Session Block #1 - 9:30AM - 10:20AM

Their work habits are different. Their values are different. They care about work life balance and being part of an organization with values and principles that are important to them.

And they will soon make up a majority of the workforce – they are the Millennial generation.

But there is more to this than meets the eye and we could be missing opportunities by stereotyping this generation, as well as the next. Indeed, there are as many similarities across generations as there are differences.

Dale Carnegie conducted a study to uncover what drives engagement among millennials and to identify what is similar and dissimilar about this generation and generation Z so that leaders can better develop an environment that engages and retains the new generations of today’s workforce.

Join us for this interactive workshop as we present our research and practical applications for engaging your younger employees.

What you will learn:

• Why employee engagement matters and the state of engagement today
• What’s uniquely important to Millennials
• The difference between fact and fiction and how stereotyping can lead us awry
• What you can do to better engage the Millennial and Generation Z workforces

How do you design training that actually sticks? You start with what people do, not just what they need to know. In this fast-paced session, you’ll learn how to use a simple, high-impact method for identifying job-specific tasks and turning that insight into focused, effective training.

We’ll introduce the Job Task Analysis (JTA) model, a structured yet flexible process for uncovering the work behind the role. You’ll explore how to:

• Define a clear scope for analysis.
• Facilitate focused task-identification conversations with SMEs.
• Organize tasks into logical, actionable groupings.
• Use JTA outputs to build training, job aids, and performance support tools.

You’ll also experience a live demo and have access to templates and tools to help you get started.

This session is ideal for anyone who creates learning experiences and wants to align them more closely with how work actually gets done.

Takeaways:

• A repeatable JTA framework
• Sample scope objective and SME prompts
• Confidence to facilitate your own JTA session
• Let’s shift from information overload to performance-focused learning, starting with the work itself.

Jordan Purpero

"Human Centered Leadership"

We become better leaders by becoming better humans. In an increasing time of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity we need to double down on our most important resource – the humans who work in our organizations.

Without Human Centered Leadership at the heart of your leadership and organization, your success is at risk.

Traditional leadership theories focus on external output, but that is only half of the equation. Leadership development over emphasizes leadership learning and leadership training and under emphasizes leadership development.

Organizations ignore the most powerful source of ability – our capacity and the capacity of the people who work for us – to overcome the limitations of our current ways of making meaning. The challenges of today require the critical skill of adaptation which requires transformation of our mindsets, hearts, and how we connect with others.

Craig Mueller

"Building a Coaching
Culture to Achieve
Breakthrough Performance"

This interactive presentation will provide a case study of Dollar General’s Supply Chain leadership development strategy using performance coaching and transformational coaching. I’ll demonstrate how coaching can be used to not only transform the employee experience and create better leaders but can also impact multiple business metrics.

For example, as reported in a 2025 article at https://trainingmag.com/training-hall-of-fame-outstanding-training-initiatives-april-2025/: "In the Q2 of fiscal year 2024, Dollar General’s internal promotion rate was 64%, surpassing the industry benchmark of 25% per Gartner Research for U.S. companies with 50,000+ employees. Dollar General also notched a 4.2% increase in net sales and a .5 % increase in same-store sales.

In Supply Chain, the company saw a 10% year-over-year improvement in engagement according to the DG Voice employee feedback survey." We also increased our employee belonging index which is above the Retail Industry Leader Association’s (RILA) norm.

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the strategic role of coaching utilized in the cultural transformation of Dollar General’s Supply Chain.
• Evaluate the impact of coaching and leadership development on key business metrics including internal promotion rates, employee engagement, and retention.
• Apply best practices for creating a culture that welcomes coaching, accountability, and high performance.

The presentation will utilize storytelling and be interactive. I’ll not only share our story of how we’re creating a coaching culture but also provide all participants with the experience of transformational coaching.

Cindy Rowe

"LEADERSHIFT: Leading with Humanity and Kindness in the World of AI"

As AI and automation rapidly transform how we train and work, one truth remains: human connection is irreplaceable. In this engaging and forward-thinking session, participants will explore how emotional intelligence, empathy, and kindness are critical tools for today’s talent development professionals—and essential for shaping the workforce of tomorrow.

LEADERSHIFT introduces a new leadership paradigm rooted in humanity, showing attendees how to elevate training experiences, increase engagement, and foster psychological safety in an increasingly digital world. We’ll explore how to lead with authenticity in the face of technological change and how to use kindness not just as a value—but as a strategic capability that improves learning outcomes, retention, and organizational culture.

Participants will:

• Understand how emotional intelligence and kindness enhance training effectiveness in AI-driven environments
• Apply the LEADERSHIFT framework to build trust, engagement, and learner buy-in
• Walk away with plug-and-play tools to humanize and elevate your training delivery

Activities Include:

Quick self-assessment; Small group discussion; Live Polls; Downloadable Framework

Kiffin McCoy-Albert

"Making it Stick: Coaching for Lasting Results After Training"

This interactive training session focuses on the critical role of coaching in sustaining and elevating workforce performance after training implementation within an organization.

Participants will explore best practices for post-training follow-up, learning how to reinforce new skills, foster accountability, and empower employees through effective coaching techniques.

The session features a blend of hands-on activities to ensure practical application and skill development. By the end of the session, participants will be equipped with actionable strategies to embed coaching and structured follow-up into their teams, driving continuous improvement and a culture of empowerment within their organizations.

