Learning Leaders Digest #109

Here's what's interesting this week.

Duane Lester

Jun 15, 2026

Welcome back, Learning Leaders.

Last week’s poll asked:

What is the hardest truth you’ve had to accept as a trainer?

The top answer was:

A good session can still fail if managers do not reinforce it.

Close behind was:

Learners can like the class and still not use anything from it.

Those two answers belong together.

A trainer can build a thoughtful session, create strong practice, earn good feedback, and still watch the learning disappear once people return to work.

The session ends. The pressure returns. Managers move on. Old habits are easier. The new skill never gets used often enough to stick.

That does not mean the training was bad. It means the training was asked to carry more weight than a single session can hold.

Good training needs a place to land.

Managers have to ask about it. Learners need opportunities to use it. The work environment has to make the new behavior possible. Someone has to notice when people try.

Without that, even a strong session can become a pleasant memory instead of a change in performance.

One more result caught my attention.

Seventeen percent chose:

Sometimes I am the one talking too much.

That may be the most uncomfortable answer on the list because it puts the problem back in our hands.

It is easy to blame the manager, the stakeholder, the system, or the learner. Sometimes the best improvement starts with giving the room more time to think, practice, discuss, and wrestle with the work.