Product reviews for The Learning Imperative

As a manager, one is always meant to be looking at new ways to inspire, motivate and lead. What The Learning Imperative does in a concise and well-considered way is to make leaders look at their attitude to learning and development and reflect on how they can deliver more effective leadership.

The book clearly describes why learning and development is necessary and sets out how to support the development of future leaders, while also providing very useful step-by-step guidance to assist with implementation. I particularly enjoyed the clear structure of each chapter, with entertaining, relevant anecdotes complemented by illuminating case studies that draw out the key lessons. Each section is followed by prompts for reflection, which serve to question the reader's position on a particular area and to reinforce the points made.

As part of the senior management team of a rapidly growing organisation, I recognise many of the examples given as to how and why learning and development can fail. On this subject Mark and Andy capture, in an entertaining manner, the pitfalls surrounding poorly conceived training - and how learning and development, when properly researched and planned, can be delivered in an effective way. In writing The Learning Imperative they have compiled a very informative and practical guide which shows how to implement a successful learning programme that will help to deliver marginal gains.