“We already trained them on that” might be the most expensive sentence in business. When customer complaints rise, managers avoid hard feedback, or onboarding feels like a blur, the reflex is often another workshop. But the real problem is usually what happens after the training, because being exposed to information is not the same thing as learning it, remembering it, or performing under pressure.

I’m Tess, and I’m pulling two proven strategies from learning science that education has used for decades: retrieval practice and spaced practice. Retrieval practice is the simple act of trying to recall key ideas without looking at the deck or the notes. Spaced practice is revisiting those ideas over time, in different contexts, so they become usable. Together, they help teams move from “that sounds familiar” to “I can do this with a real customer, a real deadline, and real stakes.”

We walk through concrete workplace examples, like training managers on an effective feedback framework and then reinforcing it with two-minute prompts, short scenarios, and coaching reflections that fit naturally into one-on-ones and team meetings. We also rethink employee onboarding as a 90-day learning process instead of a first-week firehose, and we talk about transfer of training: the point where knowledge shows up as performance, not just attendance. You’ll leave with a simple model to run: Teach, Retrieve, Apply, Space, Repeat.

If this changes how you look at training, subscribe, share the episode with a leader who runs workshops, and leave a review so more people can build learning that lasts. What’s one skill your team was trained on recently that you could reinforce this week?

Observation stops feeling like a threat when we treat it as a tool for learning instead of a surprise evaluation. We share how leaders can use quick, low-stakes moments of watching the work to coach with precision, build psychological safety, and help people improve faster.

• why “observation” triggers anxiety at work and how organizations create that reaction
• a simple story that shows why staying to watch matters
• how educators use observation to spot thinking, not just mistakes
• why “do you understand?” fails and performance becomes visible in action
• how to “watch the work” in real workflows and software struggles
• modeling as leadership development through seeing an experienced leader think
• psychological safety as the condition that makes observation useful
• language shifts that change observation from judging to learning
• making observation ordinary through small, frequent, low-stakes check-ins

Look at your calendar. Find the next formal observation or performance review that you have scheduled. Keep it. You might need it. But then ask yourself, why am I waiting until then to see the work? What if before the formal observation you had three or four much smaller moments of observation? Not evaluation or scores or documentation, but just curiosity, just learning.

What if your next performance problem isn't really a performance problem?

What if it's a learning problem?

In this episode of Steal This Strategy, I'm taking one of education's most powerful learning strategies—formative assessment—and showing you how leaders can use it to develop people, improve performance, and catch learning gaps before they become bigger problems.

Teachers don't wait until the final exam to discover that a student doesn't understand. They check for understanding along the way, use what they learn to adjust instruction, provide feedback, create opportunities for practice, and gradually release responsibility as the learner becomes more capable.

So why do we often do the opposite at work?

We train someone once, assume they understand, and then wait for a performance review—or worse, a customer complaint or failed project—to discover that something went wrong.

In this episode, you'll learn how to:

• Use formative assessment to check learning while it's happening
• Move beyond “Do you understand?” and ask questions that reveal what people can actually do
• Use simple classroom strategies like the exit ticket in your next team meeting
• Distinguish formative assessment from summative assessment
• Give feedback that actually changes future performance
• Avoid confusing formative assessment with micromanagement
• Use a simple five-step Formative Leadership Loop: Teach → Check → Respond → Apply → Release

The goal isn't to watch your employees forever. It's to give them the right support while they're learning—and then get out of the way as their confidence and independence grow.

Because if your assessment doesn't change what happens next, it's probably not formative.

Don't wait for the final exam. Check the learning while there's still time to change the outcome.

This is Lead with Learning—where we steal what works in education and put it to work in leadership.

Your team walks in with a problem and your brain lights up with solutions. You can feel the “here’s what I’d do” forming before they even finish the sentence and it works… until it doesn’t. Because when you become the place where every hard decision goes to get solved, your team’s confidence shrinks while your workload explodes.

I’m Tess, and I’m unpacking a simple leadership shift: moving from being the answer machine to being more coach-like in the conversations you’re already having. Drawing on Michael Bungay Stanier’s The Coaching Habit, we name the advice monster, talk about why default advice creates dependence, and show how coaching can happen in 10 minutes or less. This is leadership coaching for real life: no extra meetings, no awkward scripts, just better questions at the right moment.

We get practical with tools you can use immediately, including the 2-second pause, the deceptively powerful “And what else?”, listening for the person behind the problem, and using silence so people can actually think. We also cover a critical boundary for managers: helping without taking ownership, staying accountable, and leading the thinking rather than doing all the thinking. You’ll leave with a simple five-step coaching flow that builds autonomy, problem-solving, and a stronger learning culture over time.

If you’re ready to coach without losing authority, press play. Subscribe, share this with a fellow “fixer,” and leave a quick review, then tell me: which coaching question will you try first?

