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You end the day exhausted and still wonder:

Did I actually move anything forward?

In this solo episode of The LearnIt Lounge, Mickey Fitch-Collins, PhD, unpacks something many high performers struggle with but rarely say out loud.

Overwhelm often shows up when everything feels urgent, and nothing feels clear.

So we talk about what actually helps:
• How to distinguish urgent work from meaningful work
• Why your calendar may be working against you
• The leadership skill of saying “no” professionally
• A simple prioritization ritual that changed how I work

The leaders who create the most impact are rarely the busiest people in the room.

They are the clearest about what matters.

If your calendar feels full but your strategic work keeps slipping, this episode is for you.

Listen to the latest episode of The LearnIt Lounge - https://www.learnit.com/podcast-the-learnit-lounge/55-busy-isnt-productive-the-clarity-shift-that-transforms-leadership-dr-mickey-fitch-collins

Power reveals character.

What does yours say about your values?

This week on The Learnit Lounge, Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins is joined by Meredith Bell, who has spent her career helping organizations turn stated values into lived behavior and co-founded Grow Strong Leaders. They talk about something most leadership conversations skip entirely: what character actually is, how to develop it, and what happens when leaders gain power without it.

They get into:

🔹 Why humility is one of the most underrated and overlooked leadership strengths

🔹 How to use a simple one-question feedback approach to accelerate your own growth

🔹 What really happens inside organizations when values are lived versus just stated

This episode is for founders and senior leaders who want to be honest with themselves about whether they are the kind of leader they say they are.

🎧 Listen here:https://lnkd.in/gNtr2axh

Leaders who most need leadership development are the ones least likely to show up for it.

Waylen Leopoldino, MHRM, PHR said it better than most would dare to.

Waylen joined Dr. Mickey Fitch-Collins on with 17 years of HR leadership experience and a front-row seat to how workplace culture actually gets built or quietly falls apart.

They tackled one of the most important questions in people leadership right now: whose job is it to make work meaningful?

They get into:
🔹 Why meaning is a shared responsibility between employer and employee
🔹 What rituals and habits actually build trust and team cohesion over time
🔹 The job vs. career mindset and how leaders can shift it for their teams

If you're a founder or executive wondering why engagement scores keep slipping despite your best efforts, you need to hear this conversation.

🎧 Listen here: https://www.learnit.com/podcast-the-learnit-lounge/53-the-meaning-crisis-why-your-best-people-are-quietly-checking-out-waylen-leopoldino

Your training might be the problem.

Not because it is bad content. But because nobody ever connected it to real life.

We talked with Shandretta Solomon, a learning and development pro with 20 years of experience, about what it actually takes to make learning stick beyond the classroom.

Here is what we got into:

- The difference between finishing a training and actually learning from it

- Why unlearning old habits is just as important as teaching new ones

- How managers can become the missing link between training and behavior change

If your team keeps showing up to training and nothing changes, this one is for you!

Go listen - https://www.learnit.com/podcast-the-learnit-lounge/50-unlearn-to-grow-the-hidden-key-to-lasting-leadership-development-shandretta-solomon

Resilience is not about pushing harder.
It is about how you recover.

In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Mickey Fitch-Collins, Phd () sit down with Peter Plumlee () to talk about what resilience and adaptability really mean in today’s high pressure, AI shaped world.

They get honest about:
- The difference between muscling through and actually recovering
- Why curiosity beats control
- How leaders can model resilience instead of demanding it

If you are a manager or high performer who feels like you are supposed to have it all together, this conversation will resonate.

Listen now. Link in bio.

Learning resistance is not a people problem.

In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Mickey Fitch-Collins, PhD () talks with Elena Agaragimova (), global talent expert and co-founder of Shiftwell.ai, about why resistance to learning is rarely about motivation and almost always about design, trust, and relevance.

They explore what happens when learning feels disconnected from real work and how leaders can rebuild engagement through clarity, consistency, and better role modeling.

They discuss:
- Why blanket training creates overwhelm instead of growth
- How trust and consistency shape learning cultures
- What leaders must do before asking teams to change

If you have ever rolled your eyes at another training invite or wondered why learning does not stick, this conversation will feel familiar.

Listen to the full episode now-link in bio.

Data can’t replace leadership skills.

In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Mickey Fitch-Collins, PhD, talks with Thomas Fenstermacher, educator and learning leader, about what gets lost when organizations prioritize metrics over meaning.

They explore what happens when learning becomes transactional instead of relational and how leaders can rebalance data, technology, and human connection.

They discuss:
- Why facilitation skills still matter in virtual work
- How trend spotting turns training into strategy
- The leadership cost of disengaged learning

If you have ever felt pressure to prove value with numbers while knowing something deeper was missing, this conversation will resonate.

Listen now—link in bio.

5 Truths Leaders Miss About Learning

In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, Mickey Fitch-Collins, PhD, talks with Rachel Walerstein, learning strategist and nonprofit leader, about the uncomfortable truths behind leadership development that actually works.

They explore what happens when learning teams are excluded from strategy and budget conversations and how leaders can rethink development as a long game, not a quick fix.

They discuss:
- Why learning teams are often brought in too late
- How managers quietly determine learning success
- The emotional side of leadership is rarely trained

If you are a leader who wants development to drive real results instead of checking a box, this conversation is worth your time.

Listen to the full episode now. Link in bio.

Learning is not about knowledge. It is about belief.

Confidence is the real ROI of learning.
In this solo episode of The Learnit Lounge, Mickey Fitch-Collins, PhD, talks about one of the most overlooked outcomes of any learning experience—belief.

She explores what happens when people are trained to know but not taught to believe.

And how designing learning for confidence and agency changes performance, retention, and culture.

Confidence fuels risk-taking and clarity in uncertainty.

Peer support transforms individual confidence into collective confidence.
Stories make learning real by connecting hearts and minds.

If you’ve ever built programs, led teams, or faced moments of doubt in your own leadership, this one’s for you.

Listen to the full episode now–link in bio.

In this episode of The Learnit Lounge Podcast, Mickey Fitch-Collins, PhD. talks with Sarah Lundy, L&D leader, about how to design blended learning that actually leads to behavior change.

They explore what happens when organizations rely on content instead of clarity, and how to navigate toward learning experiences that feel human, equitable, and tied to real outcomes.

We discuss:
- Why success must be defined before design
- A simple follow up habit that strengthens application
- How learning environments can unintentionally exclude people

If you have ever struggled to turn great training into real performance, this one is for you.

Listen to the full episode now—link in bio.