Zenith Performance Solutions

Myth: donkeys are stubborn. Reality: they're intuitive, and they need a reason to trust you first.

I spent this season learning to run with a pack b***o, and it taught me more about stakeholder relationships than most professional development ever has.

What looks like resistance is usually just trust that hasn't been earned yet. That's true of a skeptical SME. It's true of a disengaged learner. It's true of a stubborn donkey named Josie.

Next time something (or someone) feels like resistance, try asking what would need to be true for them to trust the process first. 🔥

Myth: leadership doesn't care about learning outcomes.

Reality: leadership is listening for four specific things, and most of us were never taught to say them out loud.

What problem were we solving. Who was it for. What should be different now. How will we know.

That's it. Not a guarantee. Not a full evaluation plan. Just proof you thought about it. You already have the answers. You just haven't had to say them in that order before. 💡

Which of these four is hardest for you to answer on the spot?

You built something great. Nobody in the debrief asked about it. 🙃

Here's why: you were speaking learning design. They were listening for business impact. Two different languages, and nobody taught you the second one.

Try this before your next stakeholder meeting. Give AI the context of your project and ask it to help you name the business problem it solved, in language a non-L&D leader would recognize.

Twenty minutes. One paragraph. You walk in with a story instead of a status update.

What's one project you wish you'd translated better?

Here's a sentence that changes how leadership sees you:

“Here's the problem we were solving, here's what we built and why, here's what should be different, and here's how we'll know.”

No dashboard required. No perfect measurement framework. Just that sentence, said with confidence, because you actually thought it through before you opened your AI tool.

That's the accountability shift happening in L&D right now. It's not scary. It's an opening.

Save this one for your next stakeholder meeting. 💭

The AI conversation just changed, and most of us haven't caught up yet. 👀

It used to be: are you using AI? Now it's: can you prove it worked, and can you explain why?

Quick gut check before your next AI-assisted project: do you know the problem you're solving BEFORE you open the chat window? Or are you working backward from whatever it gives you?

That one shift, thinking first, prompting second, is the difference between reactive AI use and intentional AI use. And it's the difference stakeholders actually notice.

Which one have you been doing lately? Be honest. 👇

The AI conversation just changed, and most of us haven't caught up yet. 👀

It used to be: are you using AI? Now it's: can you prove it worked, and can you explain why?

Quick gut check before your next AI-assisted project: do you know the problem you're solving BEFORE you open the chat window? Or are you working backward from whatever it gives you?

That one shift, thinking first, prompting second, is the difference between reactive AI use and intentional AI use. And it's the difference stakeholders actually notice.

Which one have you been doing lately?

Be honest. 👇