What you'll walk away with

  • A clear framework for setting up or restructuring an L&D function from the ground up

  • The strategic thinking behind a winning L&D strategy — and how to communicate it to leadership

  • Practical skills for building and managing an L&D budget

  • A stakeholder mapping approach that helps you identify allies, blockers and decision-makers

  • The measurement frameworks — ROI and Kirkpatrick — applied at a leadership level

  • A blueprint for designing leadership development programmes that actually work

  • Tools and resources you can apply to real projects immediately

Is this path for you?

This path is for you if you're leading or about to lead an L&D function, if you're a senior practitioner looking to move into a more strategic role, or if you're an HR leader whose remit includes learning and development and you want to approach it with more confidence and structure. This path is not for you if you're new to L&D or still building your foundational skills — the L&D Foundations path is a better starting point. The content here assumes you already understand the basics of how learning works and are ready to think at a function level.

Course curriculum

    1. From Zero to Hero: How to Setup a Successful L&D Department

    2. 7 Tips for a Winning Learning and Development Strategy

    3. Learning & Development Budgets: The ultimate guide for beginners

    4. Stakeholder mapping for L&D: identifying allies, blockers & buyers

    5. How L&D creates winning learning cultures: the step-by-step guide

    6. Embedding learning into the flow of work in a remote world

    1. Measuring Learning Return on Investment (ROI)

    2. How to Use the Kirkpatrick's 4 Levels of Evaluation Model

    3. Unleash the power of data for the most effective training

    4. Designing a Leadership Development Program that Fits Your Organisation

    1. How to Use Personal Development Plans (PDPs)

    2. 6 Common Mistakes in Leadership Development

    3. Designing learning for behaviour change: beyond knowledge transfer

    4. From ghosted to greenlit: getting stakeholders to say yes

    1. What do L&D Consultants do?

    2. AI for L&D: what you need to know in 2026

    3. The L&D Mystery Files: The Case of the Dead Performance

    1. L&D Consulting Planner

    2. Career Roadmap for L&D

    3. L&D Strategy mini toolkit

    4. Learning Program ROI Calculator

About this course

  • Free
  • 21 lessons

Meet your intructor

Learning and Development Consultant Irina Ketkin

I have been in Learning and Development since 2011, focusing on soft skills, leadership and management, and team development. I have designed and facilitated over 1000 custom development programs for multinational corporations in the IT and online gaming sectors and working with employees and managers in different hierarchical levels in Europe, Asia, North America and Africa.

The toolkit that makes this practical

This path gives you the frameworks and the thinking. If you want to put it into action straight away, we've built a set of ready-to-use templates specifically for L&D leaders — covering strategy planning, leadership development programme design and ROI calculation.
Browse L&D resources

FAQ

  • Is this path really free?

    Yes, completely. No credit card, no trial period. Create a free account and start immediately.

  • What level of experience do I need?

    This path is designed for experienced L&D practitioners — ideally with at least two to three years in the field. If you're still building your foundational skills, we'd recommend starting with the L&D Foundations path first.

  • How long does it take to complete?

    The content totals around 4–5 hours across videos and articles. The Building a Learning Culture video is the longest piece at around 50 minutes and is worth the time. Most people complete the path over two to three weeks.

  • Will I get a certificate?

    Yes — you'll receive a completion certificate from The L&D Academy when you finish the path.

  • Is there a paid course that follows this path?

    Not yet — this is for our most senior audience and we're developing dedicated course content for L&D leaders. In the meantime, the paid resource toolkits are the best way to go deeper on specific areas covered in the path.

  • I'm in HR rather than a dedicated L&D role. Is this still useful?

    Yes — particularly if learning and development falls within your remit. The strategy, stakeholder and measurement content is directly applicable to HR leaders who need to build or oversee an L&D function without a specialist team.

  • Can I share this path with my team?

    Absolutely. The path is free and open — anyone can enrol. If you have a team of L&D practitioners you want to develop, the L&D Foundations path is likely a better fit for them.

Ready to lead with more impact?

Free. Self-paced. Built for L&D leaders.

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