Gopal A Iyer

Why does L&D exist? And what is the responsibility that each one of us carries as flagbearers of this function? We explored this question in Bangalore last week with an energised group of L&D professionals at our Trusted Learning Advisor (TLA) workshop. A few reflections that we hope will sink in deeply and spark fresh thinking are: 1) Business managers don’t care about training. They care about performance. 2) The L&D function exists primarily to drive business outcomes. We need to own that. 3) L&D needs to recast itself as a Performance consulting function. 4) Earning trust is a journey – like it is for every other function. 5) Don’t slip into being order takers. 6) From time to time ask yourselves, “Where do I stand on the L&D maturity model?” 7) You cannot be a TLA if you don’t understand the business and its drivers. 8) Consulting is both art and a science. So is L&D. And many more such provocations. For us, this is not a marketing initiative. It is a calling. Post the workshop, we are helping each of the participants to cascade the message further within their own L&D teams. The workshop was brought alive through real-life scenarios and stories. A big thank you to Dyti Dawn for your passionate involvement. This is just the beginning. We’ll be running TLA workshops across all major cities. If this resonates, click on the link in the comments below and block your spot. Let’s together change what L&D could be. FocusU Haripriya Dalmia Rakesh Balachandran 

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It began with a question that wouldn’t go away — Why does so many learning interventions across organizations feel forgettable? Speaking Hat was born not as a business plan, but as a response to that discomfort. A quiet rebellion against surface-level workshops and one-off interventions. What started as a thought experiment has become Speaking Hat — a space where learning is not a tick-box activity, but a journey of insight and #transformation. We’ve worked with leaders, teams, and organizations to shift mindsets, not just skill sets. Some lessons from the journey: 💡People don’t resist #change — they resist the way it’s introduced. 💡The best learning happens in silence — between sessions, in pauses, and #reflections. 💡Not everything needs to #scale. Some work is meant to stay handcrafted. 💡Relationships outlast projects. #Trust is our biggest capital. 💡Saying no is #growth. Not every opportunity aligns with the mission. Grateful for the leaders and learners who’ve walked this road with me. The Hat may speak, but it listens first. 😃 #SpeakingHat #LearningJourneys #LeadershipDevelopment #Entrepreneurship

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#Leadership (Part2) #Leadershipdevelopment # PositiveMomentumIndia To succeed today, great leaders should be able to carefully balance the following: 1. Certainty about what they know versus openness to new ideas and approaches—and the confidence to adjust their original plans. 2. An obsession with financial performance versus the needs of all the company’s shareholders and stakeholders. 3. Being a conservative steward of the business versus taking the occasional bold and well-calculated risk. 4. Being in control versus empowering teams to take initiative. 5. Being a hard-headed professional versus someone who takes a more humane approach. A well-designed and executed leadership development program can help organizations build leaders’ capabilities broadly and at scale. And these programs can be built on coaching, mentoring, and solving challenging problems by applying them in real time to real work. Source: Mckinsey

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🚌 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀. Trainers bring energy, insight, and structure — much like a conductor brings rhythm to an orchestra. But unless the organisation takes the wheel, learning remains an isolated event, not a lasting change. 💡 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮 𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. And building that culture requires more than just booking a training session. 🔑 Here’s how organisations can drive a strong learning culture: 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 – Encourage microlearning, peer learning, and knowledge-sharing across teams. 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 – Ensure leaders follow up on training takeaways and role-model continuous learning. 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 – Make learning part of performance reviews and career growth paths. 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 – Recognise those who apply new skills or complete learning initiatives. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 – Let employees ask questions, make mistakes, and grow without fear. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 – Reinforce training with coaching, toolkits, and refreshers. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗸 — 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗗𝗡𝗔. 🚦So, is your organisation waiting for the conductor… Or ready to drive the bus? #LearningCulture #CorporateTraining #SoftSkillTrainer #LeadershipDevelopment #GrowthMindset #OrganisationalLearning #HRLeadership #CorporateTrainer #WorkplaceGrowth

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