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

Most learning and development spend gets justified by completion rates and course counts, not by whether anyone actually changed how they lead. Nick Gonios, VP of Learning Transformation at TalentLMS, has spent 30 years building and scaling technology companies, and he thinks L&D has been solving the wrong problem for decades. He joins Kent to unpack what he calls the capability paradox, and why building capability, not dependency, has to be the goal.Guest: Nick Gonios is VP of Learning Transformation and company ambassador for TalentLMS (part of Epignosis), with more than 30 years building and scaling technology companies, including roles at Microsoft and Fujitsu, several startups, and a stint as public-facing CEO of a software company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.In this episode:[00:49] — Kent opens on why "building capability, not dependency" is today's topic[02:13] — Nick's path from Sydney to Athens: 30 years in tech, Microsoft, startups, and taking a software company public[05:16] — Nick's "lowercase L, uppercase T" theory of learning transformation[11:04] — Why HR "plant tours" miss the real problems, and what minimal viable learning looks like instead[19:04] — The Lou Gerstner and IBM story behind "people respect what's inspected of them"[20:28] — The capability paradox: how L&D metrics quietly optimized for the wrong things[27:49] — Why one-to-one coaching has always been too expensive, and what AI changes about that math[42:35] — Nick's advice for leaders in week one of a new roleResources mentioned:Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Leading a Great Enterprise Through Dramatic Change by Louis V. Gerstner Jr.TalentLMS, TalentHR, and TalentCardsLinks for today's show:Nick Gonios on LinkedIn TalentLMSKent Kniebel on LinkedInThe Promoted Leader ToolkitMusic for this podcast comes from a live recording of the song Needle & Thread and is provided with permission by Pert' Near Sandstone. Check them out on pertnearsandstone.com and on all major streaming platforms.Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps more leaders find the show.

Most leaders think they need better slides or better wording. Bryan Flanagan, who spent 14 years at IBM before a chance meeting with Zig Ziglar turned into a 29-year career at the Zig Ziglar Corporation, says the real gap is almost never content, it's delivery. In this episode, Kent and Bryan dig into why "everybody's in sales" whether it says so on your business card or not, the three keys to a presentation that actually lands, and why the leaders who pause the most tend to be the ones people trust the most.Guest: Bryan Flanagan is CEO of Flanagan Training Group, a 14-year IBM veteran turned 29-year member of the Zig Ziglar Corporation, and a presentation skills coach who has spent decades teaching executives the difference between being comfortable in front of a room and being effective in one.In this episode:01:50 — Bryan's path: 14 years at IBM, a chance meeting with Zig Ziglar, and a 29-year career that followed04:01 — "Everybody makes a living selling something," even if it's not on your business card07:51 — The three keys to presenting: visual, verbal, and validation13:41 — PowerPoint as a support, not a crutch: the six-lines, six-words rule18:28 — Padding and filler words: what Caroline Kennedy's Senate interview revealed22:15 — The four real benefits of pausing instead of filling the silence27:51 — Working the stage with intention, and the Tom Peters story that shows what happens when you don't34:15 — Advice for leaders chasing a promotion, and for those who just landed oneResources mentioned:Silent Messages by Dr. Albert Mehrabian (source of the 7%/38%/55% communication study)Zig Ziglar and the Zig Ziglar Corporation (Bryan's 29-year career home)Links for today's show:Bryan Flanagan on LinkedInFlanagan Training Group on LinkedInFlanagan Training Group websiteKent Kniebel on LinkedInThe Promoted Leader Toolkit

