Hello LTEN community, and happy August! I hope you’re finding a little time this summer to catch your breath. For many of us, the pace doesn’t slow down after conference season; we jump right back into projects, planning meetings and the everyday work of supporting our learners.
But August always feels like an opportunity to pause before the busy months ahead.
As I’ve reflected on this year’s Learning Executive Forum and LTEN Annual Conference, I keep coming back to one thought: some of the most valuable learning didn’t happen on stage.
It happened in the conversations. Over breakfast. Between sessions. Walking down the hallway. Around a dinner table. It happened when someone leaned across a table and asked, “How are you approaching this?”
Those moments reminded me that the greatest value of our community isn’t simply the knowledge we share — it’s the curiosity that inspires us to learn from one another.
Lead With Curiosity
In life sciences learning and development, it’s easy to feel pressure to have the answers. Your organizations look to you for expertise, strategy and direction. But one of the greatest lessons I took away from this year’s Learning Executive Forum was that the strongest leaders weren’t necessarily the ones with the most answers.
They were the ones asking the best questions.
During our case study discussions, I watched executives openly share challenges, explore ideas they hadn’t yet solved and invite others to challenge their thinking. There was very little posturing and a great deal of listening. The conversations weren’t about proving expertise — they were about expanding perspectives.
That’s curiosity in action.
Curiosity changes the purpose of networking. Instead of collecting business cards or growing a LinkedIn network, we begin building relationships that continue teaching us long after an event ends.
A curious conversation sounds different.
- “What’s working for your team?”
- “What surprised you this year?”
- “If you could redesign one part of your learning strategy, where would you start?”
Questions like these invite honest dialogue. They uncover ideas we may never have discovered on our own, and they remind us that even experienced leaders are still learning.
One of my favorite parts of the Forum each year is watching those conversations continue well beyond the scheduled agenda. Someone hears an idea during a session, continues discussing it over lunch, reconnects during a networking reception and follows up weeks later to compare notes. That’s when real professional growth begins — not because someone delivered a perfect presentation, but because someone else was curious enough to ask one more question.
Keep the Conversation Going
As you return to your organizations and settle back into the rhythm of everyday work, I challenge you not to leave that curiosity behind with your conference badges.
Reach out to someone you met this summer. Reconnect with a colleague whose perspective challenges your own. Ask a question before offering an answer. Invite someone to share what’s working (and what isn’t).
The learning doesn’t end when the conference does. In many ways, that’s where it truly begins.
At LTEN, we’ve always believed that our greatest strength is our community. This year reminded me that community isn’t built simply by gathering once a year. It’s built every time we’re willing to remain curious, learn from one another and continue the conversations that move our profession — and each of us — forward.
Here’s to staying curious.