LEADING IN L&D | A BOOK BY DAVID KELLY
A title can give you authority.
It can’t make you someone’s leader.
The part you can control is what you do. Leading in L&D explores 17 behaviors that shape how others experience you and that can build trust, credibility, and influence over time.
Leading in L&D: Transform Everyday Actions Into Extraordinary Leadership, coming from ATD press June 1, 2027
Why this book exists
We tend to talk about leadership as though it is something a person becomes, earns, or receives with a title.
Titles matter. They establish authority, responsibility, and accountability. But they do not determine how other people experience you.
Other people decide whether they trust you, believe you, follow you, or ultimately see you as a leader. They make those judgments based on what you do: how you listen, communicate, make decisions, respond when things get difficult, treat people, and follow through.
That is where this book begins: with the behaviors we can actually examine, practice, and strengthen.
The 17 behaviors
Leading in L&D explores 17 behaviors that shape how others experience us at work. Each chapter helps readers recognize a behavior, consider its impact, understand what can get in the way, and practice it more intentionally.
These behaviors are not a checklist or a guarantee of leadership. They are opportunities to examine what you do and how others experience you.
Integrity
Innovation
Listening
Empathy
Confidence
Vision
Communication
Decision-Making
Problem-Solving
Curiosity
Collaboration
Resilience
Courage
Accountability
Inclusiveness
Self-Awareness
Strategic Thinking
Beginning in February 2027, this page will also become the home for a 17-week series exploring one behavior at a time.
Who this book is for
Individual contributors
You do not need formal authority to begin practicing behaviors that build trust, credibility, and influence.
Emerging leaders
A new title may change your authority. It does not determine how others experience you.
Experienced leaders
Experience and position do not remove the need to examine the behaviors other people actually experience.
L&D teams and organizations
The 17 behaviors offer a shared, observable language for leadership development that can support discussion, reflection, and practice.
Voices from the field
Leadership does not look exactly the same in every person or situation. Throughout the book, perspectives from people across the learning profession show how these behaviors are expressed in real work, what makes them difficult, and what their impact can look like.
About the Author
David Kelly has spent his career working across learning, leadership, professional communities, industry events, and organizational transformation. Leading in L&D brings together that experience with perspectives from across the profession to make the conversation about leadership more concrete, observable, and practical.
Stay connected
Interested in the ideas behind the book? Follow David’s writing and the upcoming 17 Behaviors series, beginning in February 2027.
Author: David Kelly
Publisher: ATD
Publication: June 1, 2027
Format: Printed softcover