Mary Cooper, Director of Learning and Development at P.F. Chang's, joins us to make the case that L&D leaders who can't speak the language of the business will keep losing the budget fight.

Mary draws on her path from operations to the L&D function to show why business acumen is now a core skill for talent development and learning strategy leaders. For training professionals navigating tighter budgets and higher scrutiny, her advice is direct: tie your learning solutions to sales impact, cost reduction and measurable business outcomes.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

00:00 Introduction.

03:05 Why Mary says speaking the language of the business is the most critical skill for L&D leaders right now.

04:20 How Mary's background in operations and ballet shaped her approach to helping others learn.

07:17 How AI is forcing L&D teams to rethink course length, delivery format and the pace of content creation.

09:04 Why Mary believes L&D is at a pivotal moment.

11:07 How to make the case for L&D investment when budgets are under pressure.

13:15 Why resilience and adaptability are the most important skills in the workplace.

16:20 Why Mary finds smaller format conferences more valuable than large ones for peer learning and connection.

18:30 The one book Mary recommends to anyone wanting to be a learning leader.

If you enjoyed this conversation, please leave a 5-star review and subscribe to “Learning Leader Spotlight: Interviews with Corporate L&D Leaders,” brought to you by TrainingPros — because when you have more projects than people™, the right L&D consultant makes all the difference.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

TD Magazine:

https://www.td.org

Consero:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/consero-group/

The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1501147765/

#LearningAndDevelopment #CorporateTraining #TalentDevelopment