Lead the People

Matt Poepsel, PhD
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Management
  • Weekly

Lead The People is your guide to unlocking your true potential as an authentic leader. Hosted by Dr. Matt Poepsel—The Godfather of Talent Optimization—this podcast dives deep into the art and science of what it takes to lead at the next level. With insightful conversations and practical strategies, each episode equips executives, strategic HR pros, and aspiring leaders with the tools it takes to boost performance, inspire teams, and drive meaningful impact. Whether exploring the latest workplace trends or tackling real-world leadership challenges, Lead The People offers an enlightened approach to leadership. Embark on a rewarding journey to become the leader your people deserve—the leader you were meant to be.

  1. 2d ago

    #195 Why Raises Won’t Fix a Disengaged Team (feat. Dave Garrison)

    Start with our free behavioral assessment. Go to trypi.com/ltp . Dave Garrison’s factory client was sure workers were leaving for General Electric because the pay was better. So Dave had them run small group sessions and ask what was really going on. People were finding out on Wednesday or Thursday how many hours of Saturday overtime they owed, after they had already promised their kids a ball game or a church picnic. Once leaders posted the schedule two weeks ahead, the problem went away. Dave ran public and venture-backed companies as a CEO and served on the Ameritrade board, and he says most leaders hear “I got a better job,” write a story about money, and never find out what the people who left would have said. Matt Poepsel sits down with Dave Garrison, Chief Navigation Officer at Garrison Growth and author of The Buy-In Advantage: Why Employees Stop Caring and How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Give Their All, to talk about the polite “okay” that follows a big announcement and what it hides. Dave explains why a team that seems fine may only be compliant, why exit interviews rarely tell the truth, and why debate in meetings wastes time you could spend collecting everyone’s ideas. He also makes the case that AI adoption stalls for the same reason as every other initiative. People were done to, not done with. What you’ll learn: Compliance Looks Like Buy-In: Teams that say “tell me what you want me to do” will stay mercenaries until leaders meet four needs. People want a purpose beyond money, to be seen as a human being and not a human doing, room to grow, and a voice in how the work gets done.Share the Checklist, Not the Idea: Skip “any questions?” Give your team the criteria that tell you an idea is good, let them brainstorm first, and put your own idea on the board last.Weigh the Ox: Galton’s county fair and a classroom election guess both show how collective genius works. Collect everyone’s input with no debate, give each person four votes, and let the leader go last.Three Is Greater Than Seven: A CEO with twenty ideas leaves managers guessing which one will get asked about. Hold to three until they’re finished and keep the rest on a “next ideas” list.Highlights:(0:00) Meet Dave Garrison(2:23) What happens when you tell a team “this is what we’re going to do?”(5:34) When to be directive and when to be participative(11:53) The factory story and the General Electric pay assumption(14:59) Why giving answers got us promoted and why it’s hard to shake(16:34) Slowing down to ask questions in a business demanding speed(21:05) How people are wired and why quieter voices get steamrolled(23:18) “Three is greater than seven” when you’re the guy with seventeen priorities(26:15) Leaders who think their people are coin operated(27:51) Why resistance to AI adoption is a buy-in problem(31:37) Are You Smarter Than AI? Resources:Follow Dave on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-garrison-growth/Take the free buy-in assessment at garrisongrowth.comFollow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/Subscribe to The Predictive Index on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePredictiveIndex Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: shareyourgenius.com Experience it for yourself at trypi.com/ltp .

    #195 Why Raises Won’t Fix a Disengaged Team (feat. Dave Garrison)

  2. Oct 22

    #194 Why "I'll Be Happy When" Holds Leaders Back (feat. Jay Abbasi)

