Bring Out the Talent: A Learning and Development Podcast

Hosted by Maria Melfa & Jocelyn Allen

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Episodes

101

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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EN-US

About the show

Tune into The Training Associates (TTA) “Bring Out the Talent” podcast to hear from learning and development talent and partners on their innovative approaches and industry insights. In each episode, TTA’s CEO, Maria Melfa, and Talent Manager, Jocelyn Allen will chat with subject matter experts and bring you casual, yet insightful conversations. Maria and Jocelyn use their unique blend of industry experience and humor to interview the L&D industry’s most influential people, latest topics, and powerful stories. Each episode has important takeaways that will help to create a culture of continuous learning within your organization. Tune in as we Bring Out The Talent!

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60 recent

October 13, 202640 min

Leadership Lessons from a Lifetime of Karate

For our 100th episode of Bring Out the Talent, we’re thrilled to welcome back Bruce Tulgan, our very first guest in 2021. Bruce is a highly respected voice in leadership and management, a bestselling author of 21 books, and a sought-after keynote speaker who has taken the stage at some of the largest and most influential conferences in our industry. As founder and CEO of RainmakerThinking, he brings more than 30 years of research and experience helping organizations develop stronger leaders and more effective managers. His workplace research has involved more than half a million participants across more than 400 organizations. He has worked with leaders at American Express, Deloitte, IBM, ESPN, Target, and the U.S. Armed Forces, among many others. His books include It’s Okay to Be the Boss and The Art of Being Indispensable at Work. Bruce also draws on more than 50 years of studying and teaching classical Okinawan karate, a lifelong pursuit explored in his forthcoming memoir, The Karate Master and Me. In this milestone episode, we explore how the practice of karate connects to being a good leader: responding thoughtfully under pressure, building discipline, and helping others grow. We also discuss what has changed since our first conversation and which leadership fundamentals still hold true. It’s an honor to celebrate our 100th episode with Bruce, whose knowledge, humor, and practical insights made him such a memorable first guest.

September 15, 202641 min

Where to Begin with AI in the Workplace

Organizations are moving fast on AI, but not always with direction. Many business leaders know AI matters, but they are still trying to understand where it fits, how to prioritize use cases, and how to move from experimentation to real business impact. That gap between curiosity and execution is where many teams are getting stuck. Today’s guest brings a unique perspective to that challenge. Sergiu Simmel is an AI Business Growth Coach who helps companies navigate the AI economy and become AI-emergent organizations. His background spans computer science, artificial intelligence, software startups, SaaS leadership, eLearning, business growth strategy, and executive coaching. Sergiu co-founded multiple software companies, served as a fractional CPO for seven SaaS companies, and became the first EOS Implementer in New England. Since then, he has coached more than 75 businesses and earned over 10 certifications across EOS, Pinnacle, Scaling Up, and other growth frameworks. In this conversation, we’re getting into where to begin with AI in the workplace, how leaders can avoid jumping into tools without a clear strategy, and what it takes to turn early AI interest into practical, meaningful momentum.

August 11, 202648 min

Building Emotionally Intelligent Leaders and Teams

Research shows that 90% of top performers score high in emotional intelligence, a number that stands out even more as AI reshapes how work gets done. As technology takes on more of the tactical workload, the skills that set people and organizations apart are becoming more human, not less. The ability to read a room, stay grounded under pressure, build real trust, navigate difficult conversations, and give honest feedback has become a genuine competitive advantage. In this episode of Bring Out the Talent, we are joined by Coach Monique DeMonaco, an internationally trained, multi-certified Life, Leadership, Executive, and Career Coach with over 20 years of experience helping individuals and organizations unlock their full potential. As a Change Management Expert and Emotional Intelligence Coach, Monique brings a science-backed, practical approach to self-awareness, resilience, communication, and emotional regulation. Together, we discuss why emotional intelligence is fast becoming leadership's most strategic skill, how it shapes teams and culture in an AI-driven workplace, and what leaders can do to build it in themselves and others.

July 14, 202655 min

Rethinking Engagement and Performance: A Systems Perspective

Research from Gallup shows that only about 23% of employees are engaged at work globally, a number that has remained stubbornly low despite years of investment in culture, leadership, and development. In reality, what drives behavior at work is often much less visible - it’s the systems behind the scenes. The way meetings are structured, how success is measured, what gets rewarded, and what gets overlooked. These are the forces that shape how work actually gets done. In this episode of Bring Out the Talent, we are joined by Justin Robbins, Founder and Principal Analyst at Metric Sherpa. Justin has spent over two decades helping organizations strengthen customer experience, optimize operations, and turn insight into execution. His work has been featured by NBC Nightly News, The New York Times, and Forbes, and he’s known for bringing a practical, operator-driven perspective to complex organizational challenges. Together, we discuss what really drives performance, why so many transformation efforts fall short, and how leaders can start rethinking the systems that shape engagement, burnout, and results.

