Sneha is a management graduate with a strong passion for leadership development and workplace growth. As a writer for Risely, she brings fresh insights into leadership strategies, team dynamics, and professional development. With a keen interest in marketing, she blends analytical thinking with storytelling to create engaging and actionable content.
How to Build a Leadership Journey? ft. Thomas Ulbrich
Effective leadership doesn’t always begin with a grand vision. Sometimes, it takes root in the courage to take the first step and learn along the way.
In a recent RiseUp Radio episode, Thomas Ulbrich, who’s learned through experience not just strategy decks. From running a family business to leading change at Goodwill of Western New York, Thomas shares what it’s really like to grow into leadership and how you can build your own leadership journey. It’s an honest conversation about the messy, human side of becoming a leader and what actually helps along the way.
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Meet the Speaker
Thomas Ulbrich is passionate about blending the heart of social impact with the sharp edge of business strategy. As the CEO of Goodwill of Western New York, he’s on a mission to blur the lines between the nonprofit and for-profit worlds, proving that purpose and performance can go hand in hand. With a rich background in entrepreneurship and leadership across sectors, Thomas believes people are the real competitive advantage. He’s all about elevating human potential, and helping organizations dream bigger and do better.
Ulbrich shares how he stepped into leadership at his family’s business feeling unprepared, learning to lead as he faced each new challenge. Like many of us when first stepping into leadership, Ulbrich initially thought everyone should think exactly as he did. Sound familiar? This mindset creates frustration for both you and your team members.
The turning point came from a simple but powerful realization about what actually motivates people.
The Power of a Big Vision
Instead of just managing tasks, he began inspiring commitment by painting a clear picture of what success looked like. When he articulated an exciting future state, team members found energy to overcome obstacles they previously considered insurmountable.
This approach proved effective both in growing his e-commerce company and later directing the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University of Buffalo. People consistently responded to the “why” behind initiatives with greater enthusiasm than the “what” or “how.”
As you think about your own leadership style, ask yourself: Are you supervising processes or inspiring people toward a shared vision? Do your team members understand not just what they’re doing, but why it matters in the bigger picture?
Creating this big-picture vision doesn’t require grand eloquence. It simply means connecting daily work to meaningful outcomes that people care about. When you help team members see how their efforts contribute to something significant, motivation naturally follows.
Lets walk you through leadership principles which you need to apply in your leadership journey.
Which Leadership Principles can you apply?
Ulbrich’s approach contains several practical ideas you can implement immediately:
Create Structure That Liberates
When team members clearly understand boundaries and expectations, they actually feel more freedom to innovate within those parameters. Clear frameworks remove uncertainty and create psychological safety.
Try this: Next time you delegate a project, spend extra time clarifying the non-negotiables and the areas where creativity is welcomed. You’ll likely see more initiative and less hesitation.
Make Accountability Energizing, Not Punishing
Most of us have experienced accountability as something negative. Ulbrich takes a different approach by pairing accountability with continuous coaching.
When your team members see that you’re as committed to their growth as to their performance, they start viewing feedback as helpful rather than threatening. This creates an environment where people actively seek guidance instead of avoiding it.
Aim for Breakthrough Over Incremental Thinking
One of Ulbrich’s most powerful practices comes from challenging teams to think bigger. When asking for modest improvements, he receives conventional ideas. But when requesting dramatic improvements, people question fundamental assumptions and discover innovative approaches.
Next time your team faces a challenge, try asking: “How might we improve this by 10 times rather than 10 percent?” Watch how this shifts the conversation from tweaking the current approach to reimagining it completely.
Building Your Leadership Communication Skills
Communication might be where you can make the most immediate improvements in your leadership. Ulbrich discovered this when introducing organizational improvements at Goodwill. Initially using the term “change,” he encountered resistance from long-time employees.
He noticed that the word “change” implied current methods were flawed, triggering defensive reactions. When he shifted to discussing “evolution,” he generated enthusiasm for the same initiatives.
This small word choice produced dramatically different responses. Take a moment to consider your own leadership language. Are certain terms creating unnecessary resistance?
Developing Yourself as a Leader
Leadership development requires more than reading books or attending workshops. Ulbrich emphasizes the importance of tackling real challenges and learning from both successes and failures.
This explains why your most valuable leadership lessons likely came from situations where you had to make decisions with incomplete information and live with the consequences. As you plan your development, look for opportunities to take on projects that stretch your capabilities in new directions.
But now, you might be thinking that developing yourself as a leader is an ongoing process but getting to know which leadership quality matters the most would help you navigate this leadership journey even better and smoother.
Which Leadership Quality Matters the Most?
When hiring leaders, what does Ulbrich prioritize above all else? His answer: coachability.
He explains that knowledge gaps can be filled and skills can be taught, but a closed mind limits all other development. The willingness to receive feedback, reflect honestly, and continuously evolve forms the foundation for leadership growth.
This suggests an important question for self-reflection: How do you typically respond to feedback? Your answer might reveal your greatest opportunity for leadership advancement.
Further reading: Mastering the Mindset Game: Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset
Balancing Flexibility and Purpose in Your Leadership
Looking ahead, Ulbrich sees leadership becoming increasingly situational. The one-size-fits-all approach is becoming obsolete as effective leaders adapt their styles to different contexts, team compositions, and specific challenges.
At the same time, people increasingly seek purpose and meaning in their work. Leaders who can’t articulate why their organization’s work matters will struggle to attract and retain talented team members.
These trends suggest your leadership development should focus on flexibility while maintaining a consistent emphasis on creating meaning and community within your team.
Now, let’s discuss what you actually need to prioritise in your leadership journey to amplify your growth in the process.
Three Priorities for Your Leadership Growth
Based on Ulbrich’s experience, here are three specific areas to focus on as you develop your leadership capabilities:
Find mentors: Leadership isn’t learned in isolation. Seek out structured mentoring relationships that provide guidance and perspective from those who have navigated similar challenges.
Understand human psychology: Leadership fundamentally involves understanding what motivates people. Invest time in developing your emotional intelligence and understanding of why people behave as they do.
Master difficult conversations: Your effectiveness often comes down to your ability to have challenging conversations with both clarity and compassion. Practice addressing underperformance, navigating conflicts, and delivering tough feedback constructively.
Conclusion
Thomas Ulbrich’s leadership journey offers practical wisdom that can transform your approach to leading others. His emphasis on inspiring vision, people-centered leadership, and adaptive approaches provides a roadmap for becoming a more effective leader.
As you continue developing, focus not just on managing more efficiently but on becoming someone who inspires others to accomplish what once seemed impossible. In today’s rapidly changing world, this ability might be your most valuable professional asset.
Meet the Host
Ashish is an entrepreneur tackling workplace development challenges through Risely, an AI copilot that helps managers and leaders build essential people skills.
Drawing on his experience in technology and organizational behavior, he’s passionate about creating scalable solutions that transform how companies develop their talent. His mission is to empower leaders to build thriving teams and sustainable organizational success.
Sneha is a management graduate with a strong passion for leadership development and workplace growth. As a writer for Risely, she brings fresh insights into leadership strategies, team dynamics, and professional development. With a keen interest in marketing, she blends analytical thinking with storytelling to create engaging and actionable content.
How strong are your leadership skills?
Transform your leadership story with personalized, AI-driven solutions. Start your journey with Risely today!
AI and Leadership Development: Driving Synergy for Growth
You know the frustration all too well. Your organization invests thousands in leadership development programs, yet three months later, those workshops feel like distant memories. A study by the Center for Creative Leadership(1) highlighted that only 11% of organizations feel confident in their leadership pipeline to fill critical roles.
You’re still trying to offer one-size-fits-all training across multiple levels, when each leader has unique needs. Whether it’s managing hybrid teams, building inclusive leadership skills, or managing performance during uncertainty, traditional training doesn’t cut it.
But AI brings something new to the table. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, AI can customize learning for each person and keep adjusting as things change. It helps fill the gaps left by traditional training. Blending AI and leadership development is not just about being more efficient, it’s about giving each leader a personalized experience that leads to real, lasting growth. Let’s take a closer look at how these AI tools can transform your leadership development strategy.
How Leadership Development Has Evolved From Classrooms to Algorithms?
70% of traditional leadership programs fail to produce lasting behavior change. This statistic from Harvard Business review(2) has haunted L&D professionals for decades, despite continuous evolution in development approaches. As we trace the journey from classrooms to algorithms, you’ll discover why AI and leadership development together might finally break this frustrating cycle.
The Leadership Development Timeline
The Leadership Development Timeline tracks the shift from traditional classroom training to the present where AI and leadership development is becoming the norm, showing how leadership growth has evolved over time.
The Classroom Era
Remember when leadership development meant two days in a hotel conference room with binders of information? These traditional programs excelled at knowledge transfer but rarely translated into behavioral change. Why? Because knowing leadership principles doesn’t automatically make someone lead differently on Monday morning.
The Experiential Revolution
Recognizing this gap, you likely shifted toward experiential learning and coaching in the 2000s. Role-playing, simulations, and one-on-one coaching created more engaging experiences with better application. The downside? These high-touch approaches proved difficult to scale across your organization.
The Digital Transformation
Enter digital learning platforms, your attempt to scale quality development to all leaders. These systems democratized access but often created one-size-fits-all experiences that lacked the personalization of coaching and the engagement of experiential learning.
It’s still not enough: do you know why?
Think of this evolution like transportation progress. Classroom training got leaders to their destination (slowly, like walking). Experiential learning moved faster (like horses) but couldn’t serve everyone. Digital platforms scaled (like early automobiles) but followed fixed routes regardless of individual needs.
Despite these advancements, traditional leadership development consistently fails because it:
Happens outside the workflow, creating a transfer problem
Lacks personalization to individual leader’s challenges
Provides insufficient practice opportunities
Offers limited feedback for continuous improvement
The AI and Leadership Development Era offers something more
AI-powered leadership development addresses these fundamental challenges by:
Personalizing at scale: Creating adaptive learning paths based on each leader’s strengths, weaknesses, and role-specific needs
Learning in flow of work: Delivering micro-interventions precisely when leaders need guidance on real challenges
Enabling continuous practice: Providing realistic simulations and scenarios for deliberate practice
Offering instant, real time feedback: Analyzing communication, decisions, and behaviors to guide improvement
The best L&D leaders aren’t ditching their old training methods for AI completely. Instead, they’re mixing AI tools with human-led learning, using technology for scale and accuracy while keeping the wisdom and personal touch of great coaches.
5 Ways AI and Leadership Development are Blending In
Leadership development is the process of enhancing an individual’s ability to perform in a leadership role within an organization. It is supposed to help managers grow, make better decisions, and handle challenges with confidence. But let’s be honest, most program knowledge doesn’t retain with the managers. They sit through a workshop, take notes, and then real-life happens, and they are on their own. The problem? Training isn’t personalized, and there’s no support when you actually need it. That’s where AI and leadership development step in; offering real-time, tailored coaching that helps leaders in the moment, not months later.
