L&D needs to work with stakeholders and SMEs in order to create effective learning solutions. We need their feedback, their expertise, information only they have access to, and their partnership to make it all happen.

So, what are we to do when our work with them includes more blockers than anything?

If you truly want to move from a place where you are taking training orders to one where you work with your stakeholders as a strategic business partner, you need to know how they see you. Your stakeholders' perceptions define how they work with you. You can work to shift these perceptions, but first you need to know what they are.

Have you felt frustrated when a stakeholder comes to you asking for a specific training solution in a shortened timeline?

One day, as I was sharing these frustrations with my boss in a one-on-one, she simply responded with, "We need to train the business how to do business with us."

It sometimes feels as if the requests for training are coming across our desks or into our inboxes at breakneck speed, even when we have suspicions that training won’t solve the problem. Even when we want to do more than fulfill pre-scripted training “orders.”

Why are stakeholders coming to us with pre-scripted training requests in the first place?

Picture this: For months, you've been working hard on the strategy for a new learning program. You confidently present it to key stakeholders, looking for their commitment to back it. They ask some good questions then say you did a good job. The meeting ends. Now what?

If you are an L&D leader working towards becoming a more strategic business partner, it's likely you are already developing trusted relationships with stakeholders throughout the business. It's no secret that a solid relationship with the right people is one of the most important factors in moving away from working as an order taker and towards working as a strategic business partner. But have you included all of the relevant groups in that mix?

Turns out, taking orders is a vital part of the change process for L&D to move from a transactional to a more transformational working partnership with the business.

Yes, L&D. We can have a bigger impact on our organizations when we shift our focus, our mindset, and our approach away from that of an order taker to one where we work as strategic business partners. Also, it's not that black and white. We can't simply swap one for the other.