The Step UP - Where Leaders, Talent Managers and Leadership Development pros find expert tips for Leadership excellence

Tom Priebe spent 20-plus years in med device operations — but he'll tell you the function is secondary. This conversation is really about what it means to identity as a leader first, why your career is built on failure, and what it actually looks like to give your people the space to grow. Tom brings a VP-level perspective without any of the polish that usually comes with it. Guest: Tom Priebe is...

Leaders love assessment data. Then it goes on a shelf. Former Hogan Assessments CEO Scott Gregory joins Kent to dig into why the gap between self-awareness and behavior change is so persistent — and what actually moves the needle. They cover how to filter what's worth developing, why context beats comprehensiveness, and the one question every leader should ask before acting on any piece of feedbac...

Vulnerability and emotional intelligence keep coming up in leadership conversations — and Randy Lyman has a physicist's take on why. A patent-holding engineer who spent 36 years doing his own emotional work, Randy makes the case that the inner work isn't soft: it's the mechanism behind every result you care about. Kent and Randy unpack what leaders who want to grow actually have to let go of — and...

Trust isn't built through big gestures. It's built, and broken, through small ones. In this episode, Kent talks with leadership consultant and author Gerd Bents about his Leadership Map framework and what it actually takes to develop as a leader over time. The conversation covers why skills alone aren't enough, how AI is going to break human trust before it builds it, and what it means to lead fro...

Most of us were taught that resilience means gritting your teeth and pushing through. Leadership advisor Angus Nelson challenges that idea head-on — and what he offers instead is both more practical and more human. In this conversation, Kent and Angus explore why a dysregulated nervous system is the most expensive bottleneck in any business, and what leaders can actually do about it. Guest: Angus...

What happens when your technical brilliance gets you promoted — and then becomes your biggest liability? Frank Sherwood spent his early career as a high-performing engineer who needed "finishing school" to survive leadership. In this conversation, Frank traces his career from aerospace engineering at Rosemount to managing a 500-site global real estate portfolio to joining CBRE — and what each tran...

Most companies measure engagement once a year and then throw a happy hour at the results. Seth Thomas, HR leader at Claris Health, argues that's exactly backwards — engagement lives in the 364 other days, not the survey or the social event. In this conversation, Kent and Seth dig into the real relationship between engagement and performance, why feedback culture is harder to build than it looks, a...

What actually changes when you stop being the best individual contributor in the room and start being responsible for the people around you? Nicole Nelson has navigated that question at every level of a 20+ year career in CPG sales, from her first people management role covering Southern California and Hawaii to leading cross-functional teams as a Senior Director. In this conversation, she gets sp...

Leadership expectations are rising faster than leader preparation. That's the tension at the center of this conversation with Justin Roscoe, VP of Learning and Organizational Development at California Credit Union. Justin makes a sharp case that organizations have been treating leadership development as an event when it needs to be an ecosystem, and the results of getting that wrong show up in tur...

Leaders are busy running the business — but leading people is part of the business. So why does that so often fall through the cracks? Kent talks with Jill Gosnell, Corporate Training & Development Manager at Field Aerospace, about the real tension between what HR expects leaders to do and what leaders are actually equipped to handle. Guest: Jill Gosnell has spent her career across corporate L...

Steve Moss served as Chief Marketing Officer at Gilbey Canada, Pillsbury International, Nestle Ice Cream and Imation. Global brands are his sweet spot. Steve reversed Smirnoff declines in Canada and set the brand on a path for six consecutive years of growth. He authored the Pillsbury Company's first global brand manual, for the Green Giant brand. Steve introduced Häagen-Dazs to China, its largest...

DR. GARLAND VANCE believes every person deserves to work with a great leader, and every leader can be great. He has spent over 25 years helping organizations develop the leaders they need to succeed. He authored Gettin' (un)Busy, which Forbes named “one of the seven books everyone on your team should read” and 2020’s Best Business Book by the AuthorElite Awards. DOROTHY WOOD VANCE has been helping...

Kari Loken is an expert in leadership and talent development, people and culture strategy, and organizational effectiveness. As a consultant, coach, and facilitator, she empowers leaders to thrive, navigate change, lead diverse teams, and build healthy, high-performing organizations. With over 15 years of global experience in learning and organizational development, Kari has delivered impactful le...