June 9, 202643 min

Strengths, Team Dynamics, and the Hidden Side of High Performance

Every team is made up of people who think differently, communicate differently, solve problems differently, and contribute in very different ways. Yet in many workplaces, there is still an unspoken expectation that everyone should operate the same way. That is why strengths-based development has become such an important conversation for organizations and leaders. Gallup research has consistently found that employees who have the opportunity to use their strengths every day are significantly more engaged, more productive, and more likely to thrive at work. Understanding how people naturally work, collaborate, respond under pressure, and contribute to a team can completely change the way teams communicate, partner, and perform together. In this episode of Bring Out the Talent, we explore how CliftonStrengths can help individuals and teams better understand working styles, improve collaboration, and recognize both the advantages and potential blind spots that can come with our greatest strengths. We’re joined by Chris Soucy, a Certified CliftonStrengths trainer and career development specialist. Chris spent nearly a decade at Harvard University’s Center for Workplace Development as a Program Manager for Leader and Manager Development, where he served as Lead Instructor for foundational leadership programs and designed courses to strengthen management practices across the university. Chris recently facilitated an in-person strengths workshop for our TTA team. The conversations that came out of that session sparked so much reflection around communication, contribution styles, and team dynamics that we wanted to continue the discussion here on Bring Out the Talent and share those insights with our audience as well.

May 12, 202645 min

The AI-Powered Coach: Driving Performance at Scale

AI is changing the way organizations think about performance, coaching, and day-to-day work. Yet for many teams, the challenge is not simply adopting new technology. It’s understanding how to use AI in a way that feels practical and genuinely useful for the people doing the work. In this episode of Bring Out the Talent, we’re joined by Tim Harrison, executive coach, founder of the Coaching Innovation Lab, and one of eight experts selected for the International Coaching Federation’s Global Task Force on AI. Tim works with organizations to help leaders and teams integrate AI into their workflows in ways that support growth, strengthen capability, and keep humans at the center of the process. We discuss how organizations can build confidence with AI, where leaders often get adoption wrong, and why the people closest to the work are often best positioned to discover meaningful use cases. Tim also shares his “Do GOOD DEEDS” framework, a practical approach to experimenting with AI in ways that create measurable value without overwhelming teams. Throughout the episode, we discuss how AI can amplify human strengths rather than replace them, why access and experimentation matter more than perfection, and how organizations can move from fear and hesitation to curiosity and momentum. From executive coaching and leadership development to productivity, workflow design, and organizational change, this conversation focuses on what AI adoption actually looks like in practice today. To learn more about Tim and his expertise in AI, explore more here. https://coachinginnovationlab.com/bringoutthetalent

April 7, 202642 min

The AI Learning Revolution: Moving from Participation to Proficiency

In this episode of Bring Out the Talent, we explore The AI Learning Revolution and what it takes to move beyond participation to true proficiency. This conversation introduces a model built on accountability, where AI and human expertise work together to elevate performance and reshape how organizations develop talent in real time. Joining us is Ed Lance, an expert AI trainer and practitioner with over 25 years of experience designing talent systems for high-stakes environments, including NASA and the U.S. Army. Ed brings a rare combination of strategic insight and technical depth, staying actively engaged in the code while helping organizations rethink how learning drives performance. Together, we unpack the “80% rule” for mastery, what it looks like to embed learning directly into the flow of work, and how AI-generated data is giving L&D and HR leaders a new level of visibility into skill development. The result is a clearer, more measurable path to proving readiness and impact at the executive level. Tune in and discover how AI is redefining what effective learning really looks like.

March 10, 202642 min

The Emotional Side of Leadership: How the 12 Emotional Gifts Shape Teams, Culture, and Performance

In this episode of Bring Out the Talent , we’re talking about something that quietly drives almost everything at work but rarely gets measured in a meaningful way: emotion. Most leadership tools focus on what people think, what they do, or how they perform. Very few look at what people actually feel, even though emotions drive motivation, trust, engagement, and culture. In this episode, we discuss the 12 Emotional Gifts of Leadership and the AgileBrain framework, which uses neuroscience and emotional data to reveal what individuals, teams, and organizations really need in order to thrive. Joining us is a certified AgileBrain trainer and a returning Bring Out the Talent favorite, Lynn Turner. Lynn works with leaders and organizations using this approach, helping them better understand what is really happening beneath the surface and how to lead in ways that truly resonate with people. We’re going to explore how emotional needs like Safety, Autonomy, Inclusion, and Justice show up in real workplaces, what happens when they go unmet, and how leaders can start creating cultures where people genuinely want to do their best work.

February 17, 202646 min

A Casual Conversation: Inside TTA Connect

In this episode, we sit down with TTA leaders John Laverdure, Michael Aguirre, Jocelyn Allen, and Maria Melfa to explore how organizations are redefining the way they discover and engage talent, and why that shift led to the creation of TTA Connect. Today’s decision makers want greater control over how they evaluate options. Many prefer to research independently, compare choices, and build confidence before ever entering a sales conversation. At the same time, expert guidance still matters when decisions become complex or high stakes. The modern buying journey is no longer purely sales driven or purely digital, it is a hybrid experience shaped by flexibility and trust. We discuss how TTA Connect was built for this new reality. By combining AI powered technology with more than 30 years of TTA’s vetting expertise and relationships, it delivers a faster, more transparent way to explore learning and development talent while maintaining the quality and partnership organizations expect. This conversation unpacks the data behind changing decision behavior, what it means for organizations navigating skills gaps and AI transformation, and how TTA Connect brings together self-directed discovery and trusted human insight.

January 13, 202645 min

Revitalize Employee Onboarding: How Agile Thinking Helps Low-