Spotlight on Anastasia Grigoras, Learning & Development Training Manager. Dubai.

Anastasia Grigoras shares how her career in the Aviation Industry shaped her move into Learning & Development.

OPINION PIECE

Anastasia Grigoras,

6/3/20263 min read

Can you tell us about your journey and how your experience has shaped your work today?

I started my career in aviation, and that experience shaped a lot of how I work today. You’re constantly dealing with people, often under pressure, and you don’t really have the luxury to prepare—you have to read situations quickly and respond in the moment.

Over time, you develop a sense for people—how they react, what they need, how to adjust your communication without overthinking it. That stayed with me.

When I moved into Learning & Development, I realised how transferable those skills are. Especially working in Dubai, in a fast-paced and very results-driven environment like real estate, it became clear that people don’t need more theory—they need tools they can actually use.

So now, my focus is less on delivering content and more on helping people apply what they learn. How they handle a client conversation, how they respond to pressure, how they present themselves. That’s where the real shift happens.

How would you describe the learning and performance culture you aim to build within your organization?

I don’t see learning as something separate from work. If it stays in a training room, it usually doesn’t go very far. The kind of culture I try to build is one where learning shows up in everyday situations—how people speak to clients, how they handle objections, how they reflect on what worked and what didn’t. Small adjustments, but done consistently.

At the same time, I think ownership is key. Training can guide you, but it can’t do the work for you. Real progress happens when people start paying attention to how they show up—how they communicate, how they react, how they make decisions—and take responsibility for improving it. It’s less about big transformations and more about consistent improvement that compounds over time.

What role does leadership alignment play in ensuring learning initiatives deliver real business impact?

It makes a big difference. Without that alignment, training can easily become something that’s done… but not really used.

When leadership is clear on what they expect and what they want to improve, it becomes much easier to connect learning to actual performance. It gives direction. Otherwise, training risks becoming too general.

It also creates consistency. If people hear one message in training and a different one from leadership, they won’t know which one to follow. But when everything is aligned, it reinforces the same behaviours across the business.

And practically speaking, it allows for quicker adjustments. You can see what’s working, what’s not, and adapt faster instead of waiting until the end of a program to realise something needs to change.

Looking ahead, what do you see as the biggest challenges for L&D and talent development in the next 3–5 years?

I think one of the biggest challenges is moving away from just sharing information. There’s already too much of it, and people don’t necessarily need more.

The real question is: how much of it actually changes behaviour? How much of it shows up in how people communicate, sell, or make decisions?

Another challenge is speed. Markets are moving fast, especially in high-performance environments, and learning needs to keep up. It has to be flexible, relevant, and sometimes adjusted in real time.

There’s also the challenge of keeping people engaged in a meaningful way. Not just attending sessions, but actually being present, practicing, and applying what they learn. That’s where most programs fall short.

What skills and mindsets do you believe professionals need to develop to stay relevant in today’s market?

Communication is a big one. Not just speaking well, but understanding people, adjusting your approach, and building trust quickly. That’s what makes conversations more effective.

Adaptability is also key. Things change, expectations shift, and being able to adjust without losing clarity or confidence makes a big difference.

I would also add self-awareness. The more you understand how you operate—how you react under pressure, how you communicate, what patterns you fall into—the easier it is to improve.

And then there’s ownership. The people who stand out are usually the ones who take responsibility for their growth. They don’t wait to be told what to do—they reflect, they adjust, and they keep working on themselves. It’s not always something very visible, but over time it makes a big difference in how they perform.

Anastasia’s profile:

linkedin.com/in/anastasia-grigoras-the-trainer