    Start with our free behavioral assessment. Go to trypi.com/ltp . Jay Abbasi was 40 pounds overweight, his marriage was falling apart, and he was working himself into the ground for a promotion in finance. It took the sudden death of his father to make him ask the question that now drives his work: do I have to sacrifice joy and happiness for achievement? Years later, Jay has an answer, and it comes with a formula. Matt Poepsel sits down with Jay Abbasi, CEO and Founder of The Conscious Professional, to take apart the idea that leaders have to pick between results and wellbeing. Jay spent years leading Tesla's national training program before building a coaching practice that now includes leaders at Google, Amazon, and Wells Fargo. He and Matt dig into the "I'll be happy when" trap, then Jay walks through a hole in the jungle that shows what empathy looks like when it gets someone out. A Lego exercise at Tesla proves how often leaders hold onto the card instead of handing it over. From there, Jay lays out his resilience formula in a specific order: energy plus space plus choice. They land on "mind freeness," 15-minute meetings, and why every ambitious leader needs to get more bored. What you'll learn: Joy as fuel: Flip "I'll be happy when" into "I am happy now," and treat joy as what powers every step up the mountain.Honesty is kindness: Sitting in the hole with a struggling employee keeps you both stuck. Tie the rope to the tree trunk, reach down, and have the hard performance conversation.The resilience formula: Protect your energy first, build in space second, then choose how you respond. Jay argues the order matters, and so does a calendar full of 15-minute meetings.Delegation protects energy: Holding onto everything feeds control and ego. Handing over the card frees you to do the work only you can do. Highlights: (00:00) Meet Jay Abbasi(02:33) What makes high performers unhappy in the first place?(04:11) "I'll be happy when" versus happy now(05:39) The other extreme: happy but not performing(09:16) Honesty is kindness(12:20) Can you be friends with your employees?(17:58) The resilience formula: energy plus space plus choice(21:48) The Lego house and the card you won't hand over(24:53) Is space a calendar problem?(29:54) Nothing is life or death(31:45) Are you smarter than AI? Resources: Follow Jay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayabbasi/Visit Jay's website: https://jayabbasi.me Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/Subscribe to The Predictive Index on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePredictiveIndex Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: shareyourgenius.com Experience it for yourself at trypi.com/ltp .

    #194 Why "I'll Be Happy When" Holds Leaders Back (feat. Jay Abbasi)

  3. Oct 15

    #193 Why Cutting Managers Is Breaking Your Change Strategy (feat. Jordana Cole)

    Start with our free behavioral assessment. Go to trypi.com/ltp . Cutting middle managers to save money is the trend everyone's calling unbossing. Jordana Cole calls it a mistake dressed up as a strategy. As President and Principal Consultant at Ignited, she's watched organizations de-layer their way into a leadership gap, then wonder why their change initiatives quietly die. Matt Poepsel presses her on the real cost: spans of control jumping from seven direct reports to twelve, managers burning out with less support and less job security, and change efforts stalling because nobody's left to walk them the "last mile." Jordana argues change is a habit built one conversation at a time, not a rollout you check off a list. She also shares her "supermarket rule" for catching vague engagement survey questions before they waste a team's time, and argues that AI should amplify a leader's instincts instead of replacing the hard parts of the job. Oh, and she owns 14 ukuleles, which becomes relevant later. What you'll learn: Why Unbossing Backfires: Span of control has jumped from seven direct reports to twelve in some organizations, and that math quietly kills development time.Change Is a Habit: Sustainable change doesn't happen at rollout. It's built through the small, repeated conversations leaders have after the announcement.The Supermarket Rule: If two people could read the same engagement survey question and answer it differently, the question hasn't done its job yet.AI as Amplifier, Not Replacement: Jordana trains her own AI on what energizes her and what drains her, turning it into a pattern-spotter instead of a task-taker. Highlights:(00:00) Meet Jordana Cole(02:48) What convinced Jordana leadership can be taught(05:24) Why change is a habit, not a single launch(09:45) The burnout hiding inside middle management(12:34) The real math behind unbossing(16:42) Turning engagement survey scores into action(17:53) The supermarket rule for vague survey questions(22:05) Leadership as a facilitator of momentum(25:26) Moving AI from replacement to amplification(33:21) Trivia: are we smarter than AI Resources:Follow Jordana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordana-cole-mapp-pcc-a8445a8/Visit Jordana's website: https://ignitedbyjordana.comWatch Jordana's TEDx talk, "What to Do When You Don't Know What's Next," on YouTube Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/Subscribe to The Predictive Index on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePredictiveIndex Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: shareyourgenius.com Experience it for yourself at trypi.com/ltp .

