4 Critical Skills L&D Leaders Need to Keep Their Seat at the Table

Learning and development (L&D) leaders often earn a seat at the table — but keeping it requires a different set of skills. In this practical session, you’ll learn how to align strategically to the business, build real credibility, identify the decision makers and show up as a trusted partner who drives business results — not just training. You will walk away with simple actions you can use immediately.

In this session, Ann Stott, former CLO at Biogen, and Carla Torgerson, solution architect at SweetRush, will share practical advice for L&D leaders to keep and strengthen their seat at the table by mastering four critical skills that turn L&D pros into sought-after advisors that business executives rely on.

In this session, you will:

Improve your business acumen by understanding what executives care about — and how top learning leaders use this knowledge to influence measurable business impact.
Strengthen stakeholder relationships by applying trust-building strategies to deepen partnerships and increase your perceived value.
Activate your value position by anticipating resistance and navigating informal power structures
Maintain a proactive focus using two strategies that help you identify ways to provide business value, rather than waiting for training requests to come in.

View full agenda.

Speakers

Ann Stott, CPTM, Senior Learning & Talent Strategy Consultant, SweetRush

A former chief learning officer at Biogen, Ann brings over 25 years of expertise in learning and development and more than a decade of C‑suite leadership experience. She is the published author of “G.R.I.T. Leadership” and a trusted executive coach, known for guiding leaders and teams to align purpose with performance. Throughout her career, Ann has led global teams, designed transformative learning strategies and partnered with senior executives to ensure talent development is tightly integrated with company strategy. A dynamic presenter and facilitator, she combines deep business acumen with a passion for leadership growth, creating impactful experiences that inspire change and drive measurable results.

Carla Torgerson, MEd, MBA, Solution Architect, SweetRush

A Solution Architect at SweetRush, Carla helps clients to dream up amazing performance solutions that both consider their learners’ needs and meet business objectives–while also ensuring her clients meet their goals and look great with their uplines. Carla has over 25 years of experience as an instructional designer and instructional strategist. Always interested in the latest learning trends, she has authored numerous blogs, video-blogs, chapters, and two books, including Designing Microlearning (ATD Press). She also regularly presents at national conferences and teaches certificate programs for the Association for Talent Development (ATD), enabling learning professionals and learning leaders to continually improve.