By Lisa Friscia
To evolve from isolated training events to a sustainable learning culture, organizations must nurture five critical conditions:
Psychological Safety
Growth begins with trust. People must feel safe asking, trying, failing, and reflecting. Without safety, there’s no stretch, and without stretch, there’s no learning.
Visible Leadership Commitment
When leaders learn out loud, admit growth areas, and celebrate learning in others, it signals that development isn’t optional, it’s expected.
Embedded Learning in Work
The best learning cultures don’t treat learning as an “extra”. They align development with the work through stretch assignments, project-based learning, job rotations, and collaborative problem-solving.
Recognition and Reinforcement
Culture follows recognition. Learning behaviors become part of the norm when growth is acknowledged in feedback loops, performance conversations, and storytelling.
Supportive Systems and Infrastructure
Finally, systems must connect — not silo — learning. This includes clear skill pathways, access to mentors and peers, and curated, user-friendly platforms. The goal isn’t more content — it’s more innovative integration.
Making it practical
We often mistake training and workshops for the only time for learning. Organizations that are adept at cultivating a learning culture do so by embedding questioning, creativity, and experimentation throughout work. Why? Because stepping back from the work to reflect, regroup, refine and redo is how we get better at something. Case in point- let’s look at sports. Athletes don’t improve solely by practicing more. They also improve because they review their own video footage and have coaches that observe and share actionable tips.
For example, a team meeting can focus on data or root cause analysis to help diagnose trends and develop targeted next steps for continuous improvement. Alternatively, teams can leverage a consultancy model so that each person has a chance to workshop a challenge they are facing. Peer feedback is often seen as the most valuable and increases engagement. In the same way, we can leverage our 1:1s to not just talk about the work but truly roll up our sleeves and get under the hood together. According to Google's Project Oxygen study, coaching is one of the skills that differentiates the best managers. Strategically using coaching skills is an effective way to build another’s capacity. None of this will be effective if leadership is not modeling their own commitment to learning.
- Share what you are learning and what you are working on. Is there a book you are reading, or a course you just took that is helping you improve or expand your skills? Share it.
- Ask more questions rather than simply telling.
- Model taking a learner’s stance by inviting feedback, especially on something you are working on. This can look like sharing a draft plan and asking for potential opportunities or risks, or it can be practicing a roll out speech and inviting others for feedback.
When we as leaders normalize that we all learn and practice, our teams will be more likely to feel safe enough to do so.
