Laura Overton is an award-winning global learning expert with more than 35 years of experience in workplace learning and development. She is the founder of Towards Maturity, an academic fellow of the CIPD and the Royal Society of Arts and a widely recognized thought leader in learning innovation and strategy. Laura has spent decades researching what differentiates high-performing L&D teams, drawing insights from thousands of professionals and learning leaders worldwide. She is also the co-author of ‘The L&D Leader,’ written with Michelle Ockers, which distills over 20 years of research into practical guidance for learning professionals aiming to create business impact and lead transformative learning strategies.
Nolan Hout, Senior Vice President, Growth, Infopro Learning
Nolan Hout is the growth leader and host of this podcast. He has over a decade of experience in the Learning & Development (L&D) industry, helping global organizations unlock the potential of their workforce. Nolan is results-driven, investing most of his time in finding ways to identify and improve the performance of learning programs through the lens of return on investment. He is passionate about networking with people in the learning and training community. He is also an avid outdoorsman and fly fisherman, spending most of his free time on rivers across the Pacific Northwest.
In this podcast episode, Nolan sits down with renowned learning expert Laura to explore how L&D leaders can align learning strategies with business priorities, build workforce capability, and shape organizational culture for the future.
- How Laura started her career in L&D by joining a training department and discovering early technology-based learning.
- Why aligning learning strategy with business priorities is essential for creating real organizational impact.
- The three principles high-performing L&D teams follow: tuning in, responding, and improving.
- Why L&D leaders must adopt a “business first” mindset to stay relevant and effective.
- How curiosity and understanding people help learning professionals support employees in becoming their best selves.
- The importance of focusing on the “why” of learning rather than just courses, tools, or delivery methods.
- How learning teams can build workforce capability by helping employees stay equipped for today and ready for the future.
- Why experimentation and small learning initiatives can create big organizational impact.
- How L&D professionals can influence and shape workplace culture through bold, intentional leadership.
Our role as learning professionals is to help others be equipped to perform today and ready for an unknown future.
Founder, Towards Maturity
Introduction
Nolan: Hello and welcome to the Learning and Development Podcast. Today’s podcast is sponsored by EasyGenerator, the e-learning authoring tool that lets anyone in your company create company-specific training at scale.
Your sales team knows the product, your legal team knows compliance, your HR team knows onboarding. With EasyGenerator, they can share the knowledge they create by building engaging learning experiences.
Empower your experts to share what they know fast. Learn more at EasyGenerator.com. Now that we paid the bills, welcome to the Learning & Development Podcast. As always, I’m your host, Nolan.
Joining me today is Laura Overton, an award-winning learning expert with over 35 years of experience in the industry. She is the founder of Towards Maturity, an academic fellow of the CIPD and the Royal Society of Arts and widely recognized as a global thought leader on workplace learning and trends.
Today we will talk about concepts from her new book written with Michelle Ockers called “The L&D Leader.” The book distills over 20 years of research with more than 10,000 L&D professionals and 230 learning leaders.
We will discuss aligning strategy with business priorities, building workforce skills, and changing L&D culture, governance, and delivery.
Laura, welcome to the podcast.
Laura: I’m looking forward to this conversation, Nolan. Thank you for inviting me.
Laura’s Career Journey
Nolan: Before we get started, you are a significant thought leader in our space, but everyone starts somewhere. Where did you start, Laura?
Laura: I’m one of the few people in the industry who was hungry to be involved in training immediately after leaving university. I wanted to help people become their best selves.
Back then you couldn’t easily get a job in training with no experience. So, I got a job as a secretary in a training department. During the interview the manager asked if I could type. I said no but promised I would learn if he gave me the job.
At the end of the interview he asked if I could take the typing test. I said I still couldn’t type but would learn if he gave me the job. He gave me the job.
What excited me was that this organization in the late 1980s was using technology-based training to train IT professionals because the field was changing too quickly for classroom learning.
I became fascinated with technology-based learning. Eventually I was recruited into the technology-based training organization and spent the first 15 years of my career working with pioneers of early eLearning. I’ve always been involved in change and change management — asking how learning professionals can shift thinking to deliver better business value.
The first 15 years were about working with early adopters of technology-based learning. The last 20 years have focused on research into what high-performing learning teams do differently.
So, I entered the industry by bluffing my way in.
Nolan: That’s what we all do. I think things haven’t changed. Replace typing tests with AI or whatever the newest skill is.
