TLB #26 🧠 Deliberate Practice, Coaching, and Self-Improvement

A by-weekly inside scoop on all the hottest events, juicy discussions, and oh-so-many other exciting things happening in our dynamic L&D community. 🧡

Hello Shaker,

Thank you for the continuous love that you pour into The Learning Brief. We crossed 2000 subscribers last week. Hurray! 🥳

Thank you for spreading the word and helping us reach more Learning and Development professionals. 💛

Without further ado, let’s get into today’s issue.

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Here’s all that you’ll experience in today’s issue:

💡Learning Bites: Deliberate Practice, Coaching, and Self-Improvement

🗓️ Community Calendar: Be a part of events like Rethink skill-building with AI-powered role-plays and many more.

🖌️ Community Creations: Let’s welcome Saad Tariq, Rebecca Millso, Skye Suttie, Beatriz Lerer, Tiago Belotte, and Leah Driscoll to the Core Team. Check out for other exciting news from the community.

🔖 Resource Reel: A collection of resources on One-on-One, Facilitation, AI and many more.

🎤 Shaker's Stage: This week’s stage is taken by Vanessa Christina Dsouza.

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Learning Bites 💡

This week's exploration took me through an article "The Making of an Expert" by K. Anders Ericsson, Michael J. Prietula, and Edward T. Cokely. It unveils the path to expertise across diverse domains and demystifies the role of deliberate practice, coaching dynamics, and self-improvement in achieving mastery.

Top Three Takeaways:

1. Deliberate Practice and Struggle: True expertise isn't just about natural talent or luck; it's about putting in deliberate and consistent effort. This means challenging yourself beyond your comfort zone (learning more about stuff that you don’t know), learning from mistakes, and constantly striving to improve. Developing expertise requires dedication, resilience, and a commitment to honest self-assessment over time.

2. Coaching: Effective coaching is transformative in the pursuit of expertise. A good coach not only provides valuable feedback but also teaches individuals how to coach themselves. Embracing constructive feedback, even when it's tough, is essential for experts looking to identify and address weaknesses.

3. Continuous Learning: Beyond external coaching, the ability to self-coach is essential for sustained growth and expertise. This involves analyzing one's performance, seeking input from peers or mentors, and engaging in reflective practices to refine skills continuously.

What This Means for Practice:

1. Simulations and Real-Life Case Studies: Craft learning experiences that emulate real-world challenges through simulations, case studies, and interactive scenarios. These experiences should be deliberately designed to stretch learners' capabilities, promote critical thinking, and encourage problem-solving skills.

   And if you’re looking to learn how to design realistic scenarios, then we got you covered because we’re hosting The L&D Simulation Bootcamp, a three-event series where you’ll learn how to design simple and realistic training scenarios.

2. Investing in Coaching: Emphasize the role of coaching in the learning journey. Facilitate access to coaches and trainers who can provide targeted guidance, feedback, and mentorship. Encourage individuals to actively seek feedback and coaching opportunities to accelerate their development.

3. Cultivating a Culture of Continuous Learning: Foster a culture where self-coaching and continuous improvement are valued. Provide resources and support for individuals to engage in self-coaching activities, reflection, and setting personal development goals.

4. Integrating Feedback Loops: Implement feedback mechanisms throughout the learning process to provide learners with timely, actionable insights. Encourage peer feedback, self-assessment tools, and expert evaluations to guide learners in identifying strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.

By integrating these principles into learning and development initiatives, you can try to nurture expertise, enhance performance, and cultivate a culture of lifelong learning and growth among your workforce.

That’s all, Shakers! Think this week, how can you incorporate ‘deliberate practice’ into your own learning journey or the learning experiences you design for others?

Coming Up Next

Community Calendar 🗓️

Our next events lineup is here! Join us for super practical, fun and interesting sessions and meet other L&D buddies. Register for events using the link below!

Register for the events below! 👇

Community Creations 🖌️

🇺🇸We're thrilled to announce the launch of our new Local Hub in New York! Meet our amazing trio leading the way: Saad Tariq, Rebecca Millsop, and Skye Suttie.

Get ready for an incredible learning and networking experience! If you're in or near New York, join #2-local-hub-new-york for updates on the first meetup! 🚀

🇵🇹Let's give a warm welcome to our new Lisbon Local Hub Team: Beatriz Lerer, Tiago Belotte and Leah Driscoll.

They're joining forces to continue the fantastic work initiated by Catarina and Vanessa, who have nurtured the hub with care and passion!

A huge shoutout to Catarina and Vanessa for their dedication and vision in launching the hub!

Let's show our love and support to the new team as they lead the way in bringing the local Shakers community together. If you're in Lisbon, join #2-local-hub-lisbon for updates on the upcoming April meetup!

Calling certified Coaches! Coaching for L&D Professionals 7th edition launching on May 1st!

What's in it for you as a Coach?

• Visibility

• Opportunity to support L&D professionals

• Give back to the community

Fill in the application form by April 5th.

Do you have burning questions or need fresh perspectives for your projects? Our global network of mentors is here to support you!

1. Visit our webpage: L&D Shapers Mentorship

2. Choose your mentor and book your session.

3. Get ready to boost your career and gain valuable insights!

Plus, don't miss our upcoming Career Compass Session: "Overcome your Career Imposter" hosted by Chrysanthi Vazitari! Register for the event here.

Cool Stuff You Don’t Wanna Miss Out

Resource Reel 🔖

This week’s hottest resources are:

1. The Big Book of One-on-One Questions by Quantum Workplace is an e-book with 350 questions that helps you have a more meaningful conversation around career growth and development, feeling valued, goals and goal alignment, job performance, work-life balance and more.

2. The Workplace Belonging Toolkit by Simely Poswolsky is an actionable guide to designing a culture of belonging and human connection in the future of work. Packed with reflection questions, practical tips and stories.

3. Facilitator Skills by playmeo is a playlist that covers the best facilitator tips & strategies to help you lead group games & activities successfully.

4. Skills Tech 2024: Expansion & Evolution by RedThread Research focuses on the advancements in skill tech and how it is enabled in organisations.

5. The human side of generative AI: Creating a path to productivity by McKinsey sheds light on the evolving landscape of talent strategy in the era of Gen AI, emphasizing the importance of understanding employees' evolving work experiences and priorities beyond just productivity gains.

Community Corner:

Shaker's Stage 🎤

Let’s welcome Vanessa Christina Dsouza, L&D Consultant to take the Stage.

When are you at your happiest?

-When I have the freedom to create, explore, learn, experiment and share my crazy ideas. This can be anything from trying a new recipe to attending a really engaging event.

What’s one lesson your job/profession has taught you that you think everyone should learn at some point in their life?

-The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is to ‘zoom out’! By this I mean, using a Systems Thinking approach to connect the dots, and gain insights into existing behaviours and challenges. Another important learning for me was the importance of Project Management. It’s probably a skill most of us in L&D already possess. I found getting back to the basics/fundamentals extremely helpful.

What are you currently learning?

-Exploring the use of AI-powered chatbots in L&D and Learning how to change my own behavior towards learning (i.e.- a new language, information retention, creativity and the list goes on.)

What does being an L&D Shaker look and feel like for you?

-I’ve been a part of this community since 2021. It’s been amazing! Having the support of people in this community when I was freelancing, moving countries for work, and navigating through the world of L&D has been such a blessing. I have met so many wonderful people and I’m extremely grateful for all the knowledge that is shared so freely.

〜See you soon

Till then, keep spicing up your learning! 🧠🧂

Sejaal