Laura Overton and Michelle Ockers open the Learning Changemakers series with a question they thought would be simple: what does it actually mean to lead in L&D? What they discover is that leadership in this profession isn't about a title or a team - it's about orientation. How you see yourself, how you show up, and whether you're willing to step forward even when nobody's asked you to. Along the way, they introduce the principles and mindset at the heart of their book The L&D Leader, and start to uncover why the biggest shifts in our profession may not come from new tools or models but from how we think about ourselves.

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Mentioned in this episode

• The L&D Leader by Laura Overton and Michelle Ockers (Kogan Page) - the book that sparked this series and the principles explored throughout
• The Learning Performance Benchmark — Laura's 15-year longitudinal study into what makes learning innovation deliver business impact
• James Swift, Leyton — his story of bringing a sales background into L&D is explored in The L&D Leader and in Michellle's interview with James for Learning Uncut

A question to sit with

What does leadership in L&D actually mean to you — not the title, but the practice? Where are you already leading, even if nobody calls it that?

Digging deeper

• Ashoka's "Everyone a Changemaker" movement - the inspiration behind Learning Changemakers

Keep in touch

Laura Overton - LinkedIn | learningchangemakers.com

Michelle Ockers - LinkedIn

Laura Overton and Michelle Ockers return with a question that turns out to be anything but simple: if L&D professionals have more models, tools, and frameworks than ever before, why do so many still feel stuck? What they uncover is that the problem isn't a lack of knowledge - it's an excess of it. Drawing on twenty years of benchmark data and the principles at the heart of The L&D Leader, they introduce the TRI principle: Tuning in, Responding, Improving. Not as another model to master, but as a way of cutting through the noise and finding what actually works in your organisation. When Michelle shares a story about a maintenance planning team she worked with, they discover that the breakthroughs we've already had in our practice often make more sense in hindsight than they did in the moment.

Explore the Learning Changemakers Website: learningchangemakers.com/

Resources

• The L&D Leader – Principles and practice for delivering business value by Laura Overton and Michelle Ockers (book) learningchangemakers.com/resources/the-ld-leader/

Research & Data

• The Learning Performance Benchmark - Laura's 20-year study into what drives business impact in L&D

• CIPD L&D Research - cipd.org

• LinkedIn Learning Workplace Learning Report - learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report

Case Studies

• Multiplex — construction sector workplace behaviour strategy; an example of TRI principles in action (detailed in the book) learninguncut.global/podcast/139/

People to Follow

• Charles Jennings — 70-20-10 framework - charlesjennings.com

• Cathy Moore — action mapping & performance-focused design - blog.cathy-moore.com

• Don Taylor — L&D trends & the Global Learning & Development Sentiment Survey - donaldhtaylor.co.uk​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

What do we hold on to from our past, and what do we need to let go of? In this episode, Laura and Michelle dig into our thinking habits - what makes them stick, and what it takes to build new ones. They use the lens of the TRI principles to look back at previous work, including a compliance programme that became a catalyst for genuine behaviour change. They discover that understanding why something worked is often more valuable than the thing itself. It's an episode about the quiet kind of professional courage and why reflection might be the most underrated practice in L&D.

Explore the Learning Changemakers Website: https://www.learningchangemakers.com/

Resources

● The L&D Leader – Principles and practice for delivering business value by Laura Overton and Michelle Ockers (book) https://www.learningchangemakers.com/resources/the-ld-leader/

● 5 new thinking habits for a smarter, stronger L&D - https://www.learningchangemakers.com/research_whitepapers/5-new-thinking-habits-for-a-smarter-stronger-ld/

● The L&D maturity benchmark - https://www.learningchangemakers.com/articles/the-evolution-of-the-ld-maturity-benchmark/

Case studies

● Multiplex featured in Michelle's Learning Uncut podcast https://learninguncut.global/podcast/139/

● National Australia Bank / Direct Bank Call Centre featured in Michelle's Learning Uncut podcast https://learninguncut.global/podcast/38/

Other books

Both And Thinking - Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis https://bothandthinking.net/

Is L&D becoming irrelevant? Laura and Michelle think it might be the wrong question entirely. What they uncover instead, is a more uncomfortable one: are we keeping ourselves stuck? Through the lens of the "conspiracy of convenience," they explore how the comfort zone traps both L&D and the business in a loop that feels safe but quietly erodes value. They look at what it takes to break out, with stories from practitioners who did it without a big budget, a senior title, or anyone's permission. It's an episode about identity as much as strategy, and about why the shift from course provider to learning changemaker starts from within.

Explore the Learning Changemakers Website: learningchangemakers.com

Resources

• The L&D Leader – Principles and practice for delivering business value by Laura Overton and Michelle Ockers (book) learningchangemakers.com/resources/the-ld-leader

• The learning value spectrum
  learningchangemakers.com/introducing-ld-value-spectrum

• Breaking the conspiracy of convenience
  linkedin.com/pulse/breaking-conspiracy-convenience-laura-overton-gu5me

• Joining Forces With Your Brain - Lauren Wardman
  learningpirate.com/joining-forces-with-your-brain

Case Studies

• Leading learning transformation at NAB with Damien Woods - Learning Uncut Interview
  learninguncut.global/podcast/61

• Rethinking Learning: Autonomy over Content at Leyton with James Swift - Learning Uncut interview
  learninguncut.global/podcast/170

• Russell Woods exploring Skills Sprints at Aster Group
  linkedin.com/posts/russell-woods-7470b655_learninganddevelopment-skillssprints-learning-share-7289714921129279489-rcW4