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Mark Heid is an Instructional Designer at Sungevity, a solar company based in Oakland, Califonia.  He is also currently completing his MSIT at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania.

Mark Heid

Is there any way to assess how an employee might actually perform in real-world situations? This is where assessing learner confidence can help.

Assessing Learner Confidence in Training Modules

As spooky season is officially upon us, it’s time to take a closer look at outdated practices lurking in the shadowy corners of instructional design and training. Some of these methods have become more haunting than helpful. Which specters shou

Let’s Lay to Rest These ID and Training Practices

Mark Crouter is a leadership and career coach for the MITRE Corporation. In this role, he provides strengths-based development coaching and training to employees and teams in support of the organization’s professional and career development programs.As a MITRE project leader, Mark has led information technology and cybersecurity teams supporting the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security and other federal customers in multiple civilian and defense agencies.Before joining MITRE in 2004, Mark held technical and leadership positions supporting federal customers in two management and technology consulting firms, Booz Allen Hamilton and Impact Innovations Group. He also served 21 years as a Naval Officer and aviator in operational, staff, and leadership assignments.Mark holds the Professional Certified Coach credential from the International Coach Federation and is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. He earned a Certificate in Leadership Coaching from the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies, a bachelor of arts degree in economics from the University of Virginia, and a master of science degree in systems management from the University of Southern California.

Mark Crouter

Mark Tomaszewicz's life’s purpose is to create meaningful experiences for others. After a first career in corporate finance, Mark has spent the last dozen years guiding organizations in designing customer and employee experiences, activating brands and cultivating vibrant cultures. Currently, he is the chief experience officer at Bulldog Drummond, a San Diego-based design and innovation consultancy. Prior to joining Bulldog, he held leadership positions at Sharp HealthCare and the luxury retailer Pirch. The three most important roles Mark has ever held remain—husband, father, and friend.

Mark Tomaszewicz

Mark Freeman is the head of global customer success at Coursera. He leads Coursera’s customer programs as well as its government and nonprofit partner organizations, advising and ensuring they are all driving learning outcome success. Before joining Coursera, Mark was senior vice president of customer success at a FinTech company, Tradeshift. In this role, he built out and led customer success, support, implementation, and deployment teams around the world. Prior to that, Mark spent four years building LinkedIn’s customer success organization from its inception through the company going public and into a scaled offering worldwide across a vast customer base. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in HR development—applied psychology from North Carolina State University.