Lets discuss how AI integration can help you design effective training programs for your managers
Hyper-Personalization at Scale: The End of One-Size-Fits-All Development
Remember when one generic program was made for all managers which yielded no value at all, but now with AI you can hyper personalize your training programs in accordance with needs of individual managers.
By analyzing interaction patterns, performance data, and even communication styles, AI creates truly individualized learning journeys for each leader. Platforms like Risely can assess a manager’s specific challenges, whether handling conflict or strategic thinking, and generate a unique development pathway that adapts as they progress.
What does a unique development pathway really mean? Learning with platforms like Risely is personalized at multiple levels:
It matches role and function,
It tailors the content to their language preferences, and
It aligns with their specific skill needs.
Risely’s AI coach, Merlin, can also take advantage of your company’s existing data to further enhance the experience. For example, if you have a wealth of employee engagement data sitting unused, feeding it to Merlin allows your managers to receive training that’s contextualized with real-time insights from within your organization.
Just-in-Time Support: Meeting Leaders Where They Are
Leadership challenges don’t conveniently arise two weeks after the training workshop. They happen in the moment when your managers are facing a difficult conversation or making a crucial decision.
Managing a team isn’t easy, there’s no pause button when tough situations come up. Waiting for a coaching session isn’t always an option, but AI coaches are there 24/7, ready to give quick, personalized advice right when you need it. Whether it’s handling a tricky conversation or making a big decision, AI helps managers stay confident and move forward in the moment.
AI coaches like Risely’s Merlin deliver contextual guidance precisely when needed. Preparing for a performance review with a struggling team member? Merlin can provide tailored talking points and strategies moments before the meeting.
This approach of AI and leadership development works perfectly with our brains as immediate application rather than delayed recall. Your leaders receive support when their motivation to learn is highest, that is when facing a real challenge.
Practice-Based Learning: Safe Spaces for Skill Development
AI creates consequence-free environments where leaders can practice crucial skills through realistic simulations. For example, Risely’s role-play scenarios allow managers to try different approaches to sensitive situations, receiving immediate feedback on their choices. AI and leadership development can be combined to create similar win-win situations.
Data-Driven Development: Moving Beyond Gut Feelings
How many leadership development decisions start with subjective impressions rather than objective data? AI analyzes patterns across interactions, decisions, and outcomes to identify true development priorities.
This leads us to features like Risely’s skill center, that provides self assessments and it also combines anonymous reviews from team members of the managers. This means you can finally connect specific leadership behaviors to business outcomes, proving the ROI of your development initiatives. AI and leadership development, thus, make you more data driven.
Democratizing Coaching: Making Expert Guidance Accessible
Executive coaching works wonders, but at $500+ per hour, it’s typically reserved for the C-suite. AI and leadership development can change this equation dramatically.
By making personalized coaching available at a fraction of the cost, platforms like Risely extend these benefits throughout your leadership pipeline. Your frontline supervisors, who often impact the most employees directly, can now receive the same quality of guidance as your executives.
Democratizing coaching isn’t just about making it accessible to more people, it’s also about reaching leaders who may not be comfortable with English. AI-powered platforms can adapt to different languages and communication styles, ensuring that all leaders, regardless of their background, can benefit from expert coaching and development.
AI isn’t replacing leadership development, it’s transforming it from a periodic event into a continuous, personalized journey for every leader in your organization.
Where to Start Implementing AI and Leadership Development?
What separates the successes from the struggles? The answer lies not in the technology itself, but in how strategically you approach implementation.
Is Your Organization Ready for AI-Driven Leadership Development?
Before investing in AI and leadership development solutions, you need to honestly assess if your organization is truly prepared for this transformation. This goes beyond your technical infrastructure to include your people and processes.
Ask yourself: Does your leadership team genuinely understand and support AI-enhanced development? Many executives say they want AI, but do they understand what that means for how leaders will be developed in your organization?
Your data infrastructure is equally crucial. AI systems thrive on high-quality data, so consider: What leadership data do you currently collect? Is it comprehensive, accurate, and structured enough to fuel meaningful AI insights? Without solid data foundations, even the most sophisticated AI tools will deliver disappointing results.
Your L&D team’s readiness matters too. Do your learning professionals have the skills to effectively partner with AI systems? Can they interpret AI-generated insights and translate them into meaningful development experiences?
Consider forming a cross-functional AI readiness team that includes stakeholders from L&D, IT, legal, and executive leadership. This diverse perspective will help you identify readiness gaps you might otherwise miss on AI and leadership development.
Change Management: The Hidden Success Factor
Even perfect AI and leadership development solutions fail without effective change management. Your leaders may naturally question AI-driven feedback or worry about how their data will be used.
To address this, develop a clear communication strategy that anticipates concerns and showcases early wins. Explaining how AI will enhance (not replace) human coaching relationships is particularly important for gaining buy-in.
Consider starting with a pilot program targeting tech-forward leaders who can become your internal champions. Their positive experiences and testimonials will be invaluable when you expand to broader leadership populations who may be more skeptical.
Determining integration points with existing L&D infrastructure
AI and leadership development solutions should enhance your current ecosystem, not replace it entirely. Map your existing leadership development journey and identify specific points where AI can add value:
Request detailed implementation plans and API documentation before making final decisions.
Data privacy and ethical considerations
This is non-negotiable territory if you are thinking of AI and leadership development. Scrutinize:
Data collection practices and transparency
Leader control over personal data
Algorithmic bias detection and mitigation
Compliance with regional regulations (GDPR, etc.)
Ethical use of behavioral and performance data
Create an ethical AI governance committee to review potential issues and establish guidelines for your implementation.
Measuring the Impact of AI-Powered Leadership Development
Your measurement strategy should be defined before implementation of AI and leadership development, not as an afterthought.
Moving beyond satisfaction scores to behavioral change metrics
Traditional evaluation metrics like completion rates and satisfaction scores provide incomplete pictures of impact. Instead while thinking of AI and leadership development, focus on:
Observable leadership behavior changes (measured through 360 feedback)
Quality of leader-team interactions (via team engagement data)
Decision-making effectiveness in leadership scenarios
Developmental velocity (time to proficiency in new leadership skills)
Connecting leadership development to business outcomes
The ultimate justification for your AI and leadership development investment comes from business impact. Work with finance and operations teams to correlate leadership development with:
Long-term metrics (9+ months): Business impact, succession strength
By taking this strategic approach to AI implementation—carefully assessing readiness, thoughtfully selecting solutions, and rigorously measuring impact—you position your leadership development function for genuine transformation rather than just technological window dressing.
Is AI going to replace the human element in leadership development?
This question keeps many of you up at night. Let’s address these concerns head-on.
The Human Touch
You might worry that AI could make leadership development feel impersonal. In reality, AI takes over repetitive tasks like content personalization and skills assessment, allowing L&D leaders to focus on what truly matters, building strategy, securing stakeholder buy-in, and driving business impact. AI doesn’t replace the human element; it empowers L&D leaders to make more strategic decisions and create high-impact development experiences.
Perceiving AI as “Complex”
“I’m not a tech person” shouldn’t stop you from utilizing AI. AI Learning platforms feature intuitive interfaces designed specifically for L&D professionals, not engineers. Think of using modern AI like using a smartphone—the complex technology is hidden behind a user-friendly experience.
AI with Transparency
Modern AI and leadership development platforms increasingly offer transparency into their recommendations. They’ll explain why they’ve suggested specific training and development plans for leaders, allowing you to validate or adjust suggestions based on your expertise.
AI: Here to Automate, Not Replace You
AI isn’t developing robot-like leaders, quite the opposite. By handling administrative aspects of development, AI allows programs to focus more deeply on uniquely human skills like empathy, ethical decision-making, and inspirational communication.
Start small. Integrate AI in one aspect of your leadership development program and watch the human elements flourish, not diminish.
Key Takeaways
Your leaders need guidance in their moments of uncertainty, not just during training, AI’s real-time coaching capabilities fill this crucial gap when you can’t be there personally.
Start with a focused approach: identify your most pressing leadership challenge and pilot an AI solution there first, measuring results before scaling.
The insights you’ll gain will transform your strategy—imagine knowing exactly which leadership interventions drive behavior change and which are just “nice to have.”
Your role becomes more strategic with AI handling the heavy lifting of content creation and personalization, freeing you to focus on organizational alignment and executive buy-in.
Remember that blending AI with human wisdom creates the magic—technology amplifies your expertise rather than replacing the human connection leaders crave.
Sneha is a management graduate with a strong passion for leadership development and workplace growth. As a writer for Risely, she brings fresh insights into leadership strategies, team dynamics, and professional development. With a keen interest in marketing, she blends analytical thinking with storytelling to create engaging and actionable content.
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How Are AI Learning Platforms Transforming Leadership Development?
As an L&D leader, you’re likely familiar with this frustrating reality: 82% of organizations consider leadership development critical(1), yet only 14% feel prepared to deliver it effectively. Meanwhile, businesses collectively lose millions each year due to leadership gaps that traditional programs fail to close.
You’re stuck in an impossible situation.
Your executives demand measurable leadership improvement across the organization.
Your managers need personalized development that fits into their packed schedules.
And your budget? It certainly hasn’t increased to match these expectations.
AI learning platforms are changing this equation, by providing personalized experiences that improve engagement and knowledge retention while reducing costs.
For instance, companies implementing microlearning strategies have observed a 40% increase in course completion rates and a 30% improvement in knowledge retention within six months(2). Additionally, organizations adopting eLearning methods have achieved substantial cost savings, with some reducing training expenses per learner from $95 to $11.
Lets walk you through how AI learning platforms are reshaping leadership development. You’ll discover practical frameworks for evaluating these technologies, implementation strategies that drive adoption. Whether you’re completely reimagining your leadership strategy or enhancing current programs, this guide provides the roadmap you need to build stronger leaders at scale without sacrificing the personalization that makes development stick.
An AI learning platform uses artificial intelligence to deliver personalized, adaptive learning experiences with real-time feedback and data-driven insights, but in a sea of “AI-powered” learning solutions, how can you identify platforms with genuine intelligence versus glorified automation? As an L&D leader, you’ve likely encountered numerous vendors claiming their leadership development platforms are “powered by AI” but what does that actually mean for your organization?
What Makes a Learning Platform Truly “AI-Powered”?
True AI learning platforms go beyond simple if-then automation. Think about your current learning systems, do they just serve pre-programmed content based on basic rules, or do they genuinely adapt to your leaders’ needs?
Consider these core capabilities that separate authentic AI Learning platforms from clever marketing:
Personalization at Scale: AI continuously tracks learning behavior to tailor content dynamically. It adjusts difficulty levels, recommends resources, and refines learning paths in real-time to match individual strengths and gaps.
Content Intelligence: Instead of just retrieving content, AI generates customized learning materials by analyzing industry trends, company philosophy, and real-world challenges, ensuring relevance and agility.