Why People Enter L&D
Nolan: I’ve noticed people often enter this field for a few reasons: curiosity about how things work, inspiration from great teachers, or bad experiences that motivate them to improve learning. Which one fits you?
Laura: Those pathways are common, but I see another one — people who love helping others become their best selves.
Some enter through sales because they want their teams to succeed. Others come from HR. For me, it was fascination with people and how we become better versions of ourselves. That’s what led me to study psychology and then move into training.
Nolan: That motivation — helping people be their best — resonates strongly in L&D.
The Origin of “The L&D Leader” Book
Nolan: Tell us how your book “The L&D Leader” came about.
Laura: I’ve written many research reports over the years. People often assume I’ve written books because of those reports.
About five years ago I noticed stagnation in the data. High-performing teams kept improving, but the majority of teams had not changed their practices for 15 years. I realized we needed to rethink how the industry adapts.
Then COVID happened, which accelerated change. I decided to explore what principles could help L&D professionals navigate continuous change. I started a doctorate program and began analyzing the data differently.
Michelle Ockers and I combined our work:
- I brought large research datasets
- She brought practitioner interviews
Together we explored what principles allow learning leaders to adapt to future changes. Technology constantly changes — AI today, mobile learning before that, social media before that, the internet before that. We needed stable principles that help learning leaders adapt regardless of technology shifts.
Aligning L&D Strategy with Business Priorities
Nolan: One key concept in the book is aligning L&D strategy with business priorities. What did your research reveal?
Laura: Business impact has always been central to my work. I realized early in my career that the closer a learning solution is to meeting business needs, the more valuable it becomes. Our research revealed three core principles:
- Tuning In
- Responding
- Improving
Aligning strategy with business priorities falls within tuning in. High-performing learning teams tune into three things:
- What the business needs
- What individuals need
- The environment affecting both
Learning professionals must balance all three.
Business-First Thinking
Laura: We also describe something called the L&D value spectrum. Some teams focus mainly on learning metrics like:
- Engagement
- Activity
- Efficiency
- NPS scores
Others focus on business outcomes, such as:
- Performance improvement
- Talent mobility
- Cultural transformation
High-performing teams face business first. They are curious about what is happening in business rather than trying to justify learning activities. Your internal compass must face business value, not learning outputs.
Building Workforce Skills
Nolan: Another key part of the book discusses enabling workforce skills. How should L&D think about this?
Laura: Many people talk about revolutions in L&D. Yet many teams still see themselves as course providers. High-performing teams think differently about their role.
Using Simon Sinek’s framework:
- Why
- How
- What
L&D often focuses on what — courses, programs, tools. But our why should be: Helping people be equipped to perform today and ready for the future.
That includes skills, but the terminology may change — skills-based organizations, task-based organizations, performance-based organizations. The real goal remains the same: equip and prepare people for change.
Responding Effectively
The “how” of L&D work involves three capabilities:
1. Choosing well
- Digital curiosity
- Learning science and cognitive science
2. Enabling performance
- Courses when needed
- Community and peer learning
- Connecting with people
3. Engaging learners
High-performing teams integrate all three instead of chasing new tools or trends.
Culture and Bold Leadership
Nolan: Culture plays a huge role in L&D transformation. How do teams begin shifting culture?
Laura: We introduce the idea of BOLD leadership. Bold does not mean aggressive. It means smart boldness.
BOLD stands for:
B — Business First
Focus on business value.
O — Open-minded
Understand biases and remain curious.
L — Leading and Learning
Run small experiments and learn from them.
D — Deliberate
Act intentionally.
Every interaction shapes culture. Learning leaders influence culture through how they behave in meetings, conversations, and decisions.
Experimentation in L&D
Laura: Russell, a new L&D professional working in a small nonprofit organization. Russell had no budget but wanted to address skills like critical thinking.
He ran a small experiment:
- Created AI-generated stories
- Built a community discussion
- Ran the program for one month
He expected about 20 participants. He got 73 participants. The program created engagement, collaboration, and retention benefits. Small experiments can drive major change without large budgets.
Conclusion
Nolan: The lesson here is that whether you’re in a large organization or a small one, you can apply these principles. Be bold, experiment, and focus on business impact.
My call to action: Go buy the book “The L&D Leader” by Laura Overton and Michelle Ockers. Laura, thank you for joining us today.
Laura: Thank you. This conversation made me think and that is what I love about our industry. We help each other learn.
Nolan: Thank you. Talk again soon.
Laura: Bye.
