From Order-Taker to Strategic Partner: Megan Dillon from Q-Centrix on the Future of L&D

In this episode of Catalysts, I’m joined by Megan Dillon, Director of Learning and Development at Q-Centrix. Megan leads with clarity and heart, aligning workforce development with business strategy and building systems that create real behavior change—not just training events.

We explore how L&D is evolving from content creation to business enablement, and what it looks like to step into the role of strategic advisor. From leveraging AI as a co-pilot, to shifting mindsets around ROI, to developing managers into career coaches, Megan offers insight after insight for L&D professionals ready to elevate their work—and their influence.

Whether you're leading a team or shaping learning strategy inside your organization, this episode will push you to think deeper about the role of L&D in shaping the future of work.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why the future of learning is personalized, adaptive, and AI-supported
• How L&D can shift from reactive support to proactive strategy
• What it really means to take a consultative approach inside the business
• How to partner with managers to turn learning into sustained behavior change
• The role of visibility, curiosity, and learning in public for modern leaders
• Why you shouldn’t wait for permission to innovate

Connect with Megan on LinkedIn »

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Transcript

0:01

Hey there and welcome back to Catalysts, the leaders shaping the future of learning and growth. I'm your host, Jacob Ratliff, and this is the show where we spotlight the bold thinkers, builders, and leaders who are really driving change in the learning and development industry. Today I'm joined by Megan Dillon, the Director of Learning and Development at Q-Centrix where she leads with a really clear mission to align workforce development with business strategy. She's a forward thinking leader in the L&D space and she designs and delivers comprehensive programs for onboarding, compliance, leadership development and talent management, really fostering a culture of continuous learning and high performance. She's passionate about developing future leaders and building systems that empower individuals and drive organizational growth. Megan, thank you so much for joining us today. And I'm really excited to dive into our conversation. Wow, thank you, Jacob. That was very nice words. I'm really happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me and I'm looking forward to our conversation. Likewise, so let's go ahead and kind of dive on in with our first question of the day, which is that when you think about the future of learning and development, what shifts are you seeing that you think are going to define the next decade? Yeah, that's a fun question to answer because I think that uh as we all know right now, we're really at this intersection of change, especially when it comes to AI, not just in L&D, but I think uh across many industries. ah But when I think about the future of L&D I think there's a few shifts that I think are going to be really definitive for the next decade. uh First and foremost, I think we're going to really move beyond a one size fits all training model, if you will. um I think the future is personalized. I think it's data driven, data informed. I think we're going to have the technology to allow for learning to adapt in real time. So based on performance, behavior, even preference, I think the result is that L&D can finally meet people where they are, not necessarily where we hope they are. I also think we'll see L&D as a true driver of business agility. Historically, learning has often been reactive, something that might kick in after the fact. think going forward though, L&D is really going to sit at the front or the head of the strategy table. It's really going to be about enabling capability development at speed and at scale. right? And then aligning tightly to both business priorities and workforce readiness. And I think last, of course, we can't talk about the future without talking about AI. I think what excites me the most isn't just, yes, we have AI as a tool, but it's really we have AI as a co-pilot. So whether it's content generation, whether it's intelligent coaching, uh feedback loops, I think it's really reshaping what's possible. um It's certainly not going to replace human connection, nor am I an advocate that it should when it comes to human-centered learning and development. But I think it's going to clear the noise, so to speak, so that we can focus more on that high-impact work of behavior change, innovation, and culture building. So I'm really looking forward to what we can do not just with AI, but what AI is going to enable us as learning and development professionals to do even more. Thank you for that. You mentioned you really think the future of learning is personalized, really targeted rather than this kind of one size fits all approach. when I think of quote unquote traditional training mechanisms like instructor-led training, when done well in those situations, uh there's this really uh high level of interactivity and relationship building that happens right in that training room. I'm curious, how do you think uh learning solutions are going to look in a way that are personalized based on using the technology that uh we're developing without losing that personal or human kind of touch to it? m It's a good question. think me, like a lot of people are in the process of figuring that out em and can only kind of speak to what we know so far. em Again, I'm definitely not an advocate for lessening