    #193 Why Cutting Managers Is Breaking Your Change Strategy (feat. Jordana Cole)

  4. Oct 8

    #192 The New Role of Managers in the Age of AI (feat. Joel Pipher)

    Start with our free behavioral assessment. Go to trypi.com/ltp . AI transformation isn’t just a technology problem; it’s a management problem. Executives want faster adoption, employees are wondering what AI means for their jobs, and managers are stuck in the middle trying to turn all that uncertainty into something their teams can actually work with. Matt Poepsel sits down with Joel Pipher, who leads AI transformation at The Predictive Index, to unpack what it takes to grow with AI without losing the human side of work. Drawing from his experience building AI programs inside large enterprises and startups, Joel breaks down why AI adoption needs a clear North Star, why experimentation has to become part of how teams work, and why managers can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. Together, they explore what happens when managers start leading both people and AI agents, and why the leaders who learn to translate, experiment, and role-model the change will be the ones best equipped for what comes next. What you'll learn: Managers Aren’t Just Messengers: The middle manager becomes the translation layer between executive AI ambition and what the team actually needs day to dayAI Adoption Needs a North Star: AI works best when it is tied to a clear business direction instead of becoming adoption for adoption’s sakeCreate Space to Experiment: Protect time, budget, and knowledge-sharing so AI experimentation becomes part of the work, not extra workManagers Will Lead Humans and AI Agents: The next challenge is figuring out how people and agents work together without losing the human side of management Highlights:(00:00) Meet Joel Pipher(01:45) AI transformation puts managers in the middle(02:42) Early lessons from AI transformation(07:34) AI in a startup environment(10:01) Why AI adoption needs a clear North Star(13:29) The manager’s role as the translation layer(15:13) Creating space for teams to experiment with AI(17:07) How AI can help managers lead better(18:07) Why managers need to role-model AI adoption(21:48) Practical ways to build an experimentation culture(26:15) What’s next for AI and managers Resources:Follow Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelpipher/ Learn more about The Predictive Index: https://www.predictiveindex.com/ Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/Subscribe to The Predictive Index on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePredictiveIndex Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: shareyourgenius.com Experience it for yourself at trypi.com/ltp .

    #192 The New Role of Managers in the Age of AI (feat. Joel Pipher)

  5. Oct 1

    #191 How Uber's Culture Broke Its Brand Promise (feat. Denise Lee Yohn)

    Start with our free behavioral assessment. Go to trypi.com/ltp . Travis Kalanick built Uber on a promise of democratic freedom, everyone gets to feel like a rockstar, not just people who can afford a limo. Denise Lee Yohn tells Matt Poepsel what came next: a tech-bro internal culture so far removed from that promise that customers eventually deleted the app in protest. "We're not going to believe what you say about yourself," she says. "We're actually going to act on what we know and experience about your brand." That gap between the brand a company claims and the culture it actually runs on is the subject of this conversation. Denise, founder of Denise Lee Yohn, Inc. and author of Fusion: How Integrating Brand and Culture Powers the World's Greatest Companies, walks Matt through what she learned as Sony Electronics' first brand manager, why category values like integrity and teamwork are table stakes rather than differentiators, and why she treats customer experience and employee experience as manifestations of the same underlying culture rather than two separate budget lines. She also makes the case, using an analogy about parents who only listen to one of two kids, for why employee feedback deserves the same weight leaders give customer feedback. You'll learn: Brand Starts Inside: Internal alignment and clarity have to come before any outward campaign, or the brand promise rings hollow.Category Values Aren't Core Values: Integrity, teamwork, and respect are table stakes, distinctive values are what actually drive differentiation.CX and EX Are One System: Employees can't deliver an experience they don't personally have; treating customer and employee experience separately costs you both.Culture Needs Deliberate Energy: Values on a poster don't do anything, they need to show up in meetings, recognition, and daily operations. Highlights:(00:00) Meet Denise Lee Yohn(02:39) Why brand building needs to start inside a company(06:01) When Uber's brand promise and internal culture didn't match(08:02) Operationalizing values instead of just aspiring to them(09:10) Category values versus core values(13:18) Treating customer experience and employee experience as one system(16:26) The parent who only listens to one of two kids(17:15) Why employee expertise is a competitive advantage(20:20) Everyone contributes to culture, not just leadership(26:06) Reinforcing values through recognition in daily meetings(28:53) Are you smarter than AI? Resources:Learn more about Denise Lee Yohn: https://deniseleeyohn.comFollow Denise on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deniseleeyohn Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/Subscribe to The Predictive Index on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePredictiveIndex Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: shareyourgenius.com Experience it for yourself at trypi.com/ltp .

