Learning Through Experience

In this new season of the Learning Through Experience podcast, we’re digging into something that resonates deeply with everyone right now: facing uncertainty. In a time marked by political shifts, social upheaval, and personal challenges, uncertainty isn't just a backdrop—it’s the environment we’re all navigating. But rather than viewing it as something to endure or escape, Heidi invites listeners to explore how we can learn our way through uncertainty, finding meaning, resilience, and even growth in the process.

In these episodes, you’ll hear from a diverse range of guests who bring their own stories, insights and perspectives on what it means to confront the unknown. From personal transformations to organizational shifts, from the micro to the macro, we’ll explore how facing uncertainty can become a catalyst for learning—inviting curiosity, fostering grit and shaping new ways of being.

Importantly, this isn’t a deep dive into the science of uncertainty or a prescriptive guide to resilience. Instead, it’s an open, accessible exploration of the human experience. Heidi and her guests will reflect on the felt, emotional dimensions of navigating the unknown—those moments when clarity feels just out of reach, and yet, something new begins to emerge.

Learning Through Experience has always been about more than just facts; it’s about the journey of discovery. This season, as we face uncertainty together, we hope to uncover not just how to survive it, but how to grow, connect and find meaning along the way. Welcome to Season 4. We love having you here.

Learning Through Experience is produced through the Yale School of Management.

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Heidi Brooks

Senior Lecturer in Organizational Behavior
Heidi Brooks
Bio

Heidi Brooks teaches and advises on the subject of everyday leadership: the everyday micro-moments of impact that shape our lived experiences. Creating more courageous communities—especially within organizations—is a particular passion of hers. Dr. Brooks specializes in large-scale culture change projects focused on individual and collective leadership effectiveness in organizations.

Interpersonal Dynamics, the MBA elective she has taught for 15 years, is one of the courses most in demand at Yale School of Management. Dr. Brooks pioneered the Everyday Leadership course at SOM, where she first taught the Principles of Everyday Leadership. She has also taught Emotional Intelligence, Power & Politics, Managing Teams and Groups, and Coaching Skills for Managers. Dr. Brooks received her doctorate in psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree from Brown University. She is a lifelong experiential learner; you can find her as a student in classrooms as far-ranging as improvisational theater and immersion language lessons.

Episodes

  • Podcast
    Season 1
    Episode 1
    Duration 09:10

    Introducing Dr. Heidi Brooks and ‘Learning through Experience’

    We are overloaded with so much information that we become full of ideas but too often lack the time to reflect, practice, and enact wisely. Ideas are not enough—we cannot run life by syllabus and read our way through—we have to learn our way through much of the experience of life, and integrate information as sensemaking to help us get better as we go.