Adaptive Assessment: AI moves beyond static quizzes, evaluating responses to complex leadership scenarios. It provides deep, personalized insights into decision-making, communication styles, and hidden biases.
Context-Aware Coaching: AI offers situational guidance by integrating real-time data, such as business performance metrics and leadership behavior trends, to deliver actionable coaching moments.
Emotional Intelligence Analysis: By analyzing tone, sentiment, and interaction patterns, AI detects emotional strengths and gaps in leadership, providing personalized strategies for improvement.
Predictive Learning Analytics: AI forecasts future learning needs based on career trajectory, performance trends, and market shifts, proactively preparing leaders for upcoming challenges.
Think of it this way, a traditional LMS is like a GPS system: it provides directions but can’t adjust to traffic or driver preferences. True AI Learning platforms are self-driving cars that actively navigate the learning journey, making real-time adjustments based on the passenger’s needs and road conditions.
What Are the Different Types of AI Learning Platforms?
Now that you know what makes a platform truly intelligent, let’s discuss the various AI learning platforms available for your leadership development initiatives. The landscape has evolved dramatically, with options designed to address specific aspects of your leadership pipeline.
As you evaluate options for your leadership initiatives, you’ll likely encounter these categories:
Comprehensive L&D platforms with AI features: Systems like Cornerstone and Workday have integrated AI to enhance their traditional LMS capabilities. They’re ideal if you need an all-in-one solution.
Specialized leadership coaching platforms: Platforms like Risely use AI coaches and supplement human coaching with algorithmic interventions.
Adaptive learning systems: These platforms, such as Area9 Rhapsode, focus primarily on adjusting content difficulty based on performance.
Content creation and curation tools: Solutions that automatically generate or organize leadership materials based on your organization’s needs.
What are the Strategic Benefits of AI Learning Platforms for Leadership Development for your organization?
What if your organization could provide a personalized learning plan to every manager, regardless of location or budget constraints? AI learning platforms are making this a reality.
Addressing the Scalability Challenge
The Problem: Traditional leadership development only reaches a fraction of your managers. With coaching costs of $200-500 per hour, most organizations can only afford to develop their top executives, leaving middle managers without critical support.
The Benefit: AI-powered platforms democratize leadership development by delivering personalized coaching at 70-80% lower cost. This means you can scale development to all leadership levels.
How It Works? The high cost of traditional leadership development means that organizations can only afford to coach their top executives, leaving middle managers and emerging leaders without the support they need. This lack of development leads to frustration, disengagement, and missed opportunities for growth, ultimately impacting team performance and overall company success.
AI-powered platforms solve this challenge by scaling the learning program experience through lowering costs while still providing personalized coaching. Using advanced algorithms, the platform assesses each manager’s strengths, performance, and areas for improvement. It then delivers tailored leadership modules, continuous feedback, and personalized learning paths that evolve with their progress. Ultimately, this improves leadership retention, strengthens the succession pipeline and ensures that you have loyal managers committed to growth.
With tools like Risely’s AI Leadership Development Coach, you can ensure that all managers, at every level, get the guidance they need to succeed—without the financial strain of traditional coaching.
Creating Hyper-Personalized Learning Experiences
The Problem: Generic leadership programs fail to address individual needs. When was the last time your one-size-fits-all training actually changed behavior across different management styles and experience levels?
The Benefit: AI systems create truly individualized learning journeys by analyzing each leader’s unique profile, challenges, and growth areas.
How It Works? Generic leadership programs often miss the mark, leaving managers with content that doesn’t match their specific challenges or experience levels. This makes it hard for them to apply what they’ve learned or see real improvement.
AI-powered platforms solve this by personalizing learning. They assess each manager’s skills, identify growth areas, and deliver tailored content, practice opportunities, and feedback that adapts based on real-time performance. This ensures learning is always relevant and timely. With Risely, there are personalized development paths and nudges that focuses on what each manager needs. For example, your engineering manager might work on feedback skills, while your marketing leader focuses on strategic thinking, ensuring they get the right guidance at the right time to make lasting changes in their leadership.
Delivering Just-in-Time Support When Leaders Need It Most
The Problem: Traditional training happens separate from real work. Your managers attend workshops but struggle to apply learning when facing actual leadership challenges weeks later.
The Benefit: On-demand coaching delivers support at the moment of need, increasing skill application by 70% compared to traditional training.
How It Works? Traditional training often happens in isolation, managers attend workshops, learn new skills, but then struggle to apply them when real leadership challenges arise weeks later. This gap between learning and practice can prevent lasting change and leave key skills forgotten over time.
AI-powered platforms like Risely bridge this gap by delivering support exactly when it’s needed. Managers receive just-in-time, contextual guidance tailored to their current situations.
This on-demand coaching ensures that learning is applied right away, making it easier for managers to put new skills into practice and drive meaningful, lasting behavior change.
Data-Driven Insights for Continuous Improvement
The Problem: Traditional leadership development offers minimal visibility into outcomes. Beyond satisfaction surveys and completion rates, how do you know if managers are actually improving?
The Benefit: Comprehensive analytics reveal which skills are developing across your organization and where gaps remain, allowing you to continuously refine your leadership strategy.
How It Works? Measuring leadership development is tough. Traditional assessments are often inconsistent and not done frequently enough, making it hard to know where your managers truly stand. Without regular check-ins, it’s challenging to pinpoint what support they need, and problems can continue without a clear solution.
AI-powered platforms make this process much easier. They help you assess all your leaders regularly, without the heavy cost and complexity of in-house assessments. With continuous tracking, you can get a clear view of your managers’ strengths, where they’re improving, and where they still need help.
For example, Risely’s Skill Center provides you with a dynamic dashboard that lets you see how your leaders are progressing in real-time. This allows you to make smarter decisions about where to focus your development efforts, ensuring each leader gets the right support at the right time.
Evaluating AI Learning Platforms: A Framework for HR and L&D Leaders
When you’re evaluating AI learning platforms for leadership development, you’re not just dealing with a sea of options but also trying to align them with your organization’s unique goals and challenges. The real struggle is in determining which platform fits seamlessly with your current systems, delivers measurable results, and can scale with your needs. To make this easier, focus on the areas that matter most to your organization, whether it’s improving leadership engagement, driving business outcomes, or integrating effectively with your tech stack
Core Features to Look For in AI-Powered Learning Platforms
The foundation of any effective AI learning platform lies in its technical capabilities. These features aren’t just nice-to-haves but essential components that determine whether your leadership development initiative succeeds or falters. As you evaluate options, pay close attention to:
Adaptive learning engines that adjust content difficulty based on user performance
Personalization features that tailor development paths to individual leader needs and roles
Content curation tools that automatically refresh leadership materials with current best practices
Engagement mechanisms that nudge busy executives to complete critical learning activities
Assessment capabilities that measure both knowledge acquisition and behavioral change
Integration flexibility with your existing HR tech stack, especially performance management systems
Analytics dashboards that demonstrate leadership capability development across the organization.
AI Platform Pricing Models
The financial investment in AI learning platforms extends far beyond the sticker price. Understanding the nuanced pricing structures helps you avoid budget surprises and ensures sustainable value over time. When reviewing vendor proposals, be aware of these common pricing approaches:
Subscription models: Per-user pricing may seem straightforward but can penalize usage growth
Tiered pricing: Carefully evaluate which leadership features sit in premium tiers
Implementation costs: Factor in customization, integration, and data migration expenses
Hidden fees: Look for charges related to content updates, API calls, or advanced analytics
Calculate true ROI: Include time savings, improved leadership outcomes, and reduced external consultant needs
Always ask: “What costs might arise in year two that aren’t apparent today?”
Platform Selection Criteria for Leadership Development
Beyond features and pricing, the ultimate success of your AI learning platform depends on how well it aligns with your organization’s unique leadership development ecosystem. This alignment is what transforms a generic technology tool into a strategic leadership accelerator. When making your final selection, prioritize:
Alignment with your leadership model: Can the platform adapt to your specific competency framework?
Content relevance: Does the leadership content reflect your industry challenges and organizational context?
Executive user experience: Will busy leaders actually engage with the platform, or will it become another digital dust catcher?
Customization depth: Can it reflect your organization’s language and leadership principles?
Security standards: How is sensitive leadership assessment data protected?
Implementation support: What resources will the vendor provide during your leadership rollout?
Ease of use for your L&D team: How much time and effort will it take for your team to learn and manage the platform? Is it intuitive enough for them to use without extensive training?
Consider creating a weighted scorecard that evaluates each platform against your specific leadership development priorities. This disciplined approach prevents “shiny feature syndrome” and ensures your selection addresses your organization’s unique leadership challenges.
Implementing AI Learning Platforms: Best Practices for Success
Your AI learning platform investment could transform leadership development or become another underutilized tech solution. The difference lies in implementation.
Securing Stakeholder Buy-In for AI Learning Initiatives
We talked about this in our podcast with Katie Greenwood to secure stakeholder buy-in for AI learning initiatives. She noted that early engagement is crucial. Understand each stakeholder’s “what’s in it for me” (WIIFM).
Use data and metrics to demonstrate the tangible business impact and potential ROI of AI-driven learning.
For executives, highlight the potential for increased ROI, cost savings, and competitive advantage through AI, as demonstrated by training more employees with fewer resources.
For managers, emphasize how AI can lead to more effective and productive teams.
For employees, showcase how AI can personalize learning, improve skills, and reduce workload.
A focused pilot program works wonders here. Select a specific leadership challenge (strategic thinking, feedback skills) and a receptive department. Document pre- and post-implementation metrics to create a compelling case study.
Integration Strategies for Maximum Impact
An AI learning platform that exists in isolation quickly becomes forgotten. Your implementation plan should address:
How the platform connects with your existing HR tech stack
Where learning moments appear in daily workflows (Slack, Teams, email)
Single sign-on capabilities to reduce friction
Data flows between systems for comprehensive analytics
Change Management for AI Learning Platform Adoption
Even the perfect technical implementation can fail without proper change management. The introduction of AI-powered learning represents a significant shift in how leaders develop—and human nature tends to resist change.
Start by segmenting your audience and crafting targeted messaging:
For senior leaders: Emphasize strategic advantages and organizational capability building
For middle managers: Focus on team performance improvements and coaching efficiency
For individual contributors: Highlight personalized growth pathways and practical skill application
Address common forms of resistance head-on:
AI skepticism: Demonstrate through workshops how AI augments rather than replaces human judgment. Show concrete examples of AI-human collaboration in leadership development.
Learning fatigue: Showcase how AI reduces overwhelm by curating precisely what each leader needs when they need it.
Privacy concerns: Host transparent sessions about data collection, usage policies, and opt-out options.
“This too shall pass” mentality: Distinguish your AI initiative from previous learning fads by connecting it to lasting organizational priorities.
