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In this episode of Learning Matters, I had the pleasure of speaking with Liz Bruno, an incredibly accomplished learning leader with a unique and inspiring journey. Liz is the former Chief Learning Officer at Baptist Health, where she helped develop and scale a system-wide clinical coach course for new nurses that saw more than 400 completions in just six months. She has been featured in respected publications like the Association for Talent Development and the American Journal of Nursing, and she has received accolades for best practices in learning innovation.
Although she recently retired from her CLO role, Liz hasn’t slowed down. She’s now consulting, continuing to shape learning strategies for organizations across industries. And as she says with a smile, consulting might have come with the promise of a quieter life, but it has proven to be just as busy, only in a way that brings her more flexibility and joy.
Strategy Starts with Organizational Alignment
When asked what she believes is the most important strategy in today’s L&D landscape, Liz didn’t hesitate to emphasize alignment. But not just alignment with learning goals. She talked about aligning learning strategy with broader organizational needs and priorities. For her, it’s about looking beyond compliance training or one-off learning requests and instead focusing on how learning can directly impact performance outcomes.
In Liz’s words, “You have to align with performance needs, business needs and cultural expectations.” This approach requires L&D professionals to be both strategic and adaptable, designing learning experiences that reflect the culture of the organization while still nudging it forward when needed.
She also reminded us that we’re operating in an era of lifelong learning. The pace of change today means that if you’re not continuously learning, you’re falling behind. Upskilling and reskilling are not optional. They are essential and must be ongoing.
Stop Taking Orders, Start Solving Problems
One of Liz’s biggest concerns with how L&D functions in many organizations is the persistent “order-taking” mindset. Stakeholders come with a request, often framed as “we need training,” and L&D teams jump into solution mode without asking enough questions.
Instead, Liz encourages learning leaders to dig into the performance gaps and figure out what’s really going on. “You need to teach people about human performance improvement,” she said. “Training might be the answer, but it might not.”
She stressed that the L&D function should be positioned as a tool for organizational success, not just a service that delivers content. If a knowledge deficit is not the root issue, then training alone won’t fix the problem. And if we continue to treat every challenge as a training issue, we’re missing critical opportunities to improve systems, workflows and outcomes.
The Importance of Relationships and Trust
Throughout our conversation, Liz came back to one core idea: relationships matter. She believes that building credibility and trust with stakeholders is one of the most important things an L&D professional can do. It’s not just about having technical or strategic expertise. It’s about being someone people can count on.
This relationship-building enables you to ask the hard questions. It helps you move from being perceived as a roadblock to being viewed as a partner. Liz called it building “emotional and expertise capital.” When stakeholders know your goal is to help them succeed, they are much more likely to listen, even when the message is tough to hear.
And sometimes, she joked, that relationship starts with bourbon. Yes, bourbon. Because when you’re working with finance folks or other critical stakeholders, sometimes it takes an informal gesture or an unexpected act of kindness to build that bridge.
Her Path from Ballet to Healthcare Leadership
Liz’s professional story is far from traditional. She started her career as a professional ballet dancer before an injury forced her to pivot. That pivot led her into nursing and eventually psychiatric nursing. From there, her passion for teaching naturally evolved into roles in learning and development. She served in the Army Reserve and was eventually encouraged by a mentor to explore teaching as a full-time career.
Over the years, Liz has worked in nearly every corner of healthcare, including acute and forensic psychiatric care. Her eclectic background gave her a deep understanding of people and systems, an ideal foundation for someone tasked with leading organizational learning.
Healthcare Learning Comes with Red Tape and Reality Checks
Healthcare is often seen as a more regulated and complex learning environment, and Liz agrees to some extent. With patient lives at stake, compliance and safety take precedence, which means innovation must always be balanced with risk management and security.
Still, the challenges of healthcare are not unique. Most industries struggle with things like interoperability, budget constraints and organizational resistance. Liz shared a story about a client who got excited about a flashy new learning technology after attending a conference. While the tool looked great on the surface, Liz asked the critical questions. Would it integrate with their existing systems? Did it have a strong support structure? Was it truly ready to be implemented?
As it turned out, the tool was shiny but immature. This was a classic example of where L&D leaders need to serve as reality-check agents. You have to ask the hard questions, even if it means disappointing someone.
Academic Learning vs. Corporate Training
Liz has taught in academic institutions throughout her career and has seen firsthand how different the academic mindset can be from corporate training. She acknowledged that academia is more focused on theoretical foundations and building broad knowledge, while the corporate world is driven by performance, results and speed.
However, she doesn’t see it as an either-or situation. There is great potential in bridging the gap. Academics bring research and depth. Corporate L&D brings agility and application. By finding the “sweet spot” between the two, organizations can tap into the best of both worlds.
The Future of Learning: Digital Fluency, AI and Authentic Communication
As we looked toward the future of L&D, Liz returned to a core principle: digital literacy is essential. L&D professionals must understand how to work with emerging technologies like VR, AI and data analytics. These tools aren’t just trends. They are shaping the future of how people learn.
But she also reminded us that technology cannot replace human connection. Communication, empathy and presence still matter. Liz shared a story about a young nurse who said she preferred texting patients over speaking to them directly. This moment underscored the challenge facing today’s leaders: how to teach effective communication in a digital-first world.
She joked that we often confuse constant communication with connection. Just because you’re sending messages doesn’t mean you’re building relationships.
Words of Wisdom to Her Younger Self
Toward the end of our conversation, I asked Liz what advice she would give to her younger self. Her answer: be bold earlier. In her early career, she hesitated and held back. It wasn’t until her mid-thirties that she began taking bigger chances and stepping fully into leadership.
She encouraged listeners to look for opportunities to grow and take risks, even if they are small ones. Growth does not require perfection. It just requires motion.