the human connection, but I do think what we're going to be able to do is I think AI is going to, or automation or technology in general, is really going to kind of take the administrative work, if you will, off of us as L&D professionals. And not just L&D, that's in any organization, right? I think it's really going to help with that. And I think it's going to kind of help allow us to get in the zone more, so to speak, and open up the door for the time to kind of personalize whatever it is we need to personalize within our learning strategy. So I think a good example is in a lot of industries, uh when it comes to training, it's really important to give individualized feedback to people. Well, to do that, oftentimes you have to have the time to uh score or review or uh grade, so to speak. It's almost like a teacher to a certain extent. Is there a way that we can use our tools to do that, our tools and technology to do that? And then as learning strategists or as coaches or as facilitators, can we then step in and intervene based on that feedback and provide that personalized coaching? So I think that that is just one example of something that we're going to see. It's just going to make us more efficient and allow us to have more time for those human connections. Yeah, especially when you can really train the AI on whatever the frameworks are that you're using to score or to evaluate it, to provide feedback. It's not, you know, because people say, I don't want like that generic AI feedback. It's not generic. it's that the AI is really trained in those frameworks and it sounds like it's also able to pick up on things that a facilitator or a coach might actually miss out on. Some of those kind of smaller nuances. So it's seeing it as really, really powerful tool. Yeah, for sure. I think it's going to open up the door for a lot of efficiencies and a lot of opportunities too that we probably don't know exist right now. Absolutely. So I'm wondering in your work, in your organization, what bold ideas or innovations are you most excited about implementing? Yeah, well, think just kind of we've already alluded to it a little bit, but I'm excited about the possibilities that AI and automation are going to bring to L&D, you know, not just in terms of tools, but I think, you know, how they're going to fundamentally shift the work that we do. ah I think that, you know, again, we just talked about this, but we'll be able to really offload a lot of that administrative lift and spend more time on strategic meaningful outputs, right? The coaching, the creativity, the innovation. I think that shift is really going to change everything. um You know, I think I mentioned this earlier too, I am excited about the opportunities for adaptive AI. I think really that is personalized learning at our fingertips without the heavy lift of building dozens of customized learning paths. I think that's going to be a game changer for both scale and impact. I also think we as L&D professionals have a great opportunity to help organizations get ready for all of this. I know it's a question that a lot of organizations have, right? How are we going to deal with the change? How are we going to adapt to the change that's happening so rapidly? And so I also think that we have a great opportunity to help with and support the skills enablement that's needed. for the work ahead to really build these future ready learners, but future ready organizations. em So I look at it kind of in two ways, right? I look at it as we're going to have the opportunity to do our jobs differently because of AI automation and technology, uh and learners are going to be able to kind of learn differently as a result of that. But I also look at us as enablers of the business and really getting folks across the business ready for this shift. So you've touched on L&D's role in overall business strategy and business development and um concrete outcomes and behavior change. I'm curious, what shifts have you seen in recent years um in L&D's role insofar as that goes? Well, to be honest with you, the shifts I've seen are really positive in that I now see L&D is being brought in as stakeholders, in as collaborators early and often. I think business leaders are recognizing the impact that learning and development can have on the business. I've seen those results firsthand. And so I've really seen a shift in how businesses look at learning and development teams, right? I think um there's historically, LND has been seen as, sometimes it can be seen as a cost to the organization. um I think it's always been seen as a support, but I actually think that we're shifting from support to enablers. um and also strategic thought partners. and really acting as a strategic business partner to the entire organization, right? As an internal consultant, really. Yeah, absolutely. And that's something that I definitely had in my notes to kind of touch on at some point. But I also think we're taking more of a consultative approach, right? So em oftentimes it's now going beyond training. And I think that we're able to really dig into how can em we enable behavior change to oh support folks with their performance? um And so I think those are also some really high lift things that we're doing as professionals and teams. Yeah. And we're kind of alluding to the perpetually challenging question of how do you calculate the ROI of training? And because, know, for example, in the past, I have, you know, when working with clients, said something to the effect of, you know, what's the cost of retaining one employee and is, I'm sorry, what's the cost of replacing losing and replacing one employee? And what's