AI can compress weeks of instructional design into minutes, but John Pike, founder and CEO of Parisos Partners, argues that speed isn't the same thing as learning. In this conversation, John and Kent dig into what happens when we remove the friction that actually forms people, why cognitive offloading isn't the same as offloading your humanity, and what leadership development gets wrong when it chases efficiency over practice and accountability.Guest: John Pike is the founder and CEO of Parisos Partners, an executive assessment and development firm, with a background spanning finance, Gallup's strength psychology work, and Korn Ferry's assessment practice.In this episode:02:01 — John's path from accounting to executive assessment and founding Parisos Partners08:23 — Why human-to-human leadership is the work AI won't replace09:01 — How AI has disintermediated instructional design, and why the ROI hasn't shown up yet16:29 — The nephews story: what happens when you rescue people instead of letting them struggle20:49 — What "friction that forms people" actually means for learning professionals23:19 — The rise and fall of the LMS-everything era in leadership development30:46 — Why group coaching and learning circles worked when eLearning alone didn't36:21 — Cognitive offloading: what AI should take off your plate, and what it shouldn't46:16 — Advice for leaders seeking their next promotion48:04 — Advice for leaders in their first 90 days after a promotionResources mentioned:Bob Pike Group's Creating Training Techniques Conference September 13 - 18, 2026The 70:20:10 learning modelTEDx MinneapolisLinks for today's show:John Pike on LinkedInPerissos Partners websiteKent Kniebel on LinkedInThe Promoted Leader ToolkitMusic for this podcast comes from a live recording of the song Needle & Thread and is provided with permission by Pert' Near Sandstone. Check them out on pertnearsandstone.com and on all major streaming platforms.Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps more leaders find the show.

Most leaders never think about speaking as a skill until they're standing in front of a room that expects them to have one. Antoniette Roze, Founder and CEO of WPC Speakers Global, has spent 30 years turning speakers' expertise into careers, and in this episode she breaks down why the best communicators care less about performance and more about the person in front of them. Kent and Antoniette cover everything from executive presence to the neuroscience of the number three, and why nearly every rule of the stage applies just as much in a three-person meeting.Guest: Antoniette Roze is Founder and CEO of WPC Speakers Global, host of the top-ranked SPEAKPact podcast, and a speaker agent who has spent 30 years helping experts build revenue-generating speaking careers.In this episode:02:00 — Meet Antoniette Roze, CEO of WPC Speakers Global and host of the SPEAKPact podcast04:00 — Why speaking is one of the most underused leadership tools06:00 — Executive presence and how it actually shows up on stage09:00 — The two keys to effective speaking (hint: it's not performance)15:00 — How to actually study your audience before you speak to them23:00 — Why the best communicators only give you three things at a time34:00 — The power of silence, pacing, and why fast talkers lose trust49:00 — Advice for leaders chasing a promotion, and for those who just landed oneResources mentioned:SPEAKPact, Antoniette's podcast (speakpact.com)Speaker Revenue Lab, Antoniette's 3-day speaker workshop (speakerrevenuelab.com)Links for today's show:Antoniette Roze on LinkedInSPEAKPact podcastSpeaker Revenue LabKent Kniebel on LinkedInThe Promoted Leader ToolkitMusic for this podcast comes from a live recording of the song Needle & Thread and is provided with permission by Pert' Near Sandstone. Check them out on pertnearsandstone.com and on all major streaming platforms.Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps more leaders find the show.

Most leaders write policies, meetings, and office norms for "the average" employee. Hailey Meyer explains why that instinct quietly costs organizations their best thinking, and what it actually takes to build a culture where neurodivergent team members, and everyone else, can do their best work.Guest: Hailey Meyer is founder of Compassionately Transparent Coaching, a leadership development consultant, ICF-certified coach, and certified ADHD coach practitioner who helps individuals and organizations build neuro-inclusive environments.In this episode:01:50 — Kent welcomes Hailey Meyer to the show02:04 — Hailey's background and her two-part coaching practice04:33 — How Hailey became passionate about neurodiversity coaching09:02 — Kent's own first exposure to neuro-inclusion during the pandemic at Cargill12:00 — Defining neuro-inclusive culture and the business case behind it19:33 — What gets in the way: why leaders label differences as problems22:47 — A practical example: redesigning meetings so every brain can contribute30:16 — Office design, open floor plans, and the case for hybrid work38:52 — Two pieces of advice, one for leaders climbing and one for leaders who just arrivedResources mentioned:Temple Grandin and her work on reducing animal stress (search for this)"Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" by Neil deGrasse TysonThe Neuroleadership Institute (search for this)Adam Grant's research on return-to-office mandates (search for this)The "devil's floor plan" concept, attributed to Carla McLaren (search for this)Links for today's show:Hailey Meyer on LinkedInCompassionately Transparent CoachingKent Kniebel on LinkedInThe Promoted Leader ToolkitMusic for this podcast comes from a live recording of the song Needle & Thread and is provided with permission by Pert' Near Sandstone. Check them out on pertnearsandstone.com and on all major streaming platforms.Enjoyed the episode? Leave a rating and review wherever you listen, it helps more leaders find the show.