A 30-minute training won’t build AI capability.  Handing out licenses feels like progress. Then a few months later, a couple of people are flying and everyone else is quietly waiting it out. In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins talks with Alex Issakova, an AI adoption advisor to L&D leaders and non-technical teams and founder of Huckr AI, about why AI adoption stalls long before the technology does. Alex and Mickey explore what happens when companies expect enthusiasm to do the teaching, and how to build real capability with enablement that keeps pace, protected time, and leaders who understand how their teams actually work.  They discuss:  🔹 Why your early adopters are the “wait in line for the new iPhone” crowd, and everyone else needs a different path  🔹 Finding your shadow AI exposure before you buy a single seat  🔹 Why leaders need to relearn where their team really spends its time  If you’ve ever rolled out a new tool and watched momentum fade right after the kickoff, this one’s for you.  Listen to the full episode - learnit.com/podcast-the-lear…

Ever notice how your patience disappears right when the pressure peaks? That's biology, not a character flaw. In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins sits down with @KohnChantelle, founder of The Change Collab, to explore how stress pulls our brains into protection mode and makes empathy harder to reach. Mickey and Chantelle talk about how to notice it, name it, and slow down enough to stay connected to the people around you. Chantelle also shares why empathy actually fuels high performance. If you lead a team, or want to someday, this one's worth your time. Listen to the full episode: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear…

4 things your leadership program is missing. Manager reinforcement. Application assignments. Coaching. Peer accountability. @Loren_Sanders joined Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins on The Learnit Lounge to talk about why so many programs fade by Monday, and what makes the learning stick. If you're a new manager wondering what real development looks like, this one's for you. Listen to the full episode: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #LeadershipDevelopment #NewManagers #CareerGrowth #thelearnitlounge

In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins talks with Van Lai-DuMone, CEO of WorkSmart Advantage, about a truth most organizations don't want to admit out loud: leadership development still gets treated as optional. Mickey and Van explore what happens when companies invest in everything except the people leading their teams, and what to do about it when the budget isn't there. They discuss: 🔹 The leader who told Van, "I've never had any leadership development," after twenty years of leading teams 🔹 Why leadership is a skill that has to be built, not a title you're handed 🔹 Low cost ways to start developing leaders when there's no budget for a program If you've ever led a team without ever being taught how, this one's for you. Listen to the full episode - learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #GrowthMindset

Zero feel-good tactics survive a budget cut. In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Tina Linder, Vice President of Talent Management and Program Management at Bank OZK and Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins explore why talent management keeps getting treated like a kitschy one-time event instead of a daily discipline, and what it actually takes to tie people work to business outcomes leadership will fund. They discuss: 🔹 Why culture content isn't the same as culture strategy 🔹 The hard metrics leaders avoid looking at 🔹 How to make talent work defensible in the boardroom If you've ever had to justify a people initiative with a straight face and no data behind it, this one's for you. Listen to the full episode: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #HRLeadership #TalentStrategy #PeopleOps

1 truth about AI nobody wants to admit. On the latest episode of The Learnit Lounge, Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins talks with Gabe Aponte, HR Division Manager for the County of San Mateo and President of the Public Sector HR Association's Bay Area Chapter, about the biggest myth in AI adoption today. They explore what happens when leaders treat AI like a magic fix, and how to build a healthier relationship with the tool instead. Mickey and Gabe discuss: • Why "AI is not magic" is the hardest lesson for teams to learn   • The one thing AI can never take off your plate   • Why the liability of every decision still lands on you If you've ever handed a decision to a tool and hoped it would just handle it, this one's for you. Listen to the full episode - learnit.com/podcast-the-lear…

L&D doesn't have a training problem. It has a positioning problem. On this week's episode of The Learnit Lounge, Jess Almlie, former VP of Learning and author of L&D Order Taker No More, shared a line that's hard to shake: "We complain about not having a seat at the table. But we've never done anything to show we deserve it." Uncomfortable. And true. Jess spent her career building what she thought were rock-star learning experiences. Then a stakeholder looked her in the eye and said her team's training wasn't good enough. The training was excellent. The problem was, training was never going to solve what the business actually needed. In this episode: 🔹 Why "being helpful" is exactly what keeps L&D stuck in a transactional role 🔹 The difference between a strategic yes and a costly yes that's actually a no 🔹 What business acumen really looks like in an L&D context, and why it matters more than instructional design skills For anyone leading a learning function who's tired of being reactive, this one's worth the listen. 🎧 Listen to the full episode: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #LearningAndDevelopment #TalentDevelopment #LeadershipDevelopment #LDStrategy #TheLearnitLounge

