S11 E9: Your L&D Strategy Is Broken and No, a Workshop Won't Fix It with Hanan Sahourieh

S11 E9: Your L&D Strategy Is Broken and No, a Workshop Won't Fix It with Hanan Sahourieh

From I Hate It Here by Hebba Youssef

March 9, 2026 · 55 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the failures of L&D strategies and the misconceptions surrounding workshops in improving learning cultures.

L&D gets done dirty constantly and I have been saying this for years!!! It's the function that gets underfunded, overcomplicated, blamed for culture problems it didn't create, and somehow still expected to fix everything with a workshop and a Kirkpatrick model. Hanan Sahourieh got into all of it: why L&D functions fail before they even get started, how ego and power dynamics quietly destroy learning cultures, what trust actually looks like when you have to rebuild it from scratch, and the mistakes learning professionals make without even realizing it. Oh, and she wrote a book called Everybody Be Cool which is the most accurate title for an L&D book I have ever heard in my life. --- Quantum Workplace helps leaders build thriving teams that fuel business success. We give leaders at every level a clear path forward—by unlocking critical talent insights across engagement, performance, and development. With clarity and confidence, people leaders can act decisively, scale leadership quality, and strengthen connection and performance. Trusted by thousands of people-focused companies, Quantum Workplace makes it easier to keep teams aligned, empowered, growing, and valued on…

People in this episode

Host: Hebba Youssef

Guest: Hanan Sahourieh

Topics covered

  • L&D strategy
  • learning culture
  • workshops
  • trust
  • power dynamics

Keywords

  • L&D
  • learning culture
  • workshop
  • trust
  • power dynamics
  • Hanan Sahourieh
  • Everybody Be Cool

Sponsors

Quantum Workplace

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Everybody Be Cool

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