    #191 How Uber's Culture Broke Its Brand Promise (feat. Denise Lee Yohn)

  6. Sep 24

    #190 Why 70% of Transformations Still Fail (feat. Jackie Insinger)

    Start with our free behavioral assessment. Go to trypi.com/ltp . Most leadership models still treat change like a project: a start, an end, and a return to normal in between. Jackie Insinger, CEO and Founder of Spark Brilliance, argues that premise is exactly what's breaking down. There's no dry land left to land on, which means the old idea of "managing" change through to completion isn't just outdated; it's the thing quietly wearing leaders and teams down. Matt Poepsel sits down with Jackie Insinger, CEO and Founder of Spark Brilliance, to unpack her new framework, the Four Drivers of Change: signal, safety, agency, and purpose. Jackie makes the case that a single leadership style can't hold up once things get this unpredictable; leaders need to read what a team actually needs moment to moment, the same instinct behind PI's behavioral data. She and Matt dig past the framework's language into what each driver actually looks like in practice: what a leader says in the first five minutes of a hard conversation, how they respond when someone brings them a mistake, and why purpose, the thing everyone's told to lead with, only works once trust, safety, and ownership are already in place. What you'll learn: Change Management Is a Dying Model: With no beginning or end to disruption anymore, leaders need durable capacity to navigate change continuously, not a sequence of steps to manage through it.One Leadership Style Doesn't Survive Pressure: Reading what a team needs in the moment, not defaulting to a fixed style, is what separates leaders who keep their people moving from those who lose them.Signal Becomes Culture in 33 Milliseconds: Teams absorb a leader's emotional state almost instantly. The signal a leader sends, intentional or not, becomes the echo across the whole organization.Purpose Is the Last Driver, Not the First: People need signal, safety, and agency in place before purpose can activate anything: skip the order, and even a great "why" falls flat. Highlights:(00:00) Meet Jackie Insinger(03:24) The forces driving change all at once(06:18) Why change management hasn't worked in 30 years(08:08) Introducing the Four Drivers of Change(15:28) Signal: the echo every leader sends(19:06) Safety: building a culture where mistakes surface early(22:02) Agency: the difference between compliance and commitment(24:50) Purpose: why "start with why" comes last(29:28) Building self-care into the change model(33:25) Where to find Jackie's free leadership diagnostics Resources:Follow Jackie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackieinsinger/Learn more about Spark Brilliance: https://www.sparkbrilliance.com Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/Subscribe to The Predictive Index on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePredictiveIndex Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: shareyourgenius.com Experience it for yourself at trypi.com/ltp .

    #190 Why 70% of Transformations Still Fail (feat. Jackie Insinger)

  7. Sep 17

    #189 Stop Calling Your Workers a Line Item (feat. Tracie Sponenberg)

    Start with our free behavioral assessment. Go to trypi.com/ltp . Most leaders can point to their P&L and show you exactly where the money moves. Ask them to point to their people on that same page, and the room goes quiet. For Tracie Sponenberg, who spent nine years as Chief People Officer at The Granite Group, a wholesale distributor with 700+ employees across six states, that silence is the whole problem. Her new book, The Frontline People Strategy, makes the case that distribution and manufacturing leaders have been treating their workforce as a line item instead of the asset that actually drives revenue, and that the fix starts with a mindset most executives have never been taught. Matt Poepsel sits down with Tracie Sponenberg, consultant and author of The Frontline People Strategy, to dig into why "that's just the way it is" is never a real answer for high turnover, why promoting your best forklift operator can quietly wreck your org chart, and why engagement is something you earn, not something you demand. Tracie draws on nearly a decade leading HR through four acquisitions and a pandemic to explain what it actually takes to build a culture for a deskless workforce, and why curiosity, not charisma, is the leadership skill that moves the needle. What  you'll learn: The Turnover You're Not Counting: High turnover isn't just "how the industry is", it's a cost with a real number attached, and leaders who accept it as normal are leaving money on the table.Experience Before Engagement: Engagement is a byproduct of a good employee experience, not something you can push onto people directly.The Promotion Trap: Rewarding your best frontline worker with a management role they're not trained for is a systemic failure, not an individual one.Curiosity as a Leadership Skill: Getting to know frontline workers as people, not job functions, is simple to describe and hard to practice, but it works. Highlights:(00:00) Meet Tracie Sponenberg(03:13) A first job that taught her about bias(04:34) Why "show me your people" exposed a blind spot(06:00) The best ideas live on your front line(09:02) Leading through four acquisitions and a pandemic(10:41) Culture is built location by location, not by memo(12:24) The hidden cost of promoting your best worker(15:37) Engagement is a byproduct, not a goal(18:01) Getting curious is a leadership skill(22:22) The real cost of "that's just the way it is"(25:06) Are You Smarter than AI? Resources:Follow Tracie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traciesponenberg/Learn more about Tracie and her new book, "The Frontline People Strategy"Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/Subscribe to The Predictive Index on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePredictiveIndex Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: shareyourgenius.com Experience it for yourself at trypi.com/ltp .

