of the Leading Learning Podcast, co-host Jeff Cobb talks with Tamer about entrepreneurship, the evolution of the learntech market, and typical challenges for learning businesses. They also get into the importance of culture and strategy in making learntech work well for an organization and the key characteristics of a successful learning business. Full show notes and a transcript are available at https://www.leadinglearning.com/episode294.