Episode 170 | Learning Velocity Through Leadership and Change

That’s the question driving the grand finale of The Learning Velocity Series, the third and final episode in this three-part conversation on why learning velocity—the ability to build capabilities at the speed of business change—has become the defining competitive advantage.

Performance Matters Podcast host Michael Thiel is joined by GP Strategies’ Nic Girvan, Senior Director of Leadership and Inclusion, and Dr. Cheryl Jackson, Director of Organization Design & Change Management, to explore the human dimension of learning velocity. Where episodes 1 and 2 examined the why and the how, this conversation digs into the part that organizations underestimate the most: the leadership and change behaviors that determine whether transformation actually happens.

Nic and Cheryl unpack why AI adoption is fundamentally a behavioral shift, not a technological one. They explore why the enterprise mindset is the one tripping up even seasoned leaders right now, why fear of failure has been amplified—not created—by AI, and why “learning out loud” may be the most undervalued leadership behavior of this era.

You’ll also hear why the “messy middle” of leadership is where most transformations stall, why change readiness and resilience are competitive advantages on their own, and how visible decision-making moves teams from threat into agency.

This is the human side of learning velocity—the side that determines whether your organization actually moves at the speed of change or just talks about it.