About the Podcast The Step Up brings together experts who help leaders elevate their impact. Each 45-minute episode features conversations with thought leaders, practitioners, and innovators who are changing how we think about leadership development and helping leaders step up their game. Why This Podcast Exists Throughout my career—from my time at organizations like Korn Ferry, Cargill, General Mills, and Buffalo Wild Wings to my current work as an independent leadership consultant—I've witnessed firsthand how leaders struggle during moments of change and transition and when learning higher-level skills. Work never slows down, and leaders often find themselves trying to grow while in the thick of daily demands. The Step Up is designed to provide practical wisdom and actionable strategies that busy leaders can implement immediately to enhance their effectiveness. What to Expect Each episode follows a two-part format: Part One: Leadership Journeys We explore our guest's background, expertise, and unique perspective on leadership development. You'll hear authentic stories about their experiences supporting leaders and the insights they've gained along the way. Part Two: Actionable Strategies Our guests share three specific, practical tools or approaches that you can apply to your leadership right away. We dig into each one, discussing how to implement it effectively in your unique context. Your Host Kent Kniebel brings over 20 years of experience in leadership development, talent management, and DEI consulting to each conversation. Drawing on his background in corporate HR roles and external consulting work, Kent guides discussions that bridge theory and practice, focusing on what really works in today's leadership landscape. Connect with Kent Have questions about the podcast or want to continue the conversation? Connect with Kent on LinkedIn or visit Kniebel Leadership Advisory to learn more about his work supporting leaders during critical transitions.
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The Step UP - Where Leaders, Talent Managers and Leadership Development pros find expert tips for Leadership excellence is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 81. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.
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Episode #57
Why Neuro-Inclusive Cultures Make Every Leader More Effective
Aug 18, 202643 min
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 show 02:04 — Hailey's background and her two-part coaching practice 04:33 — How Hailey became passionate about neurodiversity coaching 09:02 — Kent's own first exposure to neuro-inclusion during the pandemic at Cargill 12:00 — Defining neuro-inclusive culture and the business case behind it 19:33 — What gets in the way: why leaders label differences as problems 22:47 — A practical example: redesigning meetings so every brain can contribute 30:16 — Office design, open floor plans, and the case for hybrid work 38:52 — Two pieces of advice, one for leaders climbing and one for leaders who just arrived Resources mentioned: Temple Grandin and her work on reducing animal stress (search for this) "Astrophysics for People in a Hurry" by Neil deGrasse Tyson The 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 LinkedIn Compassionately Transparent Coaching Kent Kniebel on LinkedIn The Promoted Leader Toolkit Music 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.
Why Rudeness at Work Is Costing Companies Billions
Aug 11, 202643 min
Businesses in the U.S. are losing an estimated $2 billion a day to rudeness and incivility. Not layoffs, not bad strategy, just people being sour, sarcastic, or careless with each other. Dr. John O'Brien has spent 30 years as a psychologist watching what that does to people, and he's spent the last several turning it into a mission: teaching leaders and teams how to catch it before it wrecks a culture. Guest: Dr. John M. O'Brien is a licensed psychologist, executive coach, and founder of Activate Success, and the author of Rudeness Rehab: Reclaiming Civility in the Workplace and Your Home Space. In this episode: 00:40 — Kent's intro and why 1 in 3 promotions fail 01:44 — John's path from psychotherapy to workplace civility 05:00 — The billion-dollar cost of incivility 08:44 — How social media and digital tools fuel workplace rudeness 12:54 — Return-to-office mandates and the narcissism research behind them 17:57 — The three types of incivility, and the one John worries about most 23:19 — What leaders and HR should actually be doing about it 31:50 — The BAM framework for staying calm under pressure 39:16 — Advice for leaders stepping into a new role Resources mentioned: SHRM's research on the cost of workplace incivility ( shrm.org ) Dr. Christine Porath's research on civility at work Andrew Huberman's physiological sigh research, Huberman Lab ( hubermanlab.com ) Adam Grant, Marissa Shandell, and Courtney Elliott's study linking CEO narcissism to return-to-office mandates ( fortune.com ) Rudeness Rehab: Reclaiming Civility in the Workplace and Your Home Space ( rudenessrehab.com ) Civility Matters, John's podcast - ( https://civilitymatters.buzzsprout.com ) Links for today's show: John O'Brien on LinkedIn John's TEDxTufts Talk: Small Slights, Big Consequences Activate Success Rudeness Rehab (book) Kent Kniebel on LinkedIn The Promoted Leader Toolkit Music 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.