Mark Freeman

Learn how to bridge the divide between learning and business strategy. Explore the importance of linking learning to business outcomes, effective learning evaluation strategies, and achieving learning ROI.Get ready for a startling statistic: ATD’s 2025 research report, The Future of Evaluating Learning and Measuring Impact: Improving Skills and Addressing Challenges, found that only 4 percent of organizations excel at using learning data to inform business decisions. L&D professionals are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the value of their initiatives, yet outdated measurement methods and fragmented systems often hinder their ability to prove learning impact. This devastatingly low number highlights a significant disconnect in how companies leverage learning to drive strategic outcomes. It also begs an important question: What if learning could transform from a perceived cost center into a catalyst for tangible business growth? Why This Gap ExistsThere are several factors that contribute to the divide between learning and business strategy. A common obstacle is the over-reliance on “smile sheets” and participation data—sure, they count who showed up, but old-fashioned feedback forms fail to capture the true impact of learning on performance. Plus, many organizations struggle to get access to performance-related data because it’s scattered everywhere, making training feel separate from actual work. According to McKinsey research, L&D managers often spend a disproportionate amount of time—nearly one full day a week—on administrative tasks, leaving little room for strategic initiatives. These challenges weaken the link between L&D activities and strategic business outcomes, making it difficult to demonstrate learning ROI and secure stakeholder buy-in. The Case for Linking Learning to Business StrategyOur findings reveal that only 43 percent of organizations report a strong alignment between learning and business goals. That’s a pretty big gap! However, when learning is linked to business strategy, L&D teams gain:Better stakeholder buy-in: Stakeholders who see a clear connection between learning programs and critical business objectives are more likely to champion L&D’s efforts and provide the necessary support.Increased investment in L&D: Companies that recognize learning as a strategic driver of success are more willing to allocate budget and resources to adopt innovative technologies, high-quality content, and a talent development strategy that helps employees thrive.More meaningful learning initiatives: By understanding the specific knowledge and skills that employees need to reach business targets, L&D can create programs that actually hit the mark. This means tackling those skill gaps head-on, boosting how well people perform, and ultimately getting the results the company’s aiming for. Strategic alignment isn’t just about planning; it’s about demonstrating measurable impact and showing how your learning initiatives contribute directly to KPIs. If learning is tied to the company’s goals, L&D goes from being a support team to a key player in making the organization successful. What High-Performing L&D Teams Do DifferentlyProficient organizations, as defined by the ATD 2025 research report, are all about using data. They don’t just look at training feedback but also track performance and business results from at least four different sources. This helps them see how training makes things like productivity, quality, customer happiness, and sales better.These companies are also great at communicating data effectively to stakeholders. They use dashboards and charts to make it easy for leaders to see how training pays off. Plus, they tell stories with the data, showing wins and areas to improve, which gets everyone on board with training.What they do best is start with the company’s goals. They work backward to figure out what skills people need to hit business KPIs, then design training to match. This way, training becomes a key part of making the business succeed and staying ahead of the game.Embedding Learning Where Work HappensSolutions like Learn365 LMS are emerging to help L&D teams close the gap by embedding learning directly into Microsoft 365 tools like Teams, Outlook, and Power BI. This strategic embedding fundamentally shifts the paradigm of workplace training. Instead of isolated, scheduled events, learning evolves into an organic process that’s a natural, trackable part of employees’ workday. Using AI-powered personalized learning pathways and incorporating sophisticated built-in analytics, these platforms enable smarter measurement and a tighter alignment of learning initiatives with strategic business goals. Ultimately, this maximizes learning ROI and fosters a culture of continuous growth within your organization.Is Your Learning Strategy Aligned?It’s time to rethink how your organization measures learning impact and identify opportunities for improvement. Is your learning strategy truly connected to your business strategy? Explore how tools like Learn365 are empowering L&D professionals to translate insights into outcomes, creating learning that transforms rather than just informs. 

Mind the Gap: Closing the Distance Between Learning and Business Strategy

As the head of talent management at Delek, Mark Lewis is driven by his unwavering belief in the potential of people and the transformative power of effective talent strategies to drive organizational excellence. Lewis leads the areas of talent acquisition, L&D, talent planning, and organizational performance for more than 4,000 employees. He provides the organization with highly effective and technologically advanced employee development, consulting, and talent to support the operating goals, mission, vision, values, and strategic plan while enhancing individual, team, and organizational effectiveness.Prior to joining Delek, Lewis was head of L&D for Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s Transportation and Rail organization, where he led the strategy and execution of learning and performance programs for more than 2,100 employees. Lewis holds a bachelor’s degree in aviation administration from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and a master of science degree in management from Bellevue University. He is a graduate of George Mason University’s Chief Learning Officer Executive Development Certificate Program and is a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).Lewis is an Air Force veteran and served 24 years as a senior intelligence officer, retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Mark Lewis

