What makes a successful L&D professional? From having meaningful conversations to following intuition and focusing on real business impact, Stephanie Lewington, Talent Development Lead at Perkbox, shared her daily habits and mindset shifts on our L&D Disrupt podcast and there’s a lot we can learn from her approach.
At the heart of great talent development is curiosity and Stephanie’s first piece of advice is to talk it out.
"For me personally, I would say I am a chatter. I really, really like to talk to my colleagues about everything. So if I've listened to a podcast or if I've tried something different, I really want to talk to someone about it and share it and talk it through."
It’s not just about bouncing ideas; it’s about refining them. The best L&D pros don’t hoard inspiration. They share it, debate it, and bring it to life through conversation.
Understanding managers and their world is at the centre of impactful L&D.
"I think managers are the key. I think before, when I first started my career, I maybe didn't really understand that working with managers and really understanding their day-to-day challenges will help so much."
When you truly get what your managers face daily, your learning programmes naturally become more relevant, more practical, and more likely to stick.
Not every L&D initiative needs to fit a textbook definition of “best practice.” Stephanie’s advice? If it feels right — go for it.
"If it feels good to you and it feels fun to you and it's something that you would enjoy and you would learn, do it."
"So often I would think of an initiative and think, oh, but it's not, it's not textbook enough or like, it's not best practice. And I would maybe kind of like put it in the pan, but actually now I'm kind of embracing that side a lot more and thinking... would it light me up? Would it make me passionate? Would it make me interested? And if it would, then I'm gonna go with it."
Your passion fuels your credibility and that enthusiasm becomes contagious across your organisation.
Networking and connection aren’t just “nice to have” - they’re critical learning skills.
"Just talk to people. Just talk to people all the time and pick their brains. And if you've got an idea, see what they think. I think that really helps."
"I think sometimes there is an element of feel the fear and do it anyway and just challenge yourself to just do one a week as you start and then build up from there."
"Not necessarily networking, but like talking to people, that is another skill that you can develop. And I think if you struggle with that, I found it to be the most helpful skill probably in my career."
"Just... get out there. Do one a week. Just have one conversation, just have one ask, one question, and it will eventually build up and make a difference."
Think of conversations as micro-learning moments; every chat helps you see new perspectives, uncover challenges, and spark ideas.
Coming from an HR background, Stephanie highlights how crucial collaboration and listening are for success in L&D.
"My background's in HR before I worked in L and d, and I think those partnering skills are absolutely crucial to this. So I think being able to really listen, listen for a problem, and find a solution with that manager... I think that's key."
That “listening for the problem” is where strategic L&D begins.
Building a learning culture sounds inspiring but it’s often too broad to be actionable.
"I think I hear that all the time and I think eventually I kind of stopped thinking about that question because I think it's almost too big and sometimes you need to chunk it right down. So like what is it we are really looking at?"
Start small, target specific behaviours, and let the culture build itself organically over time.
Learning doesn’t only happen in courses. Stephanie’s take? It’s about curiosity and daily growth.
"And I think when you think about learning as any of those things (researching, asking questions, experimenting, reading, sharing), as opposed to like doing a training course, then it's quite easy to make it part of the flow of work."
The most effective L&D pros weave learning seamlessly into existing workflows, not as a separate event.
If you want L&D to have real impact, start with a problem (not a course).
"So I think being able to really listen, listen for a problem, and find a solution with that manager, and then make learning part of the solution, I think that's key."
This approach ensures every initiative drives value and relevance and positions L&D as a business partner, not a service provider.
When you anchor conversations in skills, you speak a universal business language.
"Driving it back to skills helps every single time. Because when you think about a skill, it's very hard to think, okay, there's training for that. Because actually naturally you think, okay, well actually I would learn that by doing it..."
A skills-first mindset makes learning measurable, actionable, and aligned with real performance outcomes.
"And so you're kind of always looking, okay, if we don't have a leader, how can we influence a leader? If we can't influence a leader, how do we find someone who is influential, whether they're a leader or not in the business who can promote this thing?"
"But maybe not using them as a whole collective. Maybe thinking about who is passionate, because I think sometimes you can be influential, but are you passionate? 'cause I think the passion is actually what really drives a message home."
"So one of the big things that I focus on when we're doing kind of an initiative is how do we embed that in a tool that that person already uses or a process they've already got..."
Influence doesn’t always come from hierarchy; sometimes, it’s powered by passion and practicality.
Forget completion rates. Focus on adoption, application, and conversation quality.
"But what I was more interested in is who is logged in, who has built a custom GPT and who is using it, and now we're three months later who is still using it, who has embedded that learning and is still using it."
"I think it's, it's again, that's kind of how you measure the broader impact on the culture is. What about the richness of the conversations? Is it propping up more and more?"
"Radio silence is a big one. I think. If people aren't asking questions... I would say as well, a bit of pessimism because when you are engaged in learning and growth, you are a bit more optimistic."
Measure what shows lasting impact, not just short-term participation.
Lasting impact takes time and consistency.
"A lot of what we've done so far, we talk about creating this really solid foundation... But actually there is so much more than that and it will come... it's gonna take a while and I think we're gonna keep going with that and it's only gonna build from here."
"So when we're having these conversations about these key topics, that naturally opens up a doorway for managers to then ask a question... and then we'll kind of have a chat afterwards and again, think about how we can kind of apply the learning."
It’s not about one big launch — it’s about ongoing, focused conversations that embed learning in everyday moments.
If there’s one thing to take from Stephanie Lewington’s approach, it’s that success in L&D comes from small, consistent habits - talking to people, following your instincts, focusing on skills, and linking everything back to business problems.
Because when you embed learning into conversations, workflows, and passions; it stops being a “programme” and starts becoming part of the culture.
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