L&D Professionals
The business of training: What gives training providers the right to exist?
AI, changing customer expectations and increasing pressure to demonstrate value are challenging traditional training business models. Reflecting on the Business of Training Conference 2026, Jo Cook explores the importance of understanding customer needs, designing learning for workplace performance and identifying what makes training providers genuinely distinctive in a competitive market. What gives your training business the right to exist? It’s a provocative question, but it’s one that stayed with me after attending the Business of Training Conference in London on…
TJ interviews: Mark Agnew on the four questions that turn uncertainty into a shared challenge
Resilience is easier to sustain when people find meaning in the challenge itself. Mark Agnew talks about reframing setbacks, strengthening camaraderie, developing mental fitness gradually, all based on adventuring experience. This helps teams focus on shared purpose, intrinsic motivation and practical choices when uncertainty threatens performance at work under pressure. Plans can become useless within hours in the Arctic. During Mark Agnew’s human-powered kayak expedition through the Northwest Passage, headwinds, shifting sea ice and the threat of failure forced his…
Stop briefing managers and start developing them
Ben Satchwell argues that “manager activation” fails when treated as a communications task. Talking points distribute messages but don’t build the skill to handle sceptical, unscripted conversations. Adoption is decided in real capability-building discussions. Equip managers through working sessions so that they understand the why and can adapt and feedback. When a capability framework reaches the rollout stage, managers get a pack. Talking points, an FAQ, a slide or two to use in their next team meeting, perhaps a short…
Please send adults: Is immature leadership holding organisations back?
Pressure can make even accomplished leaders default to certainty, speed and control, shutting down the perspectives they most need. Karlee Fain reasons that mature leadership depends on awareness, curiosity and the capacity to tolerate discomfort, creating the conditions for wiser decisions, stronger trust and more sustainable organisational performance over time. We were already running behind when a fork went flying across the tour bus and shattered a television. Which, in case you’re wondering, is not typically how leadership decisions are…
Before it becomes training: What searches reveal about the language L&D should use
A new quarterly column explores what training demand can reveal about the challenges organisations are trying to solve. In this first instalment, Dr Peter Evans examines how search behaviour can help L&D translate business problems into stronger proposals, better evidence and more persuasive conversations with the people who own outcomes. When TJ asked L&D professionals what stops them turning evidence into action, the most common answer was access to the people who own outcomes, ahead of both tools and time.…
The L&D playbook for building psychological safety into teams
Teams do not become safe to fail through slogans or good intentions alone. Dr Melisa Buie explains why leaders must model openness first, before teams can build stronger norms around challenge, experimentation and reflection. Melisa offers a practical two-stage approach L&D professionals can use to strengthen psychological safety at work. A senior engineer stays quiet in a design review, even though she spots a flaw, because the last person who flagged a problem was labelled “not a team player.” A…
Final days to nominate for the Ethnic Minorities into Leadership Awards 2026
Nominations are closing soon for awards celebrating people who are helping ethnic minority talent progress into leadership across the civil service and wider public sector. With 10 categories recognising mentors, managers, networks and emerging leaders, the awards shine a light on work that is vital but largely unseen and uncelebrated. Nominations close on Friday 16 October for the awards recognising those opening up routes to leadership for ethnic minority talent across the civil service and wider public sector. Run by TJ’s…
L&D was not built for this speed of change
Traditional learning models struggle when roles, knowledge and context shift faster than training can keep up. Dr. Ravinder Tulsiani argues for a two-layer capability model combining structured preparation with real-time support, helping organisations strengthen decision-making, reduce costly errors and position L&D for improved performance rather than content delivery and completion. Learning and development was not designed for continuous, high-velocity change. It was built for environments where roles were stable, knowledge had a longer shelf life and change was episodic, not…
The Irresistible Consultant’s Guide to Winning Clients – book review
Independent consultants often know how to deliver excellent work, yet converting expertise into paid projects can remain difficult. Houra Amin explores a practical approach centred on client priorities, sharper discovery and better problem framing, showing how consultants can build stronger relationships, shape proposals and connect learning activity to business value. Book: The Irresistible Consultant’s Guide to Winning ClientsAuthor: David A. Fields This is a practical and refreshingly direct response to a challenge many independent consultants face: why is winning work…
Confidence is a business issue, not a personal weakness
Workplace self-belief affects who speaks up, progresses, takes risks and contributes ideas, making it far more than an individual concern. Penny Haslam argues that organisations should actively develop confidence through training, supportive managers and everyday conversations. This helps employees perform more effectively while strengthening inclusion, wellbeing, engagement and business performance. Most people see confidence as something you’re born with, or not, like brown eyes or curly hair. But I have seen over the last decade, as an executive coach and…
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