After attending this session, attendees will be able to:

• Explain how coaching bridges the gap between training implementation and long-term performance improvement.
• Use proven strategies and tools for following up after training to reinforce learning, encourage accountability, and drive behavioral change.
• Create an action plan for integrating coaching and structured follow-up in a way that incorporates regular feedback and open communication to foster performance improvement and employee empowerment.

Rebekah Osteen

Julia Osteen

"Building Future-Focused Environments with Backbone & Heart"

Organizations today face numerous competing priorities: technological changes, diverse employee work styles, communicating with hybrid and dispersed teams, and various stakeholder expectations. In our current societal climate, uncertainty prevails; however, organizations must adapt to the ever-changing business landscape in order to stay relevant and succeed. Building future-focused environments is not about accurately predicting the future, but rather doing things today that set your organization up for future success. This session will emphasize the need for both backbone and heart when building a future-focused work environment.

Connections between the Self-Determination Theory of Motivation, Kegan’s Constructive Developmental Theory, and Timothy Clark’s Coaching & Accountability model will be explored in relation to developing a future-focused environment.

Building off of these theories, this session will provide practical suggestions for developing an organizational culture that is not only future-focused, but also allows employees to thrive rather than survive.

Participants will consider the factors that influence talent development efforts with building future-focused environments, examine the intersection of theory and practice, and identify actions that can be taken in the near-term to impact the long-term.

By the end of this session, participants will draft a plan for moving their organization toward a future-focused environment including one step they can take in the next week, one step they could take in the next month, and one they could take in the next quarter.

Tara Morgan

"When You're the First,
the Only, or the Youngest:
Navigating Power in Rooms Not Built for You"

This bold, interactive session is designed for leaders who have found themselves breaking barriers and carrying the invisible weight that comes with it. Whether you are the first in your family to hold a leadership role, the only person of color at the table, or the youngest voice in the room, this session unpacks the real dynamics of power, presence, and pressure in spaces not originally made for you.

Drawing from her own lived experiences as a Black woman, nonprofit executive, and leadership consultant, Tara Morgan will guide participants through practical tools to navigate tone policing, code-switching fatigue, imposter syndrome, and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways power shows up. Attendees will leave with real scripts, new language, and confidence to claim their seat, without shrinking.

This session is equal parts real talk, reflection, and empowerment, perfect for anyone ready to lead with authenticity, reshape the room, and mentor the next leader who looks like them.

Objectives:

• Identify the invisible dynamics of power, bias, and double standards that often arise when you are the “first,” “only,” or “youngest” in leadership spaces, and how these impact confidence, visibility, and voice.
• Apply practical communication strategies to navigate tone policing, code-switching, interruptions, and idea erasure, using empowering language, strong presence, and intentional self-definition.
• Reframe imposter syndrome through a lens of systemic exclusion, and cultivate the confidence to lead authentically, advocate for oneself, and mentor others who are navigating similar experiences.

Session Block #4 - 1:30PM - 2:20PM

Collette Revere

"The End of Performance
(As We Know It)"

Performance management systems have been around for over a century—first designed during WWI to determine who should rise in military rank, then brought into corporate life in the 1970s. Since then, the world has changed dramatically. Most performance systems haven’t.

Today’s employees bring more access, autonomy, and expertise to their roles than ever before. They want development, not evaluation. Partnership, not oversight. And the data reflects the disconnect—about one-third of employees show a drop in performance after annual reviews. Not because they’re unwilling to grow, but because the process leaves them feeling unclear, unsupported, or disengaged.

This session invites a fresh conversation among fellow talent leaders. Together, we’ll explore how to shift from performance management to performance partnership—where development is led by the employee, supported by the leader, and grounded in trust.

You’ll leave with:

• A clear understanding of the historical roots of performance systems—and why they no longer serve today’s workforce
• Strategies for designing systems around the people actually doing the work—not just the exceptions
• Ideas for enabling leaders to coach, guide, and hold teams accountable through ongoing, future-focused conversations
• A vision for performance that builds clarity, ownership, and traction—without burning people out

This isn’t about eliminating structure. It’s about building something better—together.

Amy Grimm

"The Invisible Drain: Helping High Performers Break Free from the Productivity Trap"

In high-achieving, high-performing cultures, burnout often goes unnoticed, until it’s too late. The people who appear the most driven, engaged, and productive on the outside are often the ones silently running on fumes. This session explores the hidden patterns behind high-performer burnout and how workplace culture, leadership language, and well-intentioned habits can unintentionally reinforce unsustainable behaviors.

Through a mix of neuroscience, coaching principles, and real-world leadership practices, attendees will learn to recognize the early signs of internalized burnout, shift from a “do more” culture to a “do what matters most” culture, and support sustainable motivation without dulling ambition or drive.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the subtle signs of burnout in high performers before performance declines.
• Identify common culture cues that unintentionally reward overwork and undermine well-being.
• Learn practical coaching questions and language leaders can use to promote clarity, motivation, and energy awareness.
• Explore a framework for shifting team and organizational culture from productivity-at-all-costs to purpose-driven performance.
• Walk away with immediately actionable strategies to reduce burnout risk and increase sustainable engagement.

This session is ideal for learning and development professionals, people managers, and leaders who want to empower their teams without burning them out, and elevate performance by helping people work with more purpose, not just more pressure.

Katrina Kennedy

"Now What? Turn Your Confidence Experience Into Real-World Action"

Conferences ignite ideas, spark connections, and inspire change. Yet, after the closing session, too often the energy and insights fade before they can become meaningful action.

This session is crafted to guide attendees in transforming what they’ve learned into effective steps for both professional and personal growth. This session moves beyond motivation, offering practical frameworks and resources for lasting, real-world impact.