Atiba de Souza is an author, entrepreneur, and relationship mentor who helps leaders break free from burnout and build teams that take ownership. He wrote The Delegation Trap: It’s Not Them, It’s You, a story-driven guide teaching leaders how to let go of every task and get results that shine. With 25+ years running gyms, bakeries, and food service companies and coaching National Championship yout...

Anna Marie Samson is a people-focused leader, strategist, and culture builder with a passion for helping organizations grow without losing what makes them human. With experience spanning learning and development, talent management, and organizational effectiveness, Anna Marie has spent her career designing systems that unlock performance, engagement, and joy at work. With over two decades of shapi...

Elena Agaragimova is a global talent development expert, speaker, and Co-Founder of Shiftwell.ai—a human-centered performance and wellbeing platform. With over 15 years of experience spanning higher education, corporate learning, and entrepreneurship, Elena helps individuals and organizations unlock growth through practical, neuroscience-backed strategies. She’s passionate about building high-perf...

David Boelens is the Integrated Talent Development (ITD) lead for Operations, Supply Chain, and Quality at Raytheon, an RTX Company. The ITD mission is aimed at connecting people with questions to people with answers in a personal, scalable, and sustainable way. Prior to working at Raytheon, David served in the United States Army as a Cavalry Officer. At Raytheon, he has held roles of increasing r...

As a certified executive coach, Organizational Development strategist, Impact Measurement & Learning expert, and founder of The Trusted Edge, Kasia Hatcher helps strong women and mission-driven organizations lead with clarity, grounded confidence, and measurable impact. Her 20+ years across 20+ countries includes coaching political appointees, senior foreign service officials, and leaders at G...

Daniel Stewart is an Executive Consultant & Coach and serves as President of Stewart Leadership, a global leadership, team, and organizational consulting, training, and coaching firm. He is based out of Milwaukee, WI and has developed thousands of leaders over the past 25 years. He is also the co-author of the award-winning book LEAD NOW: A Personal Leadershi...

Ericka Jones is here to create a spark. A spark for change. A spark of inspiration for transformation. She utilizes her expertise in innovative and strategic leadership to embed programs throughout organizations. She has a deep background in Operations, HR, Learning and Development and DEI. We met while we were both working at Cargill. In today's episode, we're diving into some heavy but super rel...

Molly Conlin Peterson is an executive and career transition coach with over 23 years of experience helping thousands of professionals, leaders, and executives find more meaningful work. Her approach blends positive psychology with the research of Dr. Brené Brown, guiding clients to lead with courage, purpose, and heart. Molly has worked with organizations like Wells Fargo, 3M, SoFi, Feeding Americ...

Molly Conlin Peterson is an executive and career transition coach with over 23 years of experience helping thousands of professionals, leaders, and executives find more meaningful work. Her approach blends positive psychology with the research of Dr. Brené Brown, guiding clients to lead with courage, purpose, and heart. Molly has worked with organizations like Wells Fargo, 3M, SoFi, Feeding Americ...

Ash Seddeek is a leadership communications advisor and speaker coach to Fortune 100 executives. He’s the founder of the Executive Greatness Institute and creator of the Chief Excitement Officer philosophy and the Free Up → Think Up → Speak Up framework, helping leaders transform communication moments into momentum. Ash has coached leaders at Cisco, Uber, and Google to communicate with clarity, con...

Today is a unique episode. Future guest, Adam Walz, is guest hosting today with me, Kent Kniebel, as the guest! We've got a real gem for you today: we're diving into the nitty-gritty of why a shocking one in three promotions tank within the first 18 months, and trust me, it’s a topic that hits home for a lot of us. Our expert guest is here to lay down some solid insights on how organizations can s...

Marcus is the founder of Mammoth Leadership & Organizational Development, where he combines clear strategy, advanced leadership skills, and adaptive technology to help leaders and organizations achieve lasting results. His diverse career spans multiple leadership arenas, including serving as a former non-profit CEO, President and GM of two semi-professional athletic teams, entrepreneur, colleg...