Your leaders are either multiplying wellness or destroying it.  There is no neutral.  That’s the framing Michele Lau Torres brought to The Learnit Lounge, and it’s one worth sitting with. Michele is the Chief Learning Officer for the City of Austin, a bestselling author, and a keynote speaker whose work sits at the intersection of leadership, equity, and organizational transformation.  She’s a survivor of toxic leadership. She wrote a book about it. And she built her entire career around making sure other people don’t have to go through what she did.  A lot of ground is covered in this conversation:  🔹 Why well-being and performance are the same thing, not competing priorities 
 🔹 What “accidental diminishers” look like and why good leaders don’t see themselves in that mirror 
 🔹 The uncomfortable truth about AI, and why organizations will use it as a reason to squeeze even more out of already depleted people  If you’ve ever worked for a leader who cost you sleep, your health, or your sense of self, this episode will name what happened to you.  🎧 Listen now - learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #LeadershipCulture #WellbeingAtWork #LearningAndDevelopment #ToxicLeadership #TalentDevelopment

Your brain changes every single day. New neurons. New pathways. Constant, physical change. So why does it feel so hard to let go of a story we have about ourselves that no longer fits? In conversation with Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins on The Learnit Lounge, Megan Galloway, founder of EverLeader, shares what almost 15 years of studying behavior change has taught her: our brains aren't wired for growth. They're wired for predictability. She calls it the "default mode network," the familiar stories we keep replaying about who we are. The responsible one. The strong one. The one who has it all together. Those identities feel permanent. They're not. They're just patterns we've reinforced so often they feel like facts. The leaders who navigate change best aren't the ones who wait for it to feel comfortable. They're the ones who stop letting change happen to them and start deciding, on purpose, who they want to become next. Not reactive. Intentional. Your brain is going to keep changing whether you plan for it or not. The only real choice is whether you're steering it. 🎧 Hear the full conversation with Megan Galloway on The Learnit Lounge: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #Leadership #ExecutiveCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment #TheLearnitLounge #GrowthMindset

Feedback isn't something you do to someone. It's something you do for them. That distinction opens this week's episode of The Learnit Lounge with Dr. Joe Hirsch, global keynote speaker and bestselling author of The Feedback Fix. Joe's point: most feedback fails because it's delivered as judgment, power, position, and a "seemingly infallible perspective" aimed at someone. Reframe it as service, and the fear starts to drain out of the room. In their conversation, Mickey and Joe get into: 🔹 Why feedback should feel like a deposit, not a withdrawal, and how trust compounds over time 🔹 How to move organizations from feedback forms to feedback norms 🔹 What it actually sounds like when a leader models vulnerability in a real team meeting This one's for anyone who knows their team needs more honest conversations but isn't sure where to start. 🎧 Listen here: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #FeedbackCulture #TheLearnitLounge #LeadershipDevelopment #TalentDevelopment #LD

Being good at your job might be what is burning you out. That is not a warning. It is a diagnostic. Ellin Sidell, CEO of The Sidell Method | Leadership & Mentorship Expert, spent 25 years inside Nestlé, Microsoft, and Costco before she could name what was happening. Everyone saw her as a sharp project manager. She was constantly exhausted. The role used her competence but starved her curiosity. On the latest episode of The Learnit Lounge, Ellin breaks down why strengths-based leadership is not about ignoring weaknesses. It is about stopping the slow drain of brilliant people sitting in the wrong seats. Takeaways: 🔹 Why talent and strength are not the same thing, and why the difference matters  🔹 The Triple Win: how strengths alignment drives retention, productivity, and wellbeing simultaneously  🔹 The tiny daily habit that keeps you out of reactive mode and in self-awareness If you have a high performer who seems off, or you are the high performer who seems off, this one will land. 🎧 Listen here: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #StrengthsBasedLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #TheLearnItLounge #ExecutiveCoaching #Burnout

When's the last time you gave feedback instead of just a verdict? On this week's episode of The Learnit Lounge, @jevonspeaks talks with Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins about why vague praise or criticism ("great job" / "I expected more") leaves people guessing, and what emotionally intelligent feedback actually looks like instead: specific, two-way, and rooted in real dialogue. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #Leadership #EmotionalIntelligence #LearnitLounge

