The Leadership Skill That Fades as You Become an Expert with Kassy Laborie of Kassy Laborie Consulting
Kassy LaBorie, Keynote Speaker, Author and L&D Pioneer of Kassy LaBorie Consulting, joins us to talk about what a career built on noticing things, from people and patterns to vintage Barbie dolls, can teach the learning and development field about staying curious in the age of AI. Expert leaders know a lot, which paradoxically makes genuine curiosity harder.
Kassy, host of The Spark Konnect podcast, discovered that stepping into unfamiliar territory forces the kind of authentic curiosity that matters most in learning leadership. When you move beyond your expertise, you stop performing knowledge and start asking real questions. That shift transforms how you approach talent development and team learning.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
00:00 Introduction to Kassy LaBorie, keynote speaker, author and L&D pioneer
01:33 Trading the label "corporate trainer" for “professional noticer”
04:12 How a lifelong Barbie collection became the perfect AI learning lab
05:59 A theater degree and a career fair led to an accidental path into Silicon Valley training
14:45 Interviewing athletes and artists reveals what curiosity actually requires of a host
23:51 A painter once told her to squint and see the basic shapes before filling in the details
25:53 The one thing AI can't replace: human expression
27:33 L&D leaders building AI-ready teams should focus on the strategic yes
28:21 Three books from women shaping the L&D conversation earn a recommendation
29:10 The debrief question used to bookend every session
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RESOURCES MENTIONED
Interact and Engage! 75+ Activities for Virtual Training, Meetings, and Webinars by Kassy LaBorie
Producing Virtual Training, Meetings, and Webinars by Kassy LaBorie
Learning That Lasts by Katrina Kennedy
L&D Order Taker No More! by Jess Almlie
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