The state of L&D in 2025: What 115,000 learners taught us

In this episode of How to Make a Leader, we sit down with members of Big Think+’s very own product team, Charlotte Sharpe and Monica Karunakaran. They share insights learned from observing the learning habits and preferences of 115,000 learners that used our platform last year, as well as learnings from our 300 person user survey. 

They share juicy insights such as the truth behind optimal learning times (and length of content), the top skills learners searched on our platform, and the top challenges keeping L&D leaders up at night. 

You’ll learn:

• The type of career development that learners actually care about
• The most in-demand leadership skills
• What’s keeping L&D leaders up at night (and how to fix it)
• The humans skills that matter more than AI
• How to think about L&D strategy

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Introducing Charlotte Sharpe and Monica Karunakaran
(05:29) The role of Big Think+ in shaping leadership development

(06:58) Insights from a year of data from 115,000 learners

(09:43) What’s keeping L&D leaders up at night

(13:14) Leadership content for mid-level managers

(15:28) Balancing employee engagement with measurable success

(17:44) The most in-demand leadership skills

(19:08) Why emotional intelligence is so important

(26:31) Data on the learning experience (when, where, how long)

(28:37) The influence of AI on leadership development strategies

(33:27) The biggest surprise with the data

(35:03) The future of L&D: Integrating human connection with technology

To learn more about Charlotte and Monica, check out their LinkedIn profiles:

• Charlotte Sharpe
• Monica Karunakaran
  
  

Interested in attending an interview live? Find out more at bigthink.com/plus/events

Want to learn more about getting Big Think+ for your business? Schedule a call with us at https://www2.bigthink.com/request-a-demo-big-think-plus 

What is How to Make a Leader?

Welcome to "How to Make a Leader," a leadership development podcast from Big Think+ where we take the best ideas from the biggest minds in learning and development and distill them into actionable insights. In each episode, host Hannah Beaver sits down with learning and development leaders to discuss how to create world-class leadership development programs, how to nurture frontline leadership skills, and even how to combat burnout.