Beyond Managers Training: Closing the Gap Between Leadership Knowledge and Practice to Build Psychological Safety and Business Impact using AI (Zoom Virtual)

Speaker Bio: 

Hana Zacay is a leadership development consultant, HR leader, and founder of RiseBud, an AI- based platform dedicated to helping managers turn learning into lasting behavior change.

Hana believes leadership development should create an impact at three levels: the manager, the team, and the business. That's why she founded RiseBud- to help managers build confidence, strengthen leadership habits, foster psychologically safe teams, and create meaningful impact for their organizations. Through consulting, workshops, coaching, and RiseBud, she focuses on closing the gap between leadership knowledge and real-world practice.

With more than a decade of experience in organizational development and human resources, Hana has worked with leaders across startups, global technology companies, and growing organizations. She is passionate about helping managers navigate difficult conversations, lead through change, and create psychologically safe teams.

As President-Elect of the San Diego ATD chapter, Hana is committed to advancing the talent development profession and leveraging the ATD Capability Model to drive meaningful growth, behavior change, and business impact.

Session Description:

• Organizations invest heavily in leadership development ($30 billion a year in the US to be exact), yet many managers still struggle with the day-to-day realities of leading people: giving feedback, navigating difficult conversations, coaching employees, and building trust within their teams.
• This session explores a different approach to leadership development- one focused not on more content, but on consistent practice and behavior change.
• At the core is a simple belief: leadership development must create impact at three levels- the manager, the team, and the business.
• When managers build confidence and strengthen leadership habits, they are better equipped to lead effectively. When managers lead well, teams experience greater trust, psychological safety, and engagement. And when teams thrive, organizations see stronger performance, retention, collaboration, and culture.
• This session will help talent development professionals rethink how leadership capability is built and supported, shifting from one-time learning experiences to ongoing practice embedded in the flow of work.
• Participants will leave with practical ideas for designing leadership development that actually changes behavior- not just increases knowledge.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify why traditional leadership development often fails to translate into behavior change
2. Understand the three levels of leadership impact: manager, team, and business
3. Explore how practice-based learning strengthens leadership capability over time
4. Apply practical strategies to support managers beyond training events leveraging the use of an AI platform
5. Reframe leadership development as an ongoing system, not a one-time intervention

Need help sharing the why with leadership or documenting this development on your performance review?

This session Builds the following Capabilities and skills from the ATD Capability Model:

Personal Capability - Coaching, Supporting managers in developing real-world leadership behaviors through practice and reflection
Professional Capability - Career and Leadership Development, Training Delivery and Facilitation
Organizational Capability - Organization Development and Culture, and Performance Improvement

 

This session has been approved for recertification credits by the Association for Talent Development.