the, you know, is this solution worth it if it just does that one thing? And even that's just reductive, right? Because what we're really trying to do is create a much larger organizational culture shift. And really how do you put a price tag on that, you know, in terms of evaluating kind of what's worth it and what's not in terms of, you know, a smart investment. yeah, yeah, it's a great thought. know, when it comes down to ROI, look, we all want our learning initiatives to kind of fit into this nice box where, you know, we can can wrap it up and the results are right there and we can measure it and we can quantify it. um I love that probably more than more than anyone, right? I love I love seeing the successes of what we're doing. I love showcasing the successes of what we're doing. To your point, ah it can be a bit nuanced and and challenging to do that when your initiative is really driving at a lot of different things across the business. I think it's absolutely something that we should always do. It's best practice for sure. But there's also a lot of different ways to look at ROI, think. Absolutely. So thinking about uh your own career and your own leadership, how has your own leadership evolved as the L&D landscape has also evolved in recent years? Yeah, that's a great question too. It's a bit of a loaded question. I'll humble myself here. I think Early on in my career, especially when I started working as an instructional designer, I saw my role as more of a make the training, check the box and move on. I was in a bit of a silo. I didn't understand kind of the bigger picture, ah but I had some eye-opening moments that showed me how limiting that mindset is. I started to see that creating training is not the end goal, right? It's one step in driving behavior change, in driving business impact. And over time, I realized that L&D is not just about delivering content, it's about aligning strategy, solving real problems, um helping the business move forward, partnering with the business to help them meet their strategic objectives. And I've worked really hard, I think, to evolve from being a developer of a, you know, of a product to becoming a true strategic partner. um I think another lesson that sticks out and honestly a turning point in my career is or was rather learning to ask why. So like many L&D professionals, we're all used to getting a training request and especially early on in my career, I would say, sure, yeah, I can do this. I'll build you the PowerPoint. I'll build you the e-learning. And we'd launch it. And then results would be minimal, right? Nothing would change. There wouldn't be a behavior shift. There was no real impact. And we'd sit there and wonder, well, what went wrong, right? After investing that time, the resources, the budget. And I think those are the moments where I realized that we weren't And I, just being kind of young and naive, we weren't solving the right problem. We weren't getting to the root cause. Once I started asking questions like, why do you think this is a training issue? How do you know this is a gap? Everything changed. It allowed me to really design the right solutions for the right problems. And that can be tricky because sometimes the solution is not going to be training and that's okay. But I think that's where our role as L&D professionals becomes more consultative. So we're not just order takers. We're partners in diagnosing and solving challenges that really matter to the business. And so once I saw that and I kind of was able to understand, OK, you've got to be a strategic partner to the business to make a difference, I think that's when my career shifted. And that's when I found myself as a learning leader kind of, Elevating getting to the next level, helping my team do the same thing. So those are some of the, I think, probably common challenges that a lot of people in their L&D careers face, especially just as you're growing through it and learning and developing your business acumen. And I continue to learn still. I'm not done learning. And that's one of the beautiful things about LND is that the learning never stops, truly. uh So you've discussed how taking this consultative approach at strategic part, strategically partnering with the, with the business to develop a solution has really helped uh increase success in so far as specifically creating real concrete behavior change. truthfully, from what I see so much of the training out there at best kind of results in a uh little bump in behavior change and then kind of ultimately things kind of returning back to where they were before. So my question here is what other elements or practices in addition to that consultative process have you found really drive that permanent and lasting behavior change? Oftentimes, it comes down to a couple of different pieces. I do agree with you, watching or viewing or interacting with a training, uh it could move the needle for sure, but how do you make it stick? And so I think that's where um coaching is really, important. So having a strong leader who is able to provide um strategic coaching is really important. So oftentimes when we are developing learning initiatives, um training will certainly be at the forefront of that, but there will be a lot of recommendations to the leaders of the individuals who are uh taking the training, right? Like, how do you carry this forward? How do you hold your teams accountable for this? How do you coach to it? What do you look out for? um things of that nature. So I really look at it as more of a holistic approach and not just one training event. um And of course, that, you know, also that's why having that strong