One of the biggest gaps we see in leadership development is that it's often treated like a one-time training for first-time managers. But leadership isn't something you "finish." It's something you revisit, refine, and recommit to over time. In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Tara Hesson, talent strategist & leadership coach, makes a strong point: many leaders never go back to the basics: regular conversations, consistent 1:1s, real check-ins. The best leaders don't just manage tasks. They create the conditions for trust, growth, and performance. And that starts with simple, consistent habits. Leadership development doesn't stop at your first promotion. It applies at every level, including the top. How many of your direct reports have a standing 1:1 on your calendar right now? 🎧 Listen to the full episode here: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #LeadershipDevelopment #ManagementFundamentals #thelearnitlounge

Leadership isn't something you teach. It’s something people catch from watching you. "You can make someone's day or absolutely crush it. To you, it might be a sideways comment." @MikeKimTV has coached New York Times bestselling authors, top thought leaders, and high-performing entrepreneurs. And this is the thing he keeps coming back to. This week on The Learnit Lounge, Mike Kim and Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins explore self-trust as the foundation of every leadership behavior that actually sticks. They talk about: 🔹 Why the people you assume have it all figured out are wrestling with the same insecurities you are 🔹 How self-trust comes down to building a bank of more yeses than nos with every decision you're proud of 🔹 What it means to make your ceiling someone else's floor — and why that defines your legacy as a leader This episode is for anyone who pours into others for a living and is quietly running on empty. 🎧 Listen here: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear…

You can manage your calendar perfectly and still feel completely drained.  We see leaders doing this every day. Packed schedules. Back to back meetings. Endless to do lists. Yet there is no space to think or recover.  In this solo episode of The Learnit Lounge, Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins talks about a shift that changed how she works and leads.  Your real constraint is not time. It is energy.  In the episode Mickey shares practical ways to protect your energy so you can do your best work and still have something left at the end of the day. She talks about:  • Why busy does not equal productive 
 • How to align work with your energy curve 
 • Why short work sprints outperform long stretches 
 • How AI can help lighten your cognitive load  If your calendar feels full but your energy feels empty, this episode is for you. 🎧 Watch or listen: learnit.com/podcast-the-lear…

High performers hit a wall not because they lack skills, but because they keep upgrading the apps without changing the operating system. In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Mickey Fitch-Collins, PhD, sat down with Luann Horobin, ICF Master Coach with 20 years of experience coaching executives and high performers, to talk about why the most important development work happens on the inside first. They explore what happens when the strategies that made you successful stop working and how vertical development gives you a completely different way through. They discussed: - Why horizontal learning (adding knowledge) often keeps you stuck in the same execution patterns - How your identity quietly becomes the source of your resistance - What "silencing the noise" actually looks like in day-to-day leadership If you've ever felt like you're doing all the right things but still running on a hamster wheel, this one is for you. Listen now - learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #LeadershipDevelopment #MindsetWork #VerticalDevelopment

She told Jamie’s team at AMPED she had shoes older than they were.   Then she began disrespecting them.   A lot of leaders would have looked the other way. Jamie Shaver fired the client.   On The Learn-It-All Podcast, Jamie Shaver shares why protecting your culture matters more than protecting revenue.   Damon and Jamie discuss: • Why execution starts with clear strategy • How leaders create trust through consistent communication • Why core values should guide real decisions, not just branding • How to build a culture of ownership, accountability, and learning   Your team is always watching what you tolerate. 🎧 Watch or listen: learnit.com/podcast/303-the-…

Leaders who rely only on words are leaving half their message behind. In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins sits down with @toddcherches, CEO of BigBlueGumball and author of VisuaLeadership, about why the most effective leaders think and communicate in pictures. They dig into what happens when you have a vision in your head that no one else can see, and how to change that. They discussed: - The four categories of visual thinking every leader needs to know - Why metaphors are more than creative flair (they are a precision communication tool) - How to use the windshield, rearview mirror, and dashboard to assess where you and your team actually are right now If you have ever had a great idea that just did not land the way you intended, this conversation will change how you approach every meeting, presentation, and one-on-one going forward. Listen now - learnit.com/podcast-the-lear… #Leadership #VisualThinking #LeadershipDevelopment