Gamification can be particularly effective during rollout, achievement badges, leaderboards highlighting early adopters, and visible progress metrics create momentum. Build a network of champions across departments who receive advanced training and serve as local experts. Above all, model the continuous growth mindset you’re trying to instill. Openly share how you’re using the AI tools yourself, including both successes and learning moments, to normalize experimentation and ongoing development.
Remember that success metrics should evolve beyond initial adoption. Track behavioral changes, skills application, and leadership effectiveness improvements to demonstrate lasting value from your implementation.
ACase Study: AI Learning Platform in Action
Best Friends Animal Society, with 900+ employees split between remote and field work, faced unique leadership development challenges. Their workforce’s distributed nature, unpredictable schedules, and emotionally demanding roles made traditional training programs impractical.
The solution came through implementing an AI-powered learning platform: Risely that addressed their specific needs through three key components:
Personalized Microlearning: The platform delivers tailored 15-minute daily learning experiences that adapt to each manager’s specific challenges, team dynamics, and professional context.
On-Demand AI Coaching: As Janis Cooper, Director of Leadership and Staff Development explains, “With Risely’s AI coach Merlin, managers now have a virtual coach at their fingertips, available anywhere and anytime, even when they’re on the road caring for animals.” This replaced prohibitively expensive human coaching with 24/7 accessible guidance.
Comprehensive Skill Assessment: The system assesses 30+ leadership competencies, creating precise development pathways and organizational benchmarks.
The implementation has transformed leadership development at Best Friends Animal Society by:
Extending development opportunities to previously underserved team members
Delivering contextually relevant training for non-profit leadership challenges
Achieving significant cost savings compared to traditional methods
Reinforcing organizational values through AI-guided interactions
“We are equipping our managers not just with the latest technology but with the skills and confidence they need to lead in our fast-paced and mission-driven environment,” notes Cooper.
This case demonstrates how AI learning platforms can democratize leadership development, creating personalized, accessible, and contextual learning experiences that align with operational realities and organizational goals.
Conclusion
Remember, your competitive advantage isn’t just in having leadership programs, it’s in how quickly you can develop capable leaders at scale while maintaining personalization. AI makes this possible today.
Don’t overlook the power of just-in-time support, your leaders need guidance in their moments of uncertainty, not just during scheduled training sessions. This is where AI coaches truly shine.
The data insights you’ll gain will transform your approach. You’ll finally see precisely which leadership interventions drive behavior change, allowing you to invest resources more strategically.
Start with a specific leadership challenge rather than a complete overhaul. Perhaps focus on new manager development or communication skills where you can demonstrate clear value quickly.
Sneha is a management graduate with a strong passion for leadership development and workplace growth. As a writer for Risely, she brings fresh insights into leadership strategies, team dynamics, and professional development. With a keen interest in marketing, she blends analytical thinking with storytelling to create engaging and actionable content.
Ready to Take Your Training Programs to the Next Level?
Transform your training programs with personalized, AI-driven solutions. Start your journey with Risely today!
According to LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Learning Report(1), 71% of L&D professionals are now incorporating AI into their learning strategies, nearly double the adoption rate from just two years ago. Yet a striking skills gap has emerged: while 86% of learning leaders acknowledge AI’s critical importance to their function, only 24% report feeling confident in their ability to effectively leverage these technologies for leadership development.
In this guide, we’ll explore the 5 essential AI skills for L&D leader. You’ll discover practical frameworks for integrating AI into leadership development initiatives, learn how to balance technological capabilities with human expertise, and gain strategies for upskilling yourself and your team. We’ll explore real-world applications showing how AI is transforming coaching, content creation, skills practice, and program measurement.
Whether you’re just beginning your AI journey or looking to advance your existing capabilities, this guide provides a clear roadmap for developing the AI skills for L&D Leaders in the coming years. The window for gaining competitive advantage through AI-enhanced leadership development remains open right now but it won’t stay that way forever.
Why Have AI Skills Become Non-Negotiable for Today’s L&D Leaders?
As an L&D professional, you’re likely familiar with the overwhelming challenges facing the industry today. From drowning in mountains of learner data to the constant pressure of scaling training programs across diverse teams, the demands can feel relentless.
Many L&D teams struggle with making sense of all the data they collect. You might have assessment results, completion rates, and engagement metrics, but turning these into actionable insights often feels like solving a puzzle with missing pieces. Without the right tools, this valuable data sits unused while learning programs continue to operate on assumptions rather than evidence.
Another common headache is the need to scale training effectively. Your organization keeps growing, teams are increasingly remote or hybrid, and everyone needs different training at different times. Using traditional methods, you’re constantly choosing between quality and reach – a frustrating compromise that leaves many learners underserved.
Perhaps the most significant challenge is delivering truly personalized learning experiences. Your learners have diverse needs, backgrounds, and career paths, yet most training programs still follow a one-size-fits-all approach. This leads to disengagement, poor knowledge retention, and ultimately, wasted resources on training that doesn’t stick.
The AI Shift: Is your Job at Risk?
The L&D landscape isn’t just evolving, it’s transforming at lightning speed. AI tools are rapidly becoming standard in creating learning content, analyzing performance data, and delivering personalized learning paths. What once took weeks of manual work can now happen in minutes through AI assistance.
If you’re hesitant to try these technologies, the stakes are higher than you might realize. Organizations are increasingly expecting their L&D teams to leverage AI to deliver better results more efficiently. Those who can’t meet these expectations risk being sidelined or replaced by professionals who can utilize AI’s potential.
Think about it this way: if you could choose between an L&D partner who manually creates standard training materials versus one who uses AI to quickly develop personalized learning plans backed by data insights, which would you pick? This is the choice many organizations are making right now.
The truth is, AI isn’t coming to L&D – it’s already here. From AI-powered content creation tools that can generate scenarios and assessments in seconds to learning platforms that automatically adapt to each learner’s needs, these technologies are becoming essential, not optional.
By developing your AI skills for L&D now, you position yourself as a forward-thinking L&D professional who can bridge the gap between human expertise and technological advancement. Rather than fearing AI as a replacement, you can leverage it as your most powerful ally in creating meaningful learning experiences that truly impact your organization.
The Scalability-Personalization Paradox
Perhaps the most compelling reason AI skills for L&D have become non-negotiable is what we might call the scalability-personalization paradox:
The Challenge: Organizations need to develop thousands of leaders across different levels, regions, and contexts each with unique strengths, gaps, and learning preferences.
The Traditional Approach: Either standardize content for scale (sacrificing personalization) or customize programs for impact (sacrificing scale).
The AI Solution: Machine learning algorithms can analyze skill gaps, learning preferences, and contextual factors to create dynamically personalized learning journeys at scale.
For example, consider how Netflix transformed entertainment with personalized recommendations for millions of viewers simultaneously. Netflix’s recommendation system processes vast amounts of data, including viewing habits and ratings, to curate personalized content for each user.
In a comparable manner, AI in leadership development can process data on leadership behaviors and learning interactions to deliver targeted developmental content. This approach not only enhances engagement but also accelerates leadership growth across diverse populations, effectively balancing the need for both personalization and scalability in training initiatives.
5 Core AI Skills for L&D Leader
In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, AI isn’t just a buzzword, it’s becoming an essential part of the L&D toolkit. Whether you’re just starting to explore AI skills for L&D or looking to deepen your expertise, developing these five core skills will help you harness AI’s potential to transform your learning programs.
5 Core AI Skills for L&D Leaders
1. AI Literacy
AI literacy is your ability to understand AI fundamentals, including how AI systems learn, what they can do well, and where they struggle. It includes knowing key concepts like machine learning, natural language processing, and generative AI.
Let’s start with understanding AI types relevant to learning. You must recognize how different AI technologies serve distinct purposes in development programs:
Generative AI: Creates new content, scenarios, and personalized learning materials
Recommendation engines: Suggest tailored learning pathways based on individual needs and behaviors
Natural language processing: Powers conversational learning experiences and content analysis
A critical aspect of AI literacy is prompt engineering, the art of crafting effective instructions for AI tools. Think of it as learning to speak a new language that helps you get the most from AI systems. For example, instead of simply asking, “Create training on communication,” you should write, “Create a 3-module outline for a business communication course for new managers, including key learning objectives for each module and suggested activities.” The difference in results can be dramatic.
Without AI literacy, you risk making poor technology decisions, underutilizing powerful tools, or implementing AI in ways that create problems rather than solutions. Many L&D professionals waste hours fighting with AI tools simply because they don’t understand how to effectively communicate with them.
How Will This Skill Benefit You?
Confidently discuss AI solutions with vendors and IT teams without feeling lost in technical jargon
Create clear, effective prompts that get better results from AI tools like ChatGPT when developing learning content
Identify realistic opportunities for AI to enhance your learning experiences while avoiding overhyped promises
2. AI-Powered Learning Course Development
This skill involves using AI as a collaborative partner in creating learning experiences knowing which aspects of content creation to delegate to AI and where human expertise remains essential. It includes using AI to generate initial drafts, create varied examples, develop case studies, design assessment questions, and even create basic graphics or video scripts.
Here’s the guide for how to create a course with AI. In practice, this might look like using AI to quickly generate a first draft of compliance training content, which you then refine and enhance with your instructional design expertise. Or you might use it to create ten variations of a scenario to practice the same skill in different contexts, making learning more transferable. You could also use AI to transform a lengthy technical document into an engaging microlearning series with key points, analogies, and practice questions.
The key is understanding that AI excels at generating volume and variations but requires your expertise to ensure the content aligns with learning objectives, organizational culture, and instructional best practices.
How WillThis Skill Benefit You?
Cut content development time in half by using AI to create first drafts that you can refine and personalize
Quickly generate varied examples, scenarios, and case studies that make learning more relevant and engaging
Produce more learning content without expanding your team, helping you meet increasing training demands
3. Personalized Learning Design
Personalized learning design means creating training experiences that adapt to individual learner needs, preferences, and performance. With AI, you can design systems that automatically adjust content difficulty, provide tailored feedback, and create individualized learning journeys for all without requiring manual intervention for each learner.
For example, with tools like Risely, your employees receive personalized guidance and support from AI coach- Merlin, who provides personalized feedback to their specific challenges. When an employee struggles with a particular skill, like handling difficult client conversations, Merlin can recognize this pattern and automatically deliver relevant tips, practice exercises, and reminders right when they’re needed. Merlin can provide gentle nudges for behavioral change like “Remember to ask open-ended questions in your next client meeting” and celebrate wins when progress is detected.
Without this type of AI-powered personalization, many learners disengage when content feels irrelevant or overwhelming. Generic learning experiences often result in some employees being bored while others are confused, neither group getting what they actually need to improve.
McKinsey research(2) indicates that L&D functions leveraging AI appropriately are delivering personalized leadership development at scale while reducing program costs by 20%. These aren’t marginal improvements, they represent a fundamental shift in how effective leadership capabilities can be built.
How Will This Skill Benefit You?