Across industries, burnout is leaving its mark on leaders and organizations, affecting nearly one in six leaders worldwide. Defined as chronic, unmanaged workplace stress, burnout’s impact extends far beyond temporary fatigue. Burnt-out leaders are 3.5 times more likely to leave their roles to improve their well-being, threatening succession plans and disrupting retention strategies.Ahead, we’ll break down burnout’s hidden costs, warning signs, and, most importantly, how talent development teams can protect their leadership pipelines.Burnout’s Triple Threat to Your Leadership PipelineOnce leader burnout takes root, its effects spread across your organization:1. Performance RiskBurnt-out leaders are 34 percent less effective than their peers. When leaders are just trying to survive the day, decision-making and strategic execution suffer. They may also struggle to develop the skills they need for promotion, weakening your leadership bench.2. Retention RiskWhen high-potential leaders exit, they don’t just leave gaps—they disrupt teams, take institutional knowledge and training investments with them, and cost the business in recruitment and onboarding. Burnout increases departure risk by 3.5 times.3. Engagement Risk Burnt-out leaders are half as likely to be engaged, which affects more than just their individual performance. Disengaged leaders can't develop or inspire others, leaving future leaders without critical mentorship. This disengagement spreads, passing on to high-potential employees.Warning Signs in Your Succession CandidatesHigh performers are particularly vulnerable to burnout. Driven to deliver, they often take on too much at the expense of their mental and emotional health. But burnout isn’t a sign of poor leadership fit—it’s a signal they need support. Spotting these symptoms early can save your pipeline:Decision fatigue and difficulty concentratingLonger work hours with lower productivityIncreased irritability with team membersDecreased enthusiasm for projectsNeglected self-carePhysical symptoms, like headaches and sleep issuesFactors Undermining Your Leadership PipelineFour key factors fuel leader burnout and weaken succession plans: Time scarcity: Only 30 percent of leaders say they have enough time to perform their job well. This constant overload leads to exhaustion.Resource constraints: Leaders without proper tools and information are twice as likely to burn out.Lack of trust: Leaders who don’t trust senior leadership are 4.3 times more likely to burn out, often due to emotional labor and moral strain.Work arrangement misalignment: Remote and hybrid leaders face higher burnout rates, due to blurred boundaries and communication gaps—especially when their manager’s work arrangement doesn’t match their own.These factors make it harder for high-potential leaders to advance, damaging leadership pipelines. These systemic issues require organizational, not individual, solutions. How to Protect Your Leadership InvestmentHere are three critical leader burnout prevention strategies to shore up your pipeline and improve leader well-being. 1. Strengthen Delegation Skills Delegation is the most critical skill for preventing burnout, yet 81 percent of leaders lack proficiency. High-potential talent promoted into leadership often resists delegation because they must abandon the hands-on approach that earned them recognition. But success at the next level requires shifting from being valued “doers” to strategic “delegators” who empower others.2. Improve Conflict Resolution Conflict resolution is another essential skill that reduces emotional labor and keeps teams working together smoothly. Leaders who handle conflict effectively are less likely to burn out.3. Build TrustTrust is foundational to psychological safety. High-potential employees are 3.8 times more likely to leave if they don’t trust senior leaders. In trusting cultures, leaders and teams feel safe being honest, asking for help, and collaborating.Not only do these skills support leader well-being, but there’s a competitive retention advantage: leaders in organizations that apply these strategies are 11.8 times more likely to stay. To build these skills into your pipeline, prioritize them in high potential development programs, reinforce them through coaching, and make them part of your succession planning criteria.ConclusionLeader burnout isn’t inevitable, but it can be costly. Ignoring it risks losing your best talent and weakening your leadership bench. But when organizations recognize burnout as a systemic issue and take steps to prevent it, the payoff is clear.Leaders in companies with effective burnout prevention are 2.6 times less likely to burn out—and 18.5 times more likely to enjoy leading.Resilient leaders create resilient organizations. Is your pipeline protected from burnout?Explore succession management on DDI’s website.

The Hidden Costs of Leader Burnout: Impact on Succession and Retention

Mark Townsend is one of Skillsoft’s founders and is the co-chief product officer for Skillsoft. In this role he is responsible for all product technology development activities, SaaS hosting operations, and information technology services for Skillsoft. He has more than 25 years of experience leading the development of computer software products. Prior to Skillsoft he served as vice president of advanced technology for NETg, which was acquired by Skillsoft in 2006. Before joining NETg, Townsend was vice president of software development for a network storage management company and held a variety of engineering leadership positions at Data General where he was involved in the development of a number of distributed and network-based systems.

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