partnership with folks around the business, with different stakeholders, different groups, etc. is also so important because we need their buy-in as well if we're going to make the behavior change, if we're going to make it stick. um And then I think also it's worth talking about your processes too. So I'm sure as you know, sometimes it'll come up like, well, okay, what's the process for this? What are we currently doing? And then you find out, well, there is no process. So I also think sometimes our job is to step in and support with a process builder or a process change. And then you also, I think, start pulling in some of the change management aspects that we kind of also get you know, are part of the job and if we can also help the organization with rolling out those changes. So to answer your question, I just think there's a lot that goes into it and it's so much more of holistic approach than just creating one training. Absolutely. It's so much more than a, you like you said, an event uh that tends to be a less effective approach. So what do you think is the role of managers? I think you kind of alluded to this, but to really name it specific explicitly, what's the role of managers and kind of making training or learning stick? Yeah, well, think, I mean, first, think managers have to leaders, right? They have to, they have to take the training as well. They have to be in the loop with it. They have to understand the goals, the objectives, et cetera. I would also, I would also argue that it might even start earlier depending on what the training is and kind of what the goal that you're looking to achieve is via this, this learning experience. I would argue that pulling in leaders, pulling in managers um early, as a stakeholder is also something that can be really impactful, right? So they have a voice in the training, in the learning experience, and they're able to carry that after the fact back to their teams. And then I think from a tactical perspective, right? It's accountability. So it's following up with your, em you know, with your team members and whether it's one-on-ones or... em you know, your staff meetings, whatever that looks like for you, right? But having a sense of accountability and then also being able to really provide effective coaching on the skill. um And I think it also comes down to knowing where your team members are with that particular skill. So, I mean, if it's a soft skills training, for example, I it's really, really important that managers and leaders uh have a pulse on how their team members are performing, where the gaps are. um And then training can definitely be one way that they help close the gap. And then after that, it comes down to more coaching, more accountability, uh positive reinforcement, of course. So I think those are some kind of more tactical things that leaders can do to help support any sort of behavior change in training. Yeah, and the challenge so often is that many managers don't necessarily have the skills to effectively coach and develop their team members, which is a skill set in and of itself, right? And that's one of my favorite things to help uh organizations with is really positioning the manager as a coach, but also a career coach. uh You know, having the manager being able to think. you know, two jobs ahead for their direct report, really align with their direct reports goals um and kind of serve as that longer term partner. And, you know, lot of managers see that and they think, that's just another thing I need to worry about or I need to do. And really being able to tie that to, well, here's how doing this is actually going to help the team perform better like today and tomorrow in the much more immediate future. Yeah, developing others is you're right. It's a skill in and of itself. And I think, I think oftentimes too, we get hung up on this idea that when we develop others and when we coach others, it's to get them to the next level specifically with a promotion, right? Or to get them to the next job. But there's so much more that goes into development than promotions and ah you know, what do you want to do next? How are we going to get you to the next level? And I think having a mindset of you can grow in your own role right now, right here. ah You can stretch yourself here is really important too for managers to embrace. Absolutely. So I always like to ask um people, know, you're on this podcast with me. I know you're gearing up um to be a panelist, I think at TICE next month, um Which is for everyone listening, the training industry's uh annual conference and expo. So clearly, you know, outward facing visibility, building a platform is pretty important in terms of, getting out there and speaking. So I'm curious, how important do you think it is, specifically how important now we're facing visibility is for leaders who are really shaping the future of work? Mm. You know, I think visibility is great for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, I think it creates accountability. When you put your ideas out there, you're not just influencing, you're inviting feedback, which will sharpen your thinking as well. And if you're truly listening and you're truly kind of iterating on your own ideas, um you're only going to get better at what you do. So I think that accountability piece is kind of a benefit. and significant for being outward facing. I think it also, obviously, it's going to build credibility. It's going to build connection, sharing what you're learning. It helps others. It's going to bring people into your orbit who can help expand your work. So of course, it's important there. then I think especially as L&D leaders, it's