Design learning paths that automatically adjust based on learner performance, ensuring everyone gets the right level of challenge
Create more inclusive learning experiences that accommodate different learning styles and needs
Boost completion rates and knowledge retention by delivering content that feels personally relevant to each learner
4. Data Analysis and Interpretation
Data Analysis and Interpretation involves transforming learning data into actionable insights that drive improvement. It’s about knowing which metrics truly matter, how to interpret patterns, and how to make data-informed decisions about your learning programs.
Continuing with the above mentioned example, with Risely, you gain access to comprehensive dashboards that visualize your employees’ learning activities, engagement patterns, and skill development. Instead of relying on completion rates and satisfaction surveys alone, you can see how well your managers are performing on key leadership skills, and get benchmarks across the organizations, which managers & team members are having issues with.
For example, your dashboard might reveal that 70% of your customer service team excels at problem resolution but struggles with empathetic communication. With this insight, you can create targeted learning experiences focused specifically on empathy skills for that team. You might also discover that managers who completed a particular leadership module show measurable improvements in team engagement scores, providing concrete evidence of that training’s effectiveness.
This level of data insight allows you to move beyond intuition to make evidence-based decisions about your learning investments, from designing assessments that accurately measure skill levels to creating precisely targeted learning interventions.
How Will This Skill Benefit You?
Spot patterns and trends that reveal which learning approaches are working best for different groups
Make evidence-based improvements to your programs instead of relying on gut feelings or participant satisfaction scores alone
Show leadership concrete evidence of learning impact, strengthening their support for your L&D initiatives
5. AI Tools Selection
AI Tools Selection involves evaluating and selecting the right AI learning technologies for your specific needs. It requires developing a structured approach to assessment that considers factors beyond flashy features, looking at integration capabilities, user experience, content control, data privacy, and alignment with your specific learning challenges.
In practice, you’ll create clear criteria for tool selection based on your organization’s unique requirements. For example, if you’re looking for a tool to help with content creation, you’ll evaluate options based on the types of content you typically create, the level of customization needed, and how the output integrates with your existing learning platforms.
You’ll need to look beyond vendor demonstrations to understand how tools will actually function in your environment. It means asking tough questions about implementation requirements, requesting trial periods, and possibly running small pilot projects before making major investments.
How Will This Skill Benefit You?
Save money by investing only in AI tools that address your organization’s actual learning needs
Avoid the frustration of implementing tools that don’t integrate well with your existing systems
Build a streamlined tech stack that enhances your learning offerings without overwhelming you or your learners
Developing these five AI skills doesn’t happen overnight, but even small steps forward can lead to significant improvements for you.. Start by focusing on one skill that could address your most pressing L&D challenge, and build from there. Remember, the goal isn’t to replace your expertise with AI, but to enhance what you already do well with powerful new capabilities.
Roadmap to Building Your AI Skillset
Building AI skills for L&D isn’t an overnight achievement—it’s a strategic progression that begins with honest self-assessment and deliberate skill development. As L&D leaders, you’re uniquely positioned to not only implement AI in your organization’s learning strategies but to model the very learning journey you design for others.
Step 1: Assess Your Current AI Readiness
Before diving into courses or experimenting with tools, take stock of where you stand:
Self-assessment framework for L&D professionals
Understanding your AI readiness isn’t just about technical knowledge, it’s about your mindset, awareness, and application capabilities across multiple dimensions:
AI Awareness: How familiar are you with AI concepts, capabilities, and limitations?
Technical Comfort: Can you interact with AI tools and understand their basic functionality?
Strategic Vision: Do you see how AI fits into learning strategy beyond just automation?
Ethical Understanding: Are you aware of bias, privacy, and ethical considerations?
Identifying your strengths and development areas
Most L&D leaders find themselves stronger in learning design principles and weaker in technical implementation. Be honest about where you excel and where you need growth. For example:
Strength: Understanding adult learning theory and how to design effective experiences
Development Area: Knowing how to effectively prompt AI systems for specific content generation
Understanding your organization’s AI maturity level
Your personal AI journey exists within an organizational context. Assess where your company falls on this spectrum:
AI Novice: Limited awareness, no formal strategy
AI Aware: Recognizes potential, isolated pilot projects
AI Ready: Clear strategy, active implementation in progress
AI Mature: Integrated AI capabilities, measuring ROI
Donald H. Taylor’s “Intention and Reality” model states, “There is always a gap between what we intend to do and what actually happens in practice.” Many L&D leaders want to use AI but struggle to take the first step. Time, complexity, and lack of support often hold them back. As Taylor puts it, “Turning intention into reality requires action, experimentation, and a willingness to embrace change.” The key is to start small, learn the basics, try AI tools, and show results. AI won’t replace you; it will make your work easier and more impactful.
Without assessment, many L&D professionals waste time developing skills they don’t need while overlooking critical capabilities. A personalized assessment prevents this scattershot approach.
You’ll develop a targeted learning path that addresses your specific needs, saving months of unfocused effort. L&D leaders who begin with structured self-assessment report reaching implementation readiness 40% faster than those who jump straight into learning tools.
Step 2: Create Your AI Learning Plan
With your readiness assessment complete, it’s time to build a learning roadmap. Focus on AI applications relevant to L&D, start with beginner-friendly content, and choose resources that offer hands-on practice. Practical learning will help you apply AI effectively.
Free platforms like Coursera, edX, and Google’s AI Hub provide a solid foundation, while paid options like LinkedIn Learning and Udemy offer structured courses and certifications. Joining AI-focused L&D groups or attending webinars can also help you stay updated and connected.
Paid vs. Free: What’s Right for You?
Free resources are great for getting started, but they may lack depth and structured learning paths. Paid options often provide guided instruction, practical exercises, and certification—useful for credibility and career growth. A mix of both ensures well-rounded learning without overspending.
By curating the right learning materials, you’ll accelerate your AI literacy and confidently integrate AI into your L&D strategy.
Recommended resources for developing AI literacy
Balance your learning across different formats:
Courses
Schedule weekly “AI experimentation time” to test tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Midjourney
Apply AI to a current challenge: “How might I use AI to improve our onboarding materials?”
Keep a learning journal documenting insights and questions
Experiential learning opportunities with AI tools
Theory without practice yields limited results. Schedule hands-on time with these tools:
Content Creation: Experiment with ChatGPT, Claude, or Bard to generate learning materials
Image Generation: Try DALL-E or Midjourney to create learning visuals
Video Creation: Explore Synthesia or D-ID for creating training videos
Data Analysis: Use Obviously AI to analyze learning data without coding
Start with a real L&D challenge from your work and attempt to solve it using AI. Document what works, what doesn’t, and how you might improve your approach.
The AI field is vast, and without a structured learning architecture, it’s easy to get lost in technical jargon or theoretical concepts that don’t translate to practical L&D applications. Your learning should be deliberate, not accidental. A structured plan ensures you develop versatile skills that directly impact your work. You’ll gain confidence faster by focusing on relevant applications rather than trying to become an AI generalist.
Step 3: Start Small but Think Big
Build confidence through targeted experimentation:
Begin with pilot projects that have minimal risk but potential impact: Starting small allows you to test AI in a controlled environment without major disruptions. This helps you learn, adjust, and build confidence before scaling AI adoption.
Use AI to generate discussion questions for an existing workshop
Create a personalized learning path recommendation system
Develop AI-enhanced job aids for a specific role
Document your process and results: Tracking your steps and outcomes provides clear insights into what works and what doesn’t. It also helps demonstrate AI’s value to stakeholders, making it easier to secure buy-in for future initiatives.
What problem were you trying to solve?
How did AI help (or not help)?
What was the learner’s response?
What would you change next time?
Attempting organization-wide AI implementation without proven success cases is a recipe for failure. Small wins build both your confidence and organizational trust in AI-enhanced learning approaches.
Beyond the immediate benefits of each project, these pilots create an evidence base for larger initiatives. Success metrics from small experiments provide compelling data when seeking resources for broader implementation. They also help you identify which types of learning challenges respond best to AI solutions in your specific context.
Step 4: Collaborate and Learn Continuously
Accelerating your growth through community is very crucial because it allows you to learn from others’ experiences, stay updated on AI trends, and gain support in navigating challenges:
Form strategic partnerships with IT and data teams who can support your initiatives
Create an AI Learning Circle within your organization where colleagues share discoveries
Contribute your insights through blog posts, internal presentations, or industry forums
As you develop AI Skills for L&D, you’ll find that it enhances rather than replaces your L&D expertise. The goal isn’t to become an AI engineer, but to become an L&D leader who leverages AI to create more impactful, personalized, and efficient learning experiences.
AI adoption in L&D isn’t a solo journey. The field evolves too rapidly for any individual to keep pace. Cross-functional partnerships also ensure you don’t create solutions that conflict with organizational data policies or technical architecture.
A collaborative approach accelerates your learning curve exponentially. Organizations with cross-functional AI learning communities report 3x faster adoption of effective practices. These relationships also help you navigate potential obstacles before they derail your projects, from data privacy concerns to integration challenges.
Conclusion
Let’s wrap this up simply, becoming AI-savvy as an L&D leader doesn’t have to be scary. These AI skills for L&D we’ve talked about can really boost your impact, making your training programs more data-driven, personalized, and effective.
Here are some recommendations as you move forward:
Start small but don’t wait: Even understanding the basics of AI gives you a good foundation
Focus on real problems: Look at what’s not working well in your programs and see how AI might help
Try things out: You’ll learn more by actually using AI tools than just reading about them
Keep the human touch: Remember, AI helps your work but doesn’t replace your leadership and empathy
Connect with others: Learning alongside peers makes everything easier
But here’s the thing – there’s a real cost to sitting on the sidelines. Without AI skills for L&D, you might:
Have less influence with executives (because you lack data-backed insights)
Face budget cuts (as programs without clear ROI often get cut first)
See your career options shrink (as AI knowledge becomes expected in senior roles)
AI isn’t coming for your job – it’s here to make you better at it!
Sneha is a management graduate with a strong passion for leadership development and workplace growth. As a writer for Risely, she brings fresh insights into leadership strategies, team dynamics, and professional development. With a keen interest in marketing, she blends analytical thinking with storytelling to create engaging and actionable content.
Ready to Take Your Training Programs to the Next Level?
Transform your leadership development programs with personalized, AI-driven solutions. Start your journey with Risely today!
How to Create a Course with AI: A Guide for L&D Professionals
According to a McKinsey survey(1), only 11% of business leaders believe their leadership development initiatives yield meaningful results. Yet, they allocate large budgets to L&D initiatives. This gap isn’t just about content quality- it’s about scale, personalization, and delivery.
As an L&D leader, you face constant pressure to produce more high-quality leadership content with fewer resources. A typical leadership course requires 130-150 hours to develop—that’s nearly a month of full-time work for a single program. Meanwhile, there’s a demand from learners and managers for customized content for different leadership levels, business units, and also to address emerging challenges.
