Embark on a journey of transformation with The Trusted Learning Advisor. This book is a treasure trove of strategies, tools, and insights to transition from a traditional L&D role to a trusted business partner. Let it guide you and your colleagues towards becoming change agents for learning, development and business performance!
Elliott Masie
Chair, The MASIE Learning Foundation
If you’ve ever asked yourself…
Why am I treated like an order taker?
How can I make learning part of the overall company strategy?
How do I convince key stakeholders of the value of L&D?
How can I get a seat at the table?
You’ve found the answer.
The Trusted Learning Advisor
The Trusted Learning Advisor is a revolutionary guide, full of practical advice, tools, and case studies outlining the path Learning and Talent practitioners need to follow to transform from order takers into strategic consultative business partners (Trusted Learning Advisors). Written by an author with over 20 years’ experience in the industry, this book covers everything from strategies for developing skills needed to build trust and relationships with stakeholders, to practical advice on connecting the learning strategy to the business strategy and measuring the value of learning and communicating impact to the organization.
This is a Must-Read for anyone aiming to amplify their impact within the learning or talent sphere as strategic business partners that add true value to the organization and positively impact lives through the power of learning.
START YOUR TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY!
After Reading This Book,
You Will ...
Understand the necessity and benefits of transforming from a traditional "Order Taker" to a "Trusted Learning Advisor".
Discover the nuances of understanding your stakeholders' business and how nurturing these relationships can pave the way to successful learning initiatives.
Learn to spot signs of mistrust and utilize the Five Pillars of Trust to cultivate trust, credibility, and meaningful relationships.
Master the four-step process of "Taking the Order" and understand the importance of building your own table, rather than trying to get a seat at someone else's.
Learn how to overcome resistance when stakeholders resist or say 'no' to proposed learning solutions, and when to challenge their views.
Know how to shape your personal brand and develop a Trusted Learning Advisor mindset, both crucial in navigating the L&D landscape.
Recognize the distinct value that a Trusted Learning Advisor brings to an organization.
Be able to build your own personalized roadmap for your growth and progress toward becoming a successful Trusted Learning Advisor.
What Others Are Saying
The story of Talent Development is being actively rewritten. To develop and grow a future-ready workforce, L&D must bring a strong perspective, a flexible and strategic approach, and an end-to-end mindset to developing talent. In this book, Dr. Keating presents an actionable approach to help reverse the malaise that many L&D organizations now find themselves in. He offers an approach that recognizes how we must become more connected to the business, more consistent in our solutions, and more credible as trusted advisors that enable the outcomes both the business and the workforce need in today’s work environments.
Brandon Carson
Global Head of Learning, Starbucks
About the Author
Dr. Keith Keating is the Chief Learning & Development Officer at BDO Canada, a globally recognized keynote speaker, workforce futurist, and author focused on the future of work, leadership, and the evolving role of learning in business.
With more than 25 years of global experience spanning organizations including McKinsey & Company, HSBC, and General Motors, Keith has built a reputation for challenging conventional thinking in Learning & Development and helping organizations rethink how they create value through people.
Keith is the author of The Trusted Learning Advisor and Hidden Value: How to Reveal the Impact of Organizational Learning, two books that have helped reshape conversations across the L&D industry. His work challenges practitioners to evolve beyond content delivery and become Trusted Learning Advisors, value creators, and strategic drivers of business growth.
At the center of Keith's work is a simple belief:
Learning changes lives.
As someone who went from high school dropout to earning a doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, Keith understands the power of learning firsthand. His personal journey continues to fuel his mission to encourage, enable, and empower others through lifelong learning. He also serves as a Lecturer in the Chief Learning Officer doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Keith's keynotes and programs blend research, business strategy, and human-centered leadership to help organizations build future-ready talent, strengthen credibility, unlock hidden value, and create cultures where learning becomes a competitive advantage.
His work has earned the Brandon Hall Gold Award for Learning Leader of the Year, the ATD Speaker of the Year distinction, the Goody Award, and a place on the CLO Learning Elite.
Click Here to learn more about Dr. Keith Keating
Foreword – Dr. Nigel Paine
My entire career has been spent trying to encourage organizations to maximize human potential, innovation, and performance in the workplace. To successfully achieve this, we need quality Learning & Development (L&D) practitioners. However, for a long time, L&D practitioners have kept in the shadows, being led by the business with an occasional opportunity to provide consultative input or expertise. Dr. Keith Keating strongly advocates for a new set of L&D practitioners, an evolution that requires a transformational journey which he beautifully outlines in this book. He shows the reader what the necessary skills are, and proves that these are what organizations really need to become Trusted Learning Advisors.
I like this book! It does what it says it will do: chart an essential rite of passage for any self-respecting L&D practitioner. The book starts where they may start; in a place that is comfortable, subservient, and in the context, we find ourselves, short-lived. The book drops us off in Chapter 10. By now we are in the sunny uplands of power, authority and presence inside the organization. Keith shares the best of the best practices when we become what the book defines as: “Trusted Learning Advisors.”
You Might Be an Order Taker if…
Your Stakeholder
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Makes all the decisions
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Starts the conversation with: “I need you to create…”, and you finish the conversation with: “Okay,” and then you execute
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Identifies a problem, determines the solution, tells you what to do, and you do it without conducting any due diligence
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Says: “This is what the business wants, and you don’t know the business”—and it’s true that you don’t know the business
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Does not trust you
You
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Do not solve for the future, but only solve for today
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Do not proactively spend time with your stakeholder, business, or learner to understand more about them
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Are afraid to speak up to help your stakeholder identify alternative solutions, even ones that may not include training as the solution
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Cannot identify three ways in which you provide value to your stakeholders
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Think your role is to only put out fires (reactive)
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Do not have relationships throughout the organization
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Do not assert your educated and researched point of view
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Do what your stakeholder wants, even if it’s the wrong thing