The Science of Excellence

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Carlee Wolfe, AVP of Talent and Organizational Effectiveness at Hyatt Hotels. She also serves as a member of the Baltimore Workforce Development Board. We talked about why most AI strategies are just "implement and hope," how to move from tool thinking to systems thinking, and why competing on efficiency alone is a race to the...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Neil Hunter, Chief Learning Officer at Deloitte Canada. Neil has spent his career building talent in professional services and is now leading the change on how organizations develop people in the age of AI.We talked about why AI is hollowing out junior expertise, how to scale apprenticeship, and why the highest form of learning is actua...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Benoit Hardy-Vallee, Director of Human Capital at Deloitte Canada. Benoit has spent years helping organizations move beyond content delivery to build real capability. We talked about why consuming content doesn't develop skills, how to bring back the apprenticeship model in distributed work environments, and why L&D needs to bec...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Kim Eldred, Director of Talent Development & Management from RSM, where she leads L&D for the consulting practice. Two and a half years ago, she inherited a delivery center. She’s been turning it into an advisory function ever since, against resistance from both the business and her own team. We talked about why AI has made this...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Ryan McCrea, President of the St. Louis Organization Development Network and author of Quick Bites of Insight. Ryan has spent 22 years in HR with the last 15 focused on leadership development. Managers are massively undervalued. The Workforce Institute found that leaders impact employees' mental health nearly as much as their spouse...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Laura Bartus, Head of Learning and Development at Humana, a Fortune 50 healthcare company. We talked about how change is emotional before it's organizational, why cohort-based learning with accountability partners drives results, and how to measure impact with metrics leaders care about. These 4 insights stood out:-Address the Emoti...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Michael Trinder, Director of Workforce Solutions & Capability Architecture at AlixPartners, a global consulting firm. We talked about why L&D struggles with credibility, how validation-seeking creates transactional relationships, and why inaccessible language alienates the business. Michael shared his S.E.A.T.S. framework that h...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Heather Balcerek, Sr. Manager of Corporate L&D at Maximus, a government contractor with over 250 contracts across federal and state health and human services. We talked about why their contracts operating like individual companies forced Maximus towards a skills-based model, how they justify ROI beyond pure dollars, and why adoption...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Kelly Stuart-Johnson and Jamie Forman from global learning and development at VML, one of the world's largest creative agencies. Kelly and her team of five support 26,000 employees, delivering outsized impact through creative approaches to learning. We talked about how they moved VML from 9% to number one in adopting WPP Open, their...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Florence Evina-Ze Baez, EVP at Bain Capital, where she partners with portfolio company executives to drive strategy and performance. Florence brings experience from leading distributed teams at Ipsy and consulting at McKinsey. We talked about what unlocks human potential, how simple goals create alignment at scale, why getting people in...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Kevin Bishop, Director of Talent Development at LinkedIn. He shared their workplace research on how careers are becoming increasingly non-linear and why organizations need to rethink how they develop and deploy talent. We talked about their finding that 70% of skills will change by 2030, why pods and squads are replacing traditional tea...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Dr. Grace Chang at EY, who brings a neuroscience and behavioral science background to learning design. She's spent years translating brain research into practical principles that L&D teams can use to create learning that actually sticks. We talked about what separates exceptional learning from ordinary training, the gap between...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Arkesh Mishra, who leads skills-based transformation for Walmart's 12,000-person tech organization. He's spent years building a capability framework that connects skills to hiring, rewards, promotions, and learning—and now he's refreshing it for AI.Our conversation explored why skills have become essential for AI adoption. A...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Jenn Nicks, who leads L&D for CBRE's property management division. She's done something most L&D leaders only dream about—turned her team into a revenue-generating function by creating customer experience training that they sell to clients. We talked about how she built credibility through internal work first, why the ma...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Caro Paduch, Global People Programs Lead at GlobalLogic, where she specializes in career growth and talent strategy. Caro brings a global perspective to her work helping leaders navigate complexity across cultures and functions. Our conversation explored why collaborative leadership has become essential in today's rapidly changing w...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Michael Frino and Katie P. Desiderio, co-authors of "The Stargazer," a leadership fable that introduces their COMPASS framework for team development. Michael and Katie bring a scholar-practitioner perspective, combining academic rigor with storytelling. Their work focuses on the "tri-level of leadership"—individual,...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Dominik Rus, Global Head of L&D Innovation and Technology at TTEC, who presented "Science First, AI Second: Building Learning Experiences with the Right Foundation." His core argument: before augmenting learning with AI, we need to understand the fundamentals of how people actually learn. Dom is not too keen on L&D pro...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Hillary Miller, who leads learning initiatives at HCA Healthcare. Hillary shared hard-won lessons about communication, change management, and building empathy across enterprise-level organizations. Her approach focuses on reducing noise, building champion networks, and creating federated models that balance central governance with local...

In this episode, I spoke with Femi Adebayo, who leads talent development at DHL where they support personal growth for 600,000 employees globally. His approach centers on what he calls the "inner journey" and "outer journey" of development, balancing individual reflection with external challenges and feedback. Femi shared how DHL has built a culture where personal development isn't just encouraged...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Allison Brotman, who leads learning at UKG where they train over 800,000 learners per year with ~95% satisfaction. Allison shared how UKG supports learning at a massive scale through a blend of formal training, social learning, and performance support. What also stood out in our conversation was her perspective on the role that human-to...

In this episode of the Science of Excellence, I sat down with Rashi Kakkar, who's leading a transformation at McKinsey's L&D function by applying product operating principles to learning and development. he's tackling one of the most common frustrations in L&D: how to move from being order takers to strategic advisors. The conversation revealed a powerful insight: the order tak...

Leaders are obsessing over strategy, process, and technology at a time when traditional leadership playbooks are failing. Meanwhile, 75% of employees say the most stressful part of their day is time with their manager. What if the real challenge isn't what we're building, but how we're leading the people building it? In this episode of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, I spoke with Ramesh Srinivasan, Dea...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Jessica Lindl, Author of The Career Game Loop. Jessica brings her experience from both education technology and gaming industries to reshape how we think about career development. We talked about her Career Game Loop framework and how gaming principles can transform career planning. She offers a new perspective that turns career anxiety...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Keith Lillico, Associate Director of Global Learning Development at a Fortune 100 Pharma Company, where he leads enterprise-scale learning initiatives. We discussed how he's taking a different approach to learning design, focusing not on chasing shiny new tech, but on understanding the deeper psychological drivers that make people g...

In this episode of The Science of Excellence, I sat down with Subbu Kalpathi, Talent and OD professional, podcast host and author. We talked about how companies can make the most of having different generations working together. Subbu offers a fresh take on a topic that's usually full of stereotypes. He looks at the broader context and life stages that shape how people act at work. These 4 ins...