Well, now you can do it all with the form of AI-powered content creation, that is make a course with AI. Early adopters report cutting course development time by 40-60%(2) while actually increasing content personalization and relevance. This isn’t about replacing instructional designers, it’s about amplifying their capabilities and focusing their expertise where it matters most.
In this guide, we’ll walk through exactly how forward-thinking L&D departments are leveraging AI to transform their leadership to create course content with AI. You’ll discover practical frameworks for planning, researching, developing, and refining leadership courses with AI assistance. We’ll explore specific tools that solve real L&D challenges, and address the concerns about maintaining authenticity and organizational voice.
Here’s the guide for how to create a course with AI
How to Create a Course With AI : A Step by Step Guide
What if you could design, research, and build leadership courses in half the time while improving quality? With AI, this isn’t just possible, it’s becoming standard practice for forward-thinking L&D teams.
Word of Caution: L&D course creation is a very human task. AI will serve as your co-pilot, but it’s important to remember that you should never hand over the reins entirely. The human element is essential, especially in cases like leadership training, where emotional intelligence, nuanced communication, and organizational culture play a crucial role.
Step 1: Planning Your Learning and Development Course Structure
Before diving into AI tools for creating courses, take the time to lay a strong foundation for your learning material and course by focusing on a few key areas:
Define Clear Learning Objectives The first step is to set clear, measurable learning objectives that align with your organization’s leadership competencies. These SMART goals should tailored to the needs of both your learners and the company. With AI, you can refine these objectives further, but you need to ensure that they stay aligned with your strategic goals.
Create a Content Outline Once you have your direction, build a content outline that AI has the ability to expand upon. You’ll use AI to generate relevant examples, case studies, and scenarios, but the overall structure of the course should reflect your vision and expertise. Think of AI as a tool to fill in the gaps, not to replace your strategy.
Determine Metrics for Success How will you measure success? Whether it’s engagement rates, learner performance, or feedback, your metrics should align with your learning objectives. While AI would help you automate the collection and analysis of these metrics, it’s still up to you to interpret the data and adjust course content as needed.
AI as a Strategic Tool, Not a Replacement AI is great at analyzing successful L&D programs and identifying patterns, but it can’t define your strategic direction. Use AI as a support tool, but trust your human expertise to guide the overall course structure. For example, AI tools will help you brainstorm ideas, but the learning goals you’ve set will shape the final content.
Quick Tip: When setting your learning objectives, break them down into smaller, achievable milestones. AI tools help track progress and help adjust the course content if learners are struggling to meet those milestones. Dowload Risely’s Free SMART Goal Template to get started.
Step 2: Content Research and Organization with AI
After setting your course structure, it’s time to get into content research.
But one major issue is time constraints. As an L&D professional with limited resources, research, trend analysis, and content creation takes up valuable time. AI helps speed up this process, but it can’t replace the need for human oversight. You’ll still need to curate and filter the information to ensure it aligns with your goals.
Another problem is keeping content current. L&D trends evolve constantly, and staying updated is tough. AI tools will do research for you but you still need to interpret and decide what to include.
Here’s where AI really helps: it accelerates research and provides relevant insights, but it can’t do the entire job. Use it to gather data, generate examples, and automate analysis. But remember, you’re still the one who refines and curates the content.
Use AI for Research: Tools like Claude or ChatGPT help you gather the latest L&D research and trends. For example, you can ask ChatGPT to generate specific scenarios for your course, such as “Create three examples of difficult feedback conversations in healthcare.” These tools will save you time and help you gather fresh ideas.
Organize Findings Using AI-Powered Tools: Once you have your research, tools like Miro’s AI features helps you organize everything into logical modules. This makes it easier to visualize connections between concepts, case studies, and learning objectives, and will give your course structure more clarity.
Incorporate Structured Surveys for Learner Feedback: Tools like Elicit allow you to create and analyze structured surveys to understand what your learners really need. AI will help you synthesize this feedback and tailor the course to better address their challenges, ensuring your content is relevant and impactful.
Explore Complex Research Efficiently: Sometimes research can be dense and time-consuming. AI tools like Perplexity summarize complex academic papers in real time, saving you time and helping you integrate the latest leadership theories into your course.
Leverage Academic Research for Evidence-Based Learning: Platforms like SciSpace let you access and collaborate on academic research papers. You can use these resources to build credible, evidence-based content that supports your leadership competencies, ensuring your course is grounded in the latest academic insights.
Continuous Improvement and Data-Driven Iteration: AI assists with continuous course improvement. By tracking learner performance and engagement, AI also highlights areas where learners are struggling and suggest ways to update the content in real time. Tools like Risely, an AI-powered leadership development coach, can provide personalized insights to help managers, leaders for continuous improvement and bridge skill gaps effectively. Post-course feedback analysis, powered by AI, can also help refine the course for the next round, ensuring continuous improvement and relevance.
Quick Tip: It’s helpful to use AI tools as your research assistants. When creating leadership courses, you can input prompts like “What are the top leadership challenges for 2025?” and let the AI bring in real-time data. It’s an easy way to start gathering relevant information quickly.
Step 3: How to Create Course Content with AI Effectively?
AI makes personalizing training for different types of learners seamless.
For example, suppose you are running a leadership development platform: Marketing managers deal with brand messaging, customer insights, and cross-functional collaboration. AI generates case studies around leading creative teams, handling conflicts between sales and marketing, or adapting to shifting consumer trends.
For tech managers, the focus shifts to agile leadership, innovation, and managing engineering teams. AI will help curate content around leading remote development teams, balancing speed with quality in product releases, or handling stakeholder expectations in tech-driven projects.
Meanwhile, operations managers might need content on process optimization, supply chain leadership, and crisis management. AI will help you generate leadership scenarios that reflect logistical challenges, cost-cutting strategies, or efficiency improvements, making learning more practical and industry-specific.
Instead of a one-size-fits-all generic leadership program, AI allows you to customize learning paths, examples, and challenges to fit each managerial role. With the right input, AI adapts tone, complexity, and real-world context, ensuring every learner gets a relevant and engaging experience.
While AI is a powerful ally, it’s important for you to understand how to integrate these best ai content creation tools effectively into your course creation process.
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Excels at: Generating diverse leadership scenarios, creating discussion questions, and developing case studies
Best for: Quick content ideation and addressing “what if” leadership scenarios
Claude (Anthropic)
Excels at: Longer, nuanced content with stronger reasoning and fewer hallucinations
Best for: Evidence-based leadership content requiring balanced perspectives
How to get better leadership content from AI writers?
Use role-based prompting: “Act as an executive coach explaining how to deliver difficult feedback” yields better results than generic requests
Provide context about your audience: “Create content for new engineering managers transitioning from technical roles to leadership”
Request specific formats: “Generate a 10-minute interactive exercise on delegation skills with clear facilitator instructions”
The quality of your AI outputs depends entirely on your prompting skills. If your prompt simply says,“Write about leadership” you are not going to get much out of it, because:
Lacks clarity on tone, length, audience, and specific focus.
Too broad, making it difficult to know what type of content is expected.
What should you write instead?
“Act as a leadership coach. Create a 400-word article for senior executives about how to inspire innovation while maintaining a strong ethical framework. The tone should be authoritative yet approachable, and the format should include real-world examples of successful leadership.”
Why does it work?
Clear instructions on tone, length, audience, and content type.
Specific in terms of desired outcome and structure.
AI Pitfalls to Watch Out For
AI is a great assistant, but it’s not flawless. There are a few red flags in AI content that you should look out for while creating an L&D course with AI:
Factual Accuracy: AI sometimes generate incorrect information. Always verify the data and insights before using them in your course.
Biases in Content: AI models can inherit biases from the data they’ve been trained on. Review the content for any unintended bias that could affect the credibility or inclusiveness of your course.
Engagement and Interaction: AI will generate text quickly, but it might not always produce highly engaging content. Make sure your course includes interactive elements, such as quizzes, exercises, and discussions, to keep learners engaged.
Step 4: Enhancing Engagement and Visual Elements
By now, you’ve built a solid course structure and refined your content with AI, but how do you make it engaging and memorable? AI-powered visuals, branching scenarios, and interactive elements will help you transform passive learning into an immersive experience. However, the challenge is knowing when and how to use them effectively.
Let’s be real, dumping AI-generated infographics or videos into your course won’t automatically make it engaging. The key is using the right medium for the right learning moment while ensuring content remains inclusive, relevant, and accessible.
Bringing Concepts to Life with AI Tools with these Best AI content creation tools
Here’s how you can use AI to enhance engagement to create course content while keeping learner experience at the core:
Make complex ideas interactive with infographics: Instead of lengthy text, tools like Canva’s Magic Design will instantly turn key leadership principles into easy-to-understand visuals. A great use case? Visualizing decision-making frameworks like the Situational Leadership Model.
Tell compelling leadership stories with custom illustrations: Want to depict diverse leadership scenarios? AI tools like DALL·E or Midjourney can generate tailored images, but here’s the catch, AI has a bias problem. Always review generated visuals to ensure they reflect inclusive and diverse leadership representations.
Simulate real-world decision-making with branching scenarios: Leadership isn’t theoretical, it’s about making tough calls. Use ChatGPT to create interactive, choose-your-own-adventure-style leadership scenarios where learners navigate challenges like handling a team conflict or giving difficult feedback.
Polish your presentations effortlessly: Static slides don’t cut it anymore. Tools like Beautiful.ai transform text-heavy slides into sleek, engaging presentations in minutes, ensuring leadership concepts don’t just inform but inspire.
QuickTip: Don’t just use AI-generated content as-is. Instead, personalize it, adjust case studies, tweak wording, and add real-world context. AI is an assistant, not a substitute for thoughtful instructional design.
Step 5: Review, Refinement and Quality Assurance
AI will generate leadership content fast, but will it ensure accuracy, relevance, and inclusivity? Not quite. That’s why this final step is all about refining, reviewing, and quality-checking what AI produces before delivering it to learners.
Think of AI as your co-pilot, it’s great to create an online course with ai, but you’re still in the captain’s seat. Here’s how to keep your course high-quality and bias-free:
Quality-Check Your AI-Generated Content
Develop a Leadership Content Checklist: AI sometimes hallucinates (yes, really). Before rolling out your course, check that AI-generated insights align with current leadership best practices, not outdated models.
Watch out for hidden biases: AI often mirrors historical biases—for example, depicting only men in leadership roles or defaulting to Western corporate settings. Be intentional about diversifying scenarios and ensuring inclusive language.
Test for engagement & relevance: What sounds good in theory may not resonate in practice. Gather pilot group feedback and refine AI prompts accordingly. Ask: “Does this leadership scenario feel realistic?” and Would this example make sense for our industry?”
Step 6: Assembling Your AI-Powered Course
You’ve structured your course, refined the content, and added engaging visuals—now it’s time to bring everything together into a seamless, accessible learning experience. But here’s the challenge: compiling, organizing, and delivering content effectively without losing personalization or engagement.
