Postcard from Tampa

“How we view change is the biggest leadership shift in 30 years.”

– Rob Cordova, innovation expert and facilitator
of our Innovate for Growth session in Tampa

Greetings from Tampa!

Innovation expert Rob Cordova kicked off our 2-day National Sales Meeting here with an Innovate for Growth workshop that filled the room with new ideas, energy, and one memorable mindset shift: “In times of uncertainty, ‘I don’t know’ is a leadership power move.”

A few themes rose to the surface throughout our time together:

In today’s environment, innovative thinking isn’t just a growth strategy. It’s a survival strategy. Yesterday’s playbook won’t win tomorrow’s clients — and that’s as true for us as it is for the organizations we serve. Getting comfortable with not knowing isn’t a weakness. It’s an opportunity to brainstorm new scenarios and unconventional ideas that can fuel future growth. Innovative thinking is a muscle we help others build every day. This week we worked together to flex it ourselves.

Great partnerships deserve great game plans. Level Five Selling CEO David Pearson and Advantage Partner Peg Ruppert helped us focus on a single question: Are we delivering real value? Not just with great work, but with genuine business impact by showing up as a strategic ally who understands what keeps clients up at night and brings insights that move the needle. That’s the standard we’re holding ourselves to.

The future of talent development is already AI-enabled.  The shift from AI awareness to reinvention of work is underway — and it is creating a level of organizational uncertainty that is driving unprecedented demand for development and coaching. People at every level need new skills, new mindsets, and real support to navigate what’s next. AI is making it possible to deliver that development rapidly, customized, at scale, and just in time, along with more robust analytics that connect learning directly to business outcomes. When that happens, L&D stops being a cost center and starts being a strategic partner.

The organizations that will win the AI era won’t be the most automated. They will be the most human. And that is exactly where talent development has never mattered more.

If any of this is on your mind too, we would love to compare notes.

One great thing for 03.10.26 – Out-of-the-box leadership and innovation workshops  with Rob Cordova