We spend a lot of time at work showing people what to do. We explain the process, provide the resources, hold the training, answer questions—and then expect people to perform.

But what if we’re skipping one of the most important parts of learning?

Practice.

In this episode of Lead with Learning, we’re talking about the gap between knowing something and actually being able to do it. Because understanding a new process, skill, or responsibility doesn’t automatically mean someone is ready to perform it when the stakes are high.

And practice doesn’t have to mean another training session, hours of role-playing, or pulling your team away from their work.

Instead, it can be built into the work you’re already doing.

We’ll explore how leaders can create small, intentional opportunities for people to try new skills before they have to use them for real—whether that happens in a team meeting, a one-on-one, a new role, or before a major rollout.

You’ll also learn a simple practice cycle:

Try → Reflect → Adjust → Try Again

Because if we want capable, confident teams, we can’t just give people more responsibility and hope capability follows. We have to create opportunities for people to build the skills they need to carry that responsibility.

In this episode, we’ll explore:

• Why learning doesn’t automatically transfer into workplace performance
• The hidden cost of skipping practice
• How to build practice into meetings and one-on-ones
• Why people should have opportunities to practice before they officially need a skill
• Why practice doesn’t have to mean traditional role-playing
• How to make mistakes cheaper and learning safer
• Why leaders shouldn’t always jump in with feedback
• How increasing complexity can prepare people for the messy reality of work
• A simple way to start incorporating practice into your team’s everyday work

Your challenge

Think about one thing your team is currently learning—a process, skill, behavior, responsibility, or leadership competency.

Then ask yourself:

“Where can I give them a chance to practice before the stakes are high?”

It might take five minutes in your next team meeting or three minutes in your next one-on-one.

Because sometimes people don’t need more information.

They need another opportunity to use the information they already have.

And that’s where learning starts to become capability.

You’ve explained the new process. You sent the email. You held the meeting. Everyone nodded their heads.

So why isn’t anyone actually doing it?

One of the biggest mistakes leaders make when introducing a new process, initiative, or way of working is assuming that telling people what to do is the same as teaching them how to do it.

In this episode of Lead with Learning, we’re borrowing a powerful practice from education: gradual release of responsibility.

In the classroom, teachers don’t typically introduce a brand-new skill and immediately expect students to master it independently. They model it. They practice it together. They provide support. They watch for understanding. And then, as the learner becomes more capable, they gradually hand over responsibility.

So what if businesses approached change the same way?

When you’re asking a team to do something new or different, you need more than an announcement and a set of instructions. You need a process that helps people move from understanding → practice → confidence → independence.

In this episode, we’ll explore how leaders can use the principles of gradual release to make new processes and initiatives more likely to actually stick.

We’ll look at how to:

• Model what the new expectation looks like
• Practice together before expecting independent implementation
• Provide support and feedback while people are learning
• Gradually transfer ownership to individuals and teams
• Recognize when people need more support instead of assuming they’re resistant to change
• Move from simply launching an initiative to actually building the capability to sustain it

Because lasting change doesn't happen because you told people what to do.

It happens when you give people the opportunity to learn how to do it, practice doing it, get feedback, and eventually own it themselves.

Sometimes the best ideas for building stronger businesses are hiding in places leaders aren't usually looking.

This one happens to be hiding in the classroom.

What would your employees tell you if they knew you couldn’t see their name?

Sometimes, the most valuable feedback is the feedback people don’t feel comfortable giving you directly.

In this episode of Lead with Learning, we’re exploring the power of anonymous feedback—and why creating a simple, safe way for employees to share what they really think can give leaders insight they might otherwise never see.

Anonymous feedback can surface the things that are easy to miss: frustrations, ideas, barriers, communication breakdowns, leadership blind spots, and opportunities for improvement. But collecting feedback is only the beginning.

The real leadership skill is knowing what to do with it.

We’ll talk about how to move beyond reading individual comments and reacting to the loudest response. Instead, look for patterns and themes. What are multiple people experiencing? What keeps coming up? Where might the feedback point to a larger issue worth addressing?

And most importantly: What decisions should you make because of what you’re hearing?

You’ll also get simple, practical ideas for gathering anonymous feedback without creating a complicated survey process or adding another massive initiative to your to-do list.

Because sometimes a five-minute anonymous check-in can tell you more than an hour-long team meeting.

In this episode, we’ll explore:

• Why employees may share more honestly when their identity isn’t attached to their feedback
• What anonymous feedback can reveal that traditional conversations may not
• How to look for patterns instead of getting stuck on individual comments
• How leaders can turn feedback into meaningful decisions and action
• Simple ways to gather anonymous feedback from your team
• Why asking for feedback is only half the job—the response is what builds trust

Anonymous feedback isn't about giving employees a place to complain.

It’s about creating another pathway for learning.

And when leaders are willing to listen, look for patterns, and act on what they learn, feedback can become one of the most powerful tools they have for improving their teams.