Luckily, AI-powered course assembly tools will help streamline the process while ensuring learners get a structured, interactive, and tailored leadership development journey. Here’s a couple that you might want to check out:
Articulate 360 with AI
Key feature: AI Content Generator creates interactive leadership courses from simple prompts
Analytics strength: Tracks completion and decision paths to identify leadership tendencies
Docebo Learning Suite
Key feature: AI-driven content recommendations and learning path creation
Personalization capability: Creates individualized development plans aligned with leadership competency frameworks
By following these steps, you are well equipped with how to create a course with AI with the strategic insight that only human L&D professionals are able to provide.
Enhancing Leadership Development with AI Coaching
Traditional leadership courses face a fundamental challenge: they are designed to teach skills that can only be mastered through practice and personalized feedback. While structured courses provide essential foundational knowledge, they often fall short in supporting leaders during critical moments when that knowledge must be applied in complex situations.
The Gap Between Knowledge and Application
Leadership development strategy isn’t just about knowing, it’s about doing. Research shows that without immediate application and reinforcement, 90% of content is forgotten within a week. This “forgetting curve” is particularly problematic for soft skills development, which requires consistent practice and contextual learning.
How AI Coaching Bridges the Gap?
AI-powered coaching creates a continuous learning experience that complements traditional leadership courses in several powerful ways:
Just-in-Time Support
Unlike scheduled training, AI coaches are available precisely when leaders need guidance. The AI Coach helps you to structure conversation, anticipate reactions, and practice responses. No static course could provide this support at that moment.
Personalized Guidance for Specific Challenges
AI coaching adapts to each leader’s unique context and challenges. It analyzes individual communication patterns and suggests improvements, recommends approaches based on team dynamics and organizational culture.
Safe Environment for Practice
You can rehearse difficult scenarios without real-world consequences. Even simulate tough conversations with virtual team members, test different approaches to complex leadership situations and receive immediate feedback on communication effectiveness
Consistent Reinforcement
Behavioral change requires repetition and ongoing feedback. Micro-learning nudges that reinforce key leadership concepts. Pattern recognition that identifies improvement areas over time. Progress tracking that celebrates development milestones
Try Merlin – AI coach at Risely for a hyper-personalized learning to build people leadership skills all your managers need.
Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them
As AI reshapes leadership development, three critical challenges threaten to undermine even the most optimised content strategies.
Challenge of Maintaining Authenticity
Authentic leadership content reflects lived experiences and organizational wisdom that AI alone cannot replicate.
What you should do instead:
Implement an AI-human collaboration workflow where AI generates initial drafts that experienced leaders then enhance with personal anecdotes and insights.
Use “voice calibration prompts” that incorporate your organization’s values: “Generate content that reflects our collaborative leadership approach characterized by transparency and psychological safety”.
Create a library of organization-specific examples and stories that would be referenced in AI prompts.
Cultural Sensitivity and Inclusivity Hurdles
Effective feedback differs significantly across cultures, presenting a challenge for multinational organizations implementing AI-driven leadership development. Many AI tools, initially trained on Western-centric data, may fail to resonate with diverse global teams.
Try to focus on –
Develop regionally-specific content parameters and review guidelines.
Use diversity prompting, for example “Create leadership scenarios that reflect diverse cultural approaches to conflict resolution across Asian, European, and Latin American contexts”.
Establish a diverse review panel representing different regions, backgrounds, and leadership styles.
Leadership Is Not Ready to Commit to an AI Solution
When leadership is unsure or resistant to adopting AI, it can stall organizational progress and innovation.
Keep these best practices in mind:
Present data-driven case studies to leadership, demonstrating how AI has successfully enhanced similar organizations’ operations and bottom lines.
Engage leadership with pilot AI projects that allow them to see firsthand the potential benefits of AI tools before making a full commitment.
Create a roadmap for AI adoption that outlines the clear benefits, timelines, and required resources, showing leadership how AI aligns with long-term organizational goals.
Lack of AI or Digital Literacy Hindering Adoption
AI literacy is crucial for employees and leaders to fully embrace AI tools, but a lack of digital literacy can create roadblocks to adoption. But you can cover this gap:
Offer foundational AI training programs to employees at all levels, focusing on practical applications and understanding AI’s role in their work.
Provide hands-on workshops where employees will interact with AI tools in real-world scenarios, allowing them to develop confidence in using AI systems.
Use peer champions within the organization who are digitally savvy to mentor and guide others, helping to bridge the literacy gap
Difficulties with Integration
AI-generated materials often clash with existing content in tone, terminology, and pedagogical approach.
Create an integration framework that maps which content elements should be AI-generated versus human-crafted
Use the “extension technique”: “Using our existing leadership competency framework as a foundation, extend the ‘influential communication’ module with practical exercises that maintain our established approach”
The most successful organizations view AI not as a replacement but as an amplifier of human expertise.
By addressing these challenges, L&D leaders can maximize AI’s efficiency while preserving the authentic human elements that make leadership development truly worth it.
Key Takeaways
AI transforms leadership development by enabling faster content creation, personalization at scale, and better consistency, while complementing (not replacing) human expertise in areas like authenticity and cultural sensitivity.
Structure your AI-assisted course creation process with clear steps: define learning objectives, research with AI tools, generate diverse content types with well-crafted prompts, enhance with visuals, and maintain quality through careful review to create course content that is well optimized.
Beyond static courses, AI coaching provides you with just-in-time leadership development with personalized guidance, simulated role-plays, and consistent feedback that reinforces learning and addresses practical challenges.
You should start with specific AI tools for different content needs: writing assistants for course materials, multimedia generators for engagement, and course assembly platforms with analytics to measure leadership development progress to create online course with AI.
Implementation works best when integrated gradually, maintaining your organization’s voice and values, and establishing a quality review process to ensure content aligns with your leadership philosophy.
Sneha is a management graduate with a strong passion for leadership development and workplace growth. As a writer for Risely, she brings fresh insights into leadership strategies, team dynamics, and professional development. With a keen interest in marketing, she blends analytical thinking with storytelling to create engaging and actionable content.
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How to Build a Leadership Development Action Plan?
Having a strong Leadership Development Action Plan is more critical than ever in today’s evolving business world. Whether you’re looking to drive innovation, scale operations, or build a thriving team, the key to success lies in developing the right leaders.
But with so many approaches and strategies available, how do you choose the right path? That’s where an effective leadership development strategy comes in – one that not only identifies talent gaps but also nurtures the skills needed to meet the future head-on.
On our RiseUp Radio podcast, Katie Greenwood shared some game-changing insights on identifying talent gaps and choosing the right method for you. We’ll explore the essential elements of leadership development, the best methods to cultivate leaders, and how you can create a personalized approach that drives success at every level.
Watch Now
Meet the Speaker
Katie Greenwood is an award-winning HR leader with over 20 years of experience in talent management and leadership development. She is passionate about unlocking potential and building future-ready leaders. Greenwood started working in Learning and Development in college at the Gillette company. Greenwood helps individuals grow while shaping strong, future-focused cultures that drive lasting results.
A leadership development strategy is key to organizational success, focusing on building strong teams and prioritizing people to ensure growth and competitiveness.
Talent and Skill Gap Analysis: Investing in leadership development helps reduce hiring costs and ensures smooth transitions into key roles. A talent gap analysis can help you identify where leadership strengths and weaknesses lie, while a skill gap analysis ensures you as a leader develop crucial competencies such as emotional intelligence and strategic thinking.
Competitive Advantage and Succession Planning: A solid leadership development action plan will provide you with a competitive edge by retaining top talent and offering growth opportunities. Succession planning ensures business continuity by preparing leaders for senior roles within 6-12 months, reducing disruptions when key positions open.
Data-Driven Approach: Using data from turnover, engagement, and performance metrics helps identify leadership gaps and areas for development. Struggling managers often indicate a need for stronger leadership, which can improve employee morale, productivity, and trust.
Alignment with Organizational Goals: Effective leadership development is aligned with organizational priorities, preparing leaders to scale operations, manage change, and drive innovation. This ensures that your leadership efforts directly support long-term business success.
Development Methods and Budget Allocation: A mix of coaching, mentorship, and blended learning programs supports different leadership levels. Budgeting 20-40% of L&D resources for leadership development, based on talent and succession needs, ensures that the right investments are made. Practical, hands-on learning is essential for real-world impact and long-term growth.
By focusing on leadership development, organizations can ensure they have the right leaders to navigate challenges, foster growth, and achieve success
Identifying Talent Gaps in Leadership Development
A talent gap analysis is a tool used to create a structured roadmap and leadership development action plan that shows you an organization’s current position, goals, and what is missing to achieve those goals. It helps you identify leadership gaps and determines if an organization is prepared for future challenges and has enough leaders ready for senior roles.
Why Talent Gap analysis matters for your business?
Talent gap analysis is all about making sure your business has the right leaders in place to keep things running smoothly. It helps you spot leadership gaps early so you can avoid costly disruptions and build a strong pipeline for the future.
Think of it as a proactive approach—you’re not just reacting to problems as they come up, but actively preparing for long-term success. By identifying gaps in leadership, you can build people who are ready to step up, scale operations, manage change, and drive innovation when the time comes.
Unlike a skills gap analysis, which looks at individual development, talent gap analysis gives you a big-picture, organizational view. It’s about finding and developing the right leaders with the right skills and mindsets to move your business forward. And the best part? It works for companies of any size. Whether you’re a growing startup or a large corporation, having a solid leadership development action plan in place helps future-proof your success.
Simplify Your Strategy with Risely’s Free Talent Gap Analysis Template!
Exemplify the impact of your talent strategy by finding the gaps and loopholes holding you back.
The usual methods of leadership development are discussed, highlighting various approaches that organizations can use to nurture and grow their leaders. These methods include:
On-the-Job Training: This involves you learning through experience in your roles. You handle real challenges, make decisions, and learn directly from your work environment. It allows for immediate application of leadership skills but can be inconsistent depending on the nature of the tasks they encounter.
Mentorship Programs: Mentorship connects less experienced leaders with seasoned professionals. The mentor provides guidance, shares experiences, and helps the mentee navigate challenges. This method fosters deep relationships, promotes knowledge transfer, and offers ongoing support in a less formal setting.
Coaching: Coaching focuses on personalized development, often with external coaches or senior leaders. It is goal-oriented and helps you develop self-awareness, refine leadership behaviors, and focus on specific challenges. Coaching is especially valuable for senior leaders or those transitioning to higher roles.
Workshops and Training Programs: These are structured programs focused on specific skills, such as conflict resolution, communication, or strategic thinking. Workshops offer a more formal, classroom-like setting and typically involve group activities and expert-led sessions to build knowledge and enhance your leadership capabilities.
Blended Learning: Blended learning combines online courses with in-person workshops, allowing you all leaders to gain knowledge at your own pace while participating in interactive and practical sessions. It provides flexibility and can be ideal for a diverse group of leaders with varying learning preferences.