The Leadership Lesson You Have to Relearn at Every Level
Aug 4, 202646 min
George Parada spent thirteen years learning to lead inside Cargill's highly structured system, then walked into Meta with almost none of that structure in place, and had to rebuild it from scratch. Today, as an account executive at JLL leading a 300-plus person team, he's still relearning the same lesson: letting go of the work that made him successful in the first place. Guest: George Parada is an Account Executive at JLL, where he has strategic oversight of a 300+ person team supporting a life sciences client in the Bay Area. His career spans 13 years at Cargill (production supervisor to Director of Engineering), an 18-month stint in food and beverage, three years at Meta, and now JLL. In this episode: [02:14] — George's career path: Cargill to Meta to JLL, and why he stepped back into an individual contributor role on purpose [06:04] — What changed moving from a 150-year-old structured company to a startup-like Meta [10:38] — The hardest transition of his career: becoming the person the buck stops with [13:30] — Leading functions he has no background in, using a RACI framework [17:19] — The line from his facilitator that reframed how he leads: "I may no longer be six feet from the work, but I'm six feet from the solution" [23:08] — Working "miles across but only inches deep," and why he forces his team to plant progress flags [25:50] — Why he keeps his own name off the RACI for the roles he's filled [32:14] — The lesson he wishes he'd learned sooner: setting expectations and accountability from day one [37:33] — Why "meets expectations" isn't a bad rating, and the trap of grade-inflating it anyway [40:50] — His advice for leaders chasing the next promotion: build your board of directors [42:54] — His advice for newly promoted leaders: read The First 90 Days and establish your norms before you get popular Resources mentioned: The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins RACI framework (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) Links for today's show: George Parada on LinkedIn Kent Kniebel on LinkedIn The Promoted Leader Toolkit Music 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.
Why Middle Managers Are the Emotional Shock Absorbers of Change
Jul 28, 202642 min
Dana Echert has spent her career watching the same pattern repeat across hospitality, a Forbes Five Star resort, and a hypergrowth tech company: organizations know emotional intelligence matters, and still struggle to build it. In this episode, she and Kent dig into why EQ, not technical skill, now decides who survives the flattening happening across middle management, and what it actually looks like to lead yourself before you try to lead a team. Guest: Dana Echert, CPTM, SHRM-CP is the founder of INSPIRE, where she helps organizations build emotional intelligence, trust, and psychological safety into their leadership pipelines. In this episode: 02:18 — Dana's path from 22-year-old restaurant manager to building leadership development programs 05:48 — The director who pulled Dana and her team aside to apologize, and what it taught her about leadership 13:36 — Why middle managers have become the emotional shock absorbers of constant change 14:32 — Why EQ, not technical skill, decides who survives organizational flattening 21:01 — The difference between a leader who reacts and one who responds 25:07 — Why "you need EQ training" backfires, and what actually shifts behavior 26:40 — The Five Guys fries analogy for making the business case on trust 37:01 — Dana's advice for leaders preparing for their next promotion Resources mentioned: Google's Project Aristotle (research on psychological safety as the top driver of team performance) The EQ Lab, Dana's three-month leadership development journey Trust and EQ Reset Workshop, Dana's single-session offering for teams navigating change Links for today's show: Dana Echert on LinkedIn INSPIRE (Dana's company) Kent Kniebel on LinkedIn The Promoted Leader Toolkit Music 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.
Power Fades. Influence Lasts. Building Relationships Before You Need Them
Jul 21, 202642 min
What does it actually mean to lead without authority — and why do so many smart, capable leaders never learn how? Mike Krupit spent 25 years building startups from engineer to CTO to COO to CEO before founding Trajectify, and his answer is simple: most people try to lead with power because it's faster. The problem is it runs out. In this episode, Mike and Kent dig into why influence outlasts authority, what it actually takes to build it, and why the shift to remote and hybrid work is quietly eroding the relationship capital leaders depend on most. Guest: Mike Krupit is the CEO of Trajectify, an executive coaching and advisory firm helping leaders and organizations break through growth plateaus by developing stronger people skills alongside stronger strategy. In this episode: [01:49] — Mike's career arc: from engineer to CEO across 25 years in Silicon Valley startups [04:54] — How startup leaders skip leadership levels vs. the corporate path — and what each approach misses [12:14] — The story that crystallized it: a director who quit rather than learn to lead without the CEO's authority [15:17] — Where Mike starts when leaders complain about "no accountability" — and why it's almost always a relationship problem [18:27] — The bank account metaphor: why you have to make deposits before you can make withdrawals [22:11] — How remote and hybrid work is unwinding the basic building blocks of influence [25:19] — "Leaders should never eat alone" — the VP of HR who told Mike to put down his lunch and go to the cafeteria [29:24] — Relationship mapping and the "is this manipulation?" pushback Mike and Kent both get from clients [34:55] — Mike's summary: power fades fast, influence lasts long, and 80% of it is rapport [35:59] — Advice for promotion seekers: lead with authenticity over idealism [37:35] — Advice for the newly promoted: your fears haven't happened and probably won't — take the next step Resources mentioned: Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi — the book on intentional relationship-building that came up in the conversation Teddy Roosevelt quote: "People don't care what you think until they think that you care" Trajectify — trajectify.com Links for today's show: Mike Krupit on LinkedIn Trajectify Kent Kniebel on LinkedIn The Promoted Leader Toolkit Music 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.
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