Quote Of The Week
It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it!
Monday Tips
The worst time to set learning goals
It's common practice to end a workshop by asking participants to write down a few goals about how they'll apply what they've learned.
It's also one of the least effective moments to do it.
By the end of a workshop, people are tired. Their brains are full, their energy is low, and their attention has already shifted to emails, traffic, and dinner. Asking them to reflect on the entire day and craft meaningful goals at this point is asking a lot. Most will write something down simply to complete the exercise and get out of the room.
Those goals are rarely revisited. Even more rarely are they aligned with the wider programme outcomes or their manager's expectations.
A better approach is to move goal setting upstream.
Have participants arrive with goals already discussed and agreed with their manager, and with a clear understanding of the programme outcomes. At the start of the workshop, make space to explore those goals and how they connect to what's ahead. During the session, keep looping back to them as new ideas are introduced.
Then, at the end, don't ask for new goals. Ask for reflection. What has changed? What needs refining? Who will help keep this alive once they're back at work?
This week, look at your next workshop design and ask yourself one question. Are you setting people up for real application, or just a tidy ending?
Goals belong before learning. Reflection belongs after learning.
The simplest gift you can give anyone
Life moves fast. Conversations move faster.
We half-listen while checking messages, planning our reply, or thinking about what's next. Most of the time, no one gets our full attention.
Yet people with strong people skills do something deceptively simple.
They are fully present with the person in front of them.
No multitasking. No mental wandering. Just attention.
And notice how it feels when someone does that for you.
You feel valued. Taken seriously. More open. Often more willing to help.
We also know instantly when it's missing. Focused, genuine attention is almost impossible to fake. If you think you're pulling it off, you're probably not.
So, try a small experiment today.
Pick one conversation and give it your undivided attention. Be completely present for those few minutes. Listen to understand, not to reply. Stay curious. Stay with the moment. Give them your full attention and see what changes.
Notice the response. Notice how you feel.
If you like the result, do it again...
Why should a line manager care about training?
One quiet reason training fails is this: The line manager doesn't see what's in it for them.
We often design learning around what the trainee will gain. New skills. New knowledge. Better performance.
But here's the uncomfortable truth. If the manager doesn't learn anything from being involved, they're unlikely to support it.
So ask a different design question.
What will the line manager learn?
Teaching is one of the fastest ways to learn properly. When a manager has to explain how work really gets done, coach someone through a task, or give feedback on real performance, their own understanding deepens. That's not a bonus. That's the point.
Now flip the lens again.
How could the trainee actively support their manager?
Could they document a better way of working? Trial a new approach and feed back results? Reduce friction or errors in the team? Make the manager's job easier in a visible way?
When learning helps managers succeed, support stops being optional.
Call to action: Look at one programme you're running right now and answer two questions.
1. What will the manager learn?
2. How will the trainee make the manager's life easier?
If you can't answer both, expect indifference.
Now talk to the managers and let them know what's in it for them.
New year, and new thinking about goals
Maybe you've made New Year resolutions. Maybe you've decided not to bother this year.
Either way, it's worth pausing to think differently about goals and dreams. Not as boxes to tick, but as invitations to become someone new.
Here are five short thoughts I keep coming back to. Pick the one that makes you pause, smile, or feel slightly uncomfortable. That's usually the good stuff.
"Don't be afraid to go where you've never gone and do what you've never done, because both are necessary to have what you've never had and be who you've never been." Mike Dooley
"The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them." William Montgomery
"Do you remember learning to ride your first bike, Eva? How impossible it felt at first. And how impossible it now feels to imagine it was ever hard." Mike Dooley
"Today is your day, your mountain is waiting, so get on your way." Dr Seuss
"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." Martin Luther King Jr.
Your call to action is simple. Choose one of these and share it with someone. Then ask each other a powerful follow-up question.
Who might you need to become this year?
A fairground ride into the future
How has 2025 been for you?
A roller coaster ride, or a more predictable ride on the carousel?
When you started the year, which did you want?
It's worth starting to think about 2026 and what you want from it. Even though you can't see what's coming, you CAN influence what turns up. One thing for sure is that the future will more likely bring what you keep thinking of, than what you don't.
So, start thinking and focussing on what you really want for the next year. And you know enough by now to realise that this means thinking about what you DO want rather than what you don't want.
What are your dreams for the coming year?
What do you want to achieve?
What do you want to be doing?
How do you want to feel?
You don't need to tell me your answers, but you DO need to tell yourself...
Occupational Health
Occupational Health
As a manager, you are unlikely to be an occupational health expert, but you still bear a considerable responsibility to ensure that your team can work safely, that legislative standards are met, that you notice and take action if any of your team appear stressed, that you pay attention to the possible special needs, not just of the disabled, but of workers who are young, older than the average or pregnant, and that you manage your people in a manner that enhances their well-being.
13 Barriers to Implementing Learning Transfer
13 Barriers to Implementing Learning Transfer
L&D professionals are still ignoring the elephant in the room. Are you one of them? This ebook shares the most common barriers to implementing learning transfer and how to overcome them.