Podcast Summary “Leadership Skills and L&D Trends for Global Teams with Stephanie Fritz of S&P Global”
Meet Dr. Stephanie Fritz
Stephanie Fritz didn’t set out to be a corporate learning leader. Her first love was teaching, she studied to be an elementary school teacher and poured her energy into becoming one. But in her final semester of college, a pivotal student teaching experience made her realize the classroom wasn’t quite right. That realization, while jarring, set her on a path that would eventually lead to her current role as Head of Leadership Development at S&P Global.
Now with over 15 years in learning and development across a range of industries, Stephanie holds a master’s in organizational psychology, a doctorate in adult learning and leadership from Columbia University, and several coaching and assessment certifications. Her journey from schoolteacher to doctor of adult learning is one many in the L&D field will find both relatable and inspiring.
Discovering Learning & Development
Like many of us, Stephanie fell into the L&D profession. After college, she bounced through a few administrative office jobs until a friend flagged a learning coordinator position at a biotech company. The role blended the instructional skills she had from her teaching degree with the administrative experience she’d picked up. Though the position was fairly entry-level, it offered her exposure to higher-level work, and that’s where the spark lit. Stephanie discovered a deep love for facilitation and learning experience design.
“It was everything I loved about being a teacher,” she recalled, “but in a context that was much more intriguing to me than the school system.”
Over time, she grew her career through a range of L&D roles; training, onboarding, talent management, and now designing global leadership development programs for high-impact leaders at S&P.
Big Shifts in the L&D Landscape
Stephanie has had a front-row seat to some of the biggest changes in L&D over the past decade, and the pandemic was certainly one of them.
Virtual learning, she noted, was once a Plan B. But today, it’s a vital way to deliver training at scale, especially in global organizations like S&P Global, where employees are spread across 35+ countries. Not only does virtual training improve accessibility, it also enriches learning through the diversity of voices it brings into the room.
But she’s also quick to point out that not every program should be virtual. “It really should be based on the objective,” she emphasized. Still, the shift has unlocked new possibilities, and she’s excited by how far the technology and facilitation practices have come.
Another trend she sees growing is the integration of wellness and mental health into leadership development. Managers today are expected to be not just performance drivers, but also empathetic listeners and champions of well-being. “The expectations of managers are extraordinary,” she said. “So, organizations need to support them accordingly.”
And she’s encouraged by the increasing number of formal L&D degree programs and certifications that help legitimize the field and fight imposter syndrome, something she knows firsthand. “I wanted something to legitimize my own career path,” she shared. “Getting my doctorate gave me far more options and credibility.”
Looking Ahead: L&D’s Wish List
What’s next for L&D? Stephanie hopes we finally crack the code on measuring learning impact, particularly behavior change. While tracking attendance and knowledge checks is easy, it doesn’t tell the whole story. True behavior change takes time, iteration, and follow-up, which is hard to quantify in short timeframes.
Her dream? A tech-savvy solution that captures long-term learning value to the organization. And maybe, just maybe, AI can help.
“If AI can take away some of the administrative work, that gives us more space to actually measure the stuff that matters,” she said.
Hiring for Potential, Not Just Credentials
When asked what she looks for in hiring, Stephanie shared that none of her team members came in with traditional L&D credentials. Instead, she values problem-solving, organization, and passion for learners over domain expertise. “You can learn the content,” she explained. “But you can’t teach someone to care.”
That said, she sees a big gap in vendor and partner proficiency when it comes to virtual facilitation across platforms like Zoom and Teams. “Most people are only good in one,” she noted, “but we need people who are agile across platforms.” Her advice to partners? Invest in cross-platform proficiency and consider adding a skilled virtual classroom producer to support facilitators.
Go-To Resources and a Book Recommendation
Stephanie’s go-to for industry insights isn’t a learning-specific source, it’s Harvard Business Review. “It helps me understand what leaders are dealing with,” she said, “so I can tailor development to what they actually need.”
As for her favorite book? Organization Development: A Process of Learning and Changing by Warner Burke and Debra Noumair. She called it her “guidebook,” packed with frameworks that help L&D professionals identify where change is needed in an organization, and how to influence it.
It’s not a beach read, she warned, but a practical tool. Her copy is covered in post-its and highlights, a well-worn map of her own leadership development journey.
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