    #189 Stop Calling Your Workers a Line Item (feat. Tracie Sponenberg)

  8. Sep 10

    #188 What 250-Year-Old Companies Know About Surviving Chaos (feat. Meridith Elliott Powell)

    Start with our free behavioral assessment. Go to trypi.com/ltp . Most leaders treat uncertainty like a storm to wait out. Meridith Elliott Powell has spent two decades proving that's the wrong instinct. As CEO of MotionFirst, author of a benchmark study spanning more than 800 CEOs, and Hall of Fame speaker with the National Speakers Association, she argues the businesses that come out ahead aren't the ones with the most information. They're the ones who move while everyone else is still waiting for the shoe to drop. In this episode, Matt Poepsel sits down with Meridith to dig into why false bravado isolates leaders rather than protects them, why the most durable companies treat their values as a litmus test, and why the antidote to anxiety is always action, not answers. Meridith draws on her research into nine companies that have thrived for 250 years and on her own experience rebuilding after two hurricanes, tracing what actually separates the businesses that grow through disruption from the ones that just survive it. Together, they explore why uncertainty is a team sport, not a solo climb, and how two simple team exercises can build a workforce that's ready for change before it arrives. In this episode, you'll learn: The Upside of Uncertainty: Every major disruption, from world wars to recessions, has also produced real opportunity for the businesses willing to embrace it instead of resisting it.Why False Bravado Backfires: Leaders who insist on having all the answers isolate themselves and their teams; asking for help instead gives people a sense of control.What 250-Year-Old Companies Share: Durable companies pair a clearly communicated vision with values so firm they'll turn away a customer, employee, or product that doesn't align.The Real Job of a Leader: Once you're leading, your job isn't to be the best at the work anymore. It's to produce people better than you at it.Highlights:(00:00) Meet Meridith Elliott Powell(02:34) Why uncertainty always has an upside(03:50) The fear every leader is wired for(05:53) Making change something people choose, not something done to them(06:52) The generation most unprepared to lead(09:25) Why your job now is producing better leaders, not being one(10:40) What nine 250-year-old companies have in common(15:15) Surviving two hurricanes and rebuilding twice(20:06) Two team exercises that build change-ready teams(23:33) Leading through the power of the question Resources:Follow Meridith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meridithelliottpowell/ Meredith’s Website: https://www.meridithelliottpowell.com/Explore Meridith's research and speaking at MotionFirst: https://valuespeaker.com/ Follow MotionFirst on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/motionfirst/ Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/Subscribe to The Predictive Index on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePredictiveIndex Created in partnership with Share Your Genius: shareyourgenius.com Experience it for yourself at trypi.com/ltp .

    #188 What 250-Year-Old Companies Know About Surviving Chaos (feat. Meridith Elliott Powell)
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About

Lead The People is your guide to unlocking your true potential as an authentic leader. Hosted by Dr. Matt Poepsel—The Godfather of Talent Optimization—this podcast dives deep into the art and science of what it takes to lead at the next level. With insightful conversations and practical strategies, each episode equips executives, strategic HR pros, and aspiring leaders with the tools it takes to boost performance, inspire teams, and drive meaningful impact. Whether exploring the latest workplace trends or tackling real-world leadership challenges, Lead The People offers an enlightened approach to leadership. Embark on a rewarding journey to become the leader your people deserve—the leader you were meant to be.

Information

  • Creator
    Matt Poepsel, PhD
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    198
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Lead the People
  • Show Website
    Lead the People

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