even more important that we are modeling the skill of learning and what it means to learn publicly. I think that's in itself is a part of being future ready. I think putting ourselves in the role of a learner who is learning from others, super important too. Absolutely. I see so many L&D leaders who, within their organization, they're really well known and well respected for their work. um And as soon as they exit the organization, or not even leave the organization, but go out into the world, they're not really known, um which really can kind of close them off to... furthering their own skill set, learning about kind of, right, what are the trends? What's happening in the industry as a whole? So it being just such a critical piece. um Like you said, for L&D leaders really to model the skills that we're trying to embed in others. Right. Yeah, completely agree. And so, what advice would you have for emerging leaders in the L&D space who really want to make a bigger impact, both in their organization and beyond? Mm. So I think one thing that's gotten me fairly far, I suppose, is this notion of being your own biggest advocate. I know that can be a bit uncomfortable for people. We want to think of ourselves as humble and modest, and we don't always want to come across as boastful. But I would argue that I think Shout your successes, don't be shy. If you've moved the needle on something, especially internally within the business, I would say say it, teach it, tell it. We talk a lot about visibility in leadership, but it really starts with advocating for your own work and in owning the value that you bring. ah So a tactical example is if your team has recently led a learning and development initiative and you've been able to measure the success and you've seen you know, positive impact, calculate the ROI and share it with leaders across the organization, share the story, share what worked, share how, you know, you're iterating on the idea to improve it even more. But I think being your own advocate is really, really important. So I'd say that's number one, especially for those looking to make kind of a broader impact in their internal. in their internal business. And then I think just for emerging leaders in general, especially in L&D, it's really easy to feel like you need to show up with all of the answers. But I think the most powerful thing you can do is really to lead with curiosity and not necessarily certainty. You don't always have to be the expert in the room, right? I think asking really good questions and staying close to the work. and getting curious about what's going on and why is a great mindset for us to have. It also helps us earn trust and it opens the door to better solutions. And then I would say lastly, this notion of, I would say innovation has been on my mind a lot lately when it comes to L&D leaders, especially just given where we are right now with how we opened up the show, talking a lot about AI and technology and automation and what the future holds. I always encourage people don't wait for permission to innovate. If you have an idea, test it, run a small pilot, document the impact. I we always wait until something is fully baked or until we get sign off and we can lose momentum that way. You can learn a lot just by trying, being agile and even more by even sharing what worked, right? Learning, like you said, learning in public, right? And that tying back into the visibility piece. Yeah, for sure. And I also think like not being scared to share what worked but what didn't work is equally important. ah I think that in itself is gonna get trust and accountability. We always wanna show the picture of the pretty data dashboard and the green arrow going up and what we did well and that's great. Look, I love that stuff too. um But I think it's also really, really important to be vulnerable and share what didn't work. That's going to get you a lot of trust and credibility. It's relatable, right? The person in the corner screaming about how they're the expert, how you should listen to them, you're probably not gonna be drawn to them. You're gonna be drawn to the person who's probably showing a little bit of vulnerability, self-awareness, willingness to share. That's the person that people are gonna wanna follow usually. Yeah, couldn't agree more. So to wrap up, I always want to ask you, for folks listening who want to follow your work or connect with you, what's the best way for them to do that? LinkedIn is a great place. It's Megan E. Dillon. I'm in Charlotte, North Carolina, so you can always search that way on LinkedIn. I love connecting with other folks, hearing new ideas, all that great stuff. So feel free to reach out. Excellent. Megan, thank you so much for this conversation, for sharing your insights and your perspective. I'm really grateful to you for this, to really be able to spotlight leaders who are shaping what's next in the learning and development space. Awesome. Thank you so much for having me, Jacob. It was a great discussion and I can't wait to listen to the other episodes as well. Thank you. Yeah, there's definitely some good ones. And if you enjoyed this episode, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next and connect with me on LinkedIn using the link in the show notes. And I'll also include the link to Megan's LinkedIn profile as well. And if today's conversation sparked ideas about how your own online presence and visibility could really better reflect the caliber of your work in the L&D space. Definitely reach out to me because that's exactly the type of work I help leaders with. Thanks again for listening and I'll see you next time on Catalysts