360-Degree Feedback: In this method, leaders receive Feedback from their managers, peers, and subordinates, offering a well-rounded view of their leadership effectiveness. This Feedback is essential for identifying strengths and areas for improvement and helps to guide the leader’s development process.
How to choose the right leadership development strategy for your team?
Choosing the right leadership development method depends on several factors:
Individual Needs: Consider your current skills and areas for growth. For example, if you as a leader need more technical skills, workshops may be appropriate, while coaching may be more effective for leaders looking to develop emotional intelligence or decision-making abilities.
Organizational Goals: Align leadership development methods with the organization’s goals. If the company is undergoing a transformation or scaling rapidly, a mix of mentorship and on-the-job training may work best to ensure leaders can manage change and growth effectively.
Learning Styles: Different leaders learn in different ways. Some may prefer structured programs like workshops, while others may excel in informal settings such as mentorship. Understanding the preferences of your leaders will ensure that the training is effective.
Budget and Resources: Some methods, such as external coaching or workshops, can be costly. Ensure that the chosen methods fit within the organization’s budget while still providing you with maximum impact. Blended learning or on-the-job training can be more cost-effective, especially for larger teams.
Time and Commitment: Certain leadership development methods require more time commitment than others. On-the-job training and coaching often take longer, while workshops or online courses can be completed in shorter timeframes. Consider the time your leaders can dedicate to development when selecting methods.
By understanding the various leadership development methods and aligning them with individual and organizational needs, you can create a leadership development action plan that ensures leaders grow effectively and can meet future challenges with confidence.
Key Takeaways
Leadership development is the engine behind organizational growth and success. When you invest in developing strong leaders, you create a culture of innovation, adaptability, and long-term sustainability.
Talent and skill gap analysis helps you spot leadership gaps before they become obstacles. By identifying areas for improvement, you can ensure your team has the right skills to take on future challenges and drive your business forward.
Succession planning is key to smooth transitions and business continuity. You don’t want to be caught off guard when key leaders move on. A well-thought-out plan ensures you always have the right people ready to step up.
Making data-driven decisions allows you to focus leadership development where it matters most. Instead of guessing what’s needed, you can use insights to design training programs that truly make an impact.
Aligning leadership programs with your company’s goals fuels innovation and sustainable growth. When leadership development action plans are connected to business strategy, your team is better equipped to lead change and drive success and to create a leadership development action plan.
Meet the Host
Ashish is an entrepreneur tackling workplace development challenges through Risely, an AI copilot that helps managers and leaders build essential people skills.
Drawing on his experience in technology and organizational behavior, he’s passionate about creating scalable solutions that transform how companies develop their talent. His mission is to empower leaders to build thriving teams and sustainable organizational success.
Sneha is a management graduate with a strong passion for leadership development and workplace growth. As a writer for Risely, she brings fresh insights into leadership strategies, team dynamics, and professional development. With a keen interest in marketing, she blends analytical thinking with storytelling to create engaging and actionable content.
Simplify Your Strategy with Risely’s Free Talent Gap Analysis Template!
Exemplify the impact of your talent strategy by finding the gaps and loopholes holding you back.
How to build a Learning and Development Action Plan ft Katie Greenwood
Does your company’s Learning and Development (L&D) strategy feel like more “guessing” than “winning”? You’re not the only one! In today’s fast-changing world, taking a random approach to L&D is like starting a road trip without a map – you might end up somewhere, but it probably won’t be where you actually need to go.
On our RiseUp Radio podcast, Katie Greenwood shared some game-changing insights on how to create an L&D strategy that gets actual results. We’re talking about more than just filling out a checklist of training – it’s about making a Learning and Development Action Plan and aligning learning with your company’s big-picture goals.
Want to stop wasting time and start seeing tangible growth? Keep reading to discover how to turn your L&D from a cost into a key driver of success!
Watch Now
Meet the Speaker
Katie Greenwood is an award-winning HR leader with over 20 years of experience in talent management and leadership development. She is passionate about unlocking potential and building future-ready leaders. Greenwood started working in Learning and Development in college at the Gillette company. Greenwood helps individuals grow while shaping strong, future-focused cultures that drive lasting results.
How to Create a Learning and Development Strategy?
According to Katie Greenwood, translating organizational goals into learning goals is the cornerstone of an impactful Learning and Development Action Plan. To achieve this, a practical approach involves starting with the end in mind by defining what success looks like for the organization and working backward. Engaging stakeholders early, including leaders, managers, and employees, helps identify skill gaps and align learning goals with business needs .
Components of this approach include:
Set Clear, Focused Goals: For training to truly make an impact, you need specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. This keeps everyone on the same page, ensuring transparency and accountability. When your objectives are clear, it’s easier to track progress and see real results that align with your company’s needs.
Evaluate Your Budget Early: Before diving into a training program, take a step back and look at the budget. Is it realistic? Cost-effective? Will it deliver real impact? A careful budget review helps you allocate resources wisely, making sure your training efforts stay within financial limits while still achieving the desired outcomes.
Engage Stakeholders from the Start: Training shouldn’t be a top-down initiative—it should be a shared effort. Involve leaders, managers, and employees early on to identify skill gaps and ensure the program meets real needs. Managers can highlight bottlenecks, while employees can share the challenges they face daily. When everyone has a voice, the program feels more like a collective effort rather than just another corporate mandate.
Embrace Continuous Improvement: Your business evolves, and so should your training programs. Regularly assess and adjust your training goals to keep them relevant with your Learning and Development Action Plan. What worked last year might not work now, so staying flexible ensures your learning initiatives remain aligned with business priorities.
Pinpoint Skill Gaps: Understanding what skills your employees have versus what they need is essential. Use performance reviews, benchmarking, and competency frameworks to get a clear picture of the gaps. This way, your Learning and Development Action Plan directly targets the areas that will make the biggest impact.
Offer Targeted Learning Solutions: Not everyone learns the same way, so a one-size-fits-all approach won’t cut it. Mix different methods—on-the-job training, e-learning, workshops, certifications—to create a program that fits both individual learning styles and business needs. When employees learn in ways that suit them, they’re more likely to apply their skills effectively.
Track Feedback and Measure Success– Training doesn’t end when the session is over. Gather feedback from employees and managers to understand what’s working and what’s not. Track key metrics like productivity improvements and employee retention to measure the program’s effectiveness. These insights will help you refine future training efforts, ensuring they continue to support your company’s growth.
A Practical Guide to Setting SMART L&D Goals
To create SMART Learning and Development (L&D) goals, the podcast emphasizes using a straightforward approach that provides clear direction, accountability, and measurable outcomes. This helps you align the goals with business priorities and deliver tangible results . Also, you should clearly understand what you are doing and how you are expected to create a Learning and Development Action Plan.
Here’s how to apply the SMART framework to create effective learning goals :
Specific: You should clearly define what needs to happen, who is involved, and why it is important
Measurable: Determine how success will be tracked using metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to show movement. Use quantifiable indicators to track progress.
Achievable: You must confirm that the goal is realistic and that have the necessary resources and time to execute it.
Relevant: Connect the goal to broader organizational priorities. If it’s not a priority, you can consider pivoting to another goal. Ensure the training supports company priorities such as improving customer retention and loyalty.
Time-bound: Set a clear completion deadline can help you ensure a definite endpoint.
For example, if your goal is to boost customer satisfaction by 15% by the end of 2025, a SMART goal could include training all customer service representatives in advanced communication and conflict resolution techniques. This would involve measuring current customer satisfaction scores, such as increasing from 70% to 85%.
The Learning and Development Action Plan would include a 12-week training program incorporating role-playing, real-time feedback, and coaching sessions. To ensure the training aligns with company priorities, it should be clearly communicated that this initiative aims to improve customer retention and loyalty. The program would be launched in Q1, with satisfaction scores tracked quarterly, working towards a 15% increase by year-end. Additionally, it’s essential to adjust the goal as needed to ensure it continues to meet evolving priorities.
Bridging the Gap: How Skill Gap Analysis Drives Business Success?
A skill gap analysis aligns your team’s skills with business goals by identifying the difference between an employee’s current skills and the skills needed to achieve their objectives. It helps focus on critical skills, save costs, and boost engagement, ensuring employees can deliver a measurable return on investment (ROI)1.
To perform a skills gap analysis, follow these steps :
Define organizational goals and needs: Align the skill gap analysis with strategic objectives by identifying upcoming projects, technologies, or market demands that require specific skills. For example, if a mid-sized organization plans a massive digital transformation, skills in data analytics, automation, or AI may be needed.
Identify key roles: Determine the roles required to achieve these goals. You can use job descriptions, performance reviews, benchmarks, and competency frameworks to pinpoint necessary skills. For instance, a marketing manager may need data-driven skills, AI for content creation, and analytics for decision-making and reporting.
Assess current skill levels: Evaluate your team’s existing skills using self-assessments such as Risely provides for leadership skills, 360-degree feedback, or surveys. Use a simple scale, such as 1 to 5, to rate proficiency levels. Honest performance reviews and project results can also help you to serve as benchmarks.
Identify gaps: Compare the required skills for each role with the current skill levels to pinpoint areas needing improvement. For example, if only 20% of the product engineering team knows advanced AI modeling, but the objective requires 50% proficiency, it becomes a clear priority for investment.
Create targeted solutions: Design Learning and Development Action Plans using methods like on-the-job training, e-learning, workshops, and certifications. For instance, if customer satisfaction is a key objective, managers and leaders should be trained in conflict resolution.
Key Takeaways
Align Learning with Business Goals: Effective training starts with clear objectives that support your company’s growth. Define what skills your employees need to meet business goals and create Learning and Development Action Plans that drive real results.
Identify Skill Gaps and Focus on Impact: A strong L&D strategy begins with understanding where your employees are and where they need to be. Conduct skill gap analyses to pinpoint key areas for improvement, ensuring training is relevant and effective.
Engage Stakeholders for Alignment and Support: You should involve leaders, managers, and employees from the start. Their insights help shape meaningful training programs, ensuring buy-in and making learning a shared priority, not just an HR initiative.
Adapt and Evolve with Changing Needs: L&D isn’t a one-time effort—it’s an ongoing process. You must regularly gather feedback, measure effectiveness, and adjust programs to stay aligned with business needs and industry shifts. This helps you to create an effective learning and development action plan.
Meet the Host
Ashish is an entrepreneur tackling workplace development challenges through Risely, an AI copilot that helps managers and leaders build essential people skills.
Drawing on his experience in technology and organizational behavior, he’s passionate about creating scalable solutions that transform how companies develop their talent. His mission is to empower leaders to build thriving teams and sustainable organizational success.
Sneha is a management graduate with a strong passion for leadership development and workplace growth. As a writer for Risely, she brings fresh insights into leadership strategies, team dynamics, and professional development. With a keen interest in marketing, she blends analytical thinking with storytelling to create engaging and actionable content.
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Use our Skills Gap Analysis Template to identify key areas for improvement and align your training with business goals
