Reflection is a critical component of growth and development. So each year, we look back at TrainingZone’s most popular reads to uncover which themes truly resonated with you, our readers.
This year artificial intelligence dominated, but not in the way you might expect. Rather than chasing shiny new tools, you explored how AI changes your brain, how to disrupt your function before someone else does, and what boundaryless performance looks like. Second, you returned to the fundamentals. Articles on feedback receptiveness, real learning models, and leadership development without futile training programmes struck a chord. And third, you acknowledged hidden costs – from imposter syndrome to discipline-only trends crushing motivation.
1. Feedback receptiveness: Why your constructive criticism isn’t landing
Even the most skilfully delivered feedback can fall flat if the recipient isn’t open to it. This piece resonated because it named something every L&D professional has experienced: the frustration of feedback falling on deaf ears. Dani Bacon and Garin Rouch share guidance on how to cultivate feedback receptiveness – at both the individual and organisational level.
2. Boundaryless performance in an AI world: Real-world examples, challenges and future implications
Artificial intelligence has introduced a new era of boundaryless performance. But what does this look like in practice? And what challenges remain? You clicked on this because you wanted concrete answers, not abstract promises. AI strategist Dr Markus Bernhardt and L&D expert Teresa Rose share real-world use cases and realities.
3. L&D leaders, get set for complete change
If shifts like LMS to LXP felt disruptive, the next wave of L&D change will be even more revolutionary – and that’s a good thing, says global HR analyst Josh Bersin. The scale of transformation predicted here clearly struck a nerve with L&D professionals wondering what their function will look like tomorrow.
4. Imposter syndrome costs UK businesses 10 days per employee every year
New research reveals the hefty cost of workplace imposter syndrome on UK businesses. That 10-day figure made this one of your most-clicked pieces – a concrete number that finally quantifies what many suspected but couldn’t prove. Thom Dennis, CEO of Serenity in Leadership, examines these findings and the implications for L&D professionals looking to tackle productivity loss from employee self-doubt.
5. How to sharpen your leadership skills (without another futile training programme)
The parenthetical aside in this piece clearly resonated with readers tired of expensive interventions that change nothing. L&D expert Nigel Paine shares three recommendations for becoming a better leader (and none of them involve an expensive, yet futile training course).
6. The discipline-only trend crushing workplace motivation
What is the discipline-only trend and why is it pushing motivation off the agenda? Your engagement with this piece suggests a growing concern about workplace cultures that prioritise rigidity over energy. Coaching expert Matt Somers explores the problem with applying this orthodoxy at work and why ‘wanting to’ still wins.
7. How AI is changing your brain
How does repeated AI use influence your brain’s functionality? This neuroscientific deep dive became essential reading as L&D professionals grappled with AI’s impact beyond just workflow efficiency. Stella Collins, CLO of Stellar Labs, shares neuroscientific insights, alongside strategies to maintain mental agility in an AI-driven world.
8. The six Is of real learning: A new model for L&D
How often can you honestly say your L&D efforts have created lasting behaviour change – not just course completions? That question hit home. With four decades of learning expertise, Andrew Gibbons presents his Six Is of Learning Model: a practical framework that helps L&D cultivate sustained performance that learners, ultimately, drive themselves.
9. Your six-step L&D guide to delivering impact and value
To make a genuine business impact, L&D teams must look beyond much-loved vanity metrics and assess behaviour changes required to support the organisation-wide strategy. The focus on actual value over vanity metrics clearly struck a chord with readers seeking to prove L&D’s worth. L&D expert Robin Hoyle offers a six-step guide on how to do just this.
10. Four ways to disrupt your learning function with AI – before somebody else does
The warning implicit in the title made this essential reading: disrupt yourself or be disrupted. In this piece, Liz Naylor and Lior Locher, senior learning consultants at NIIT, challenge you to rethink your value, strategy, and role before someone else does it for you. This isn’t about chasing the latest tech. It’s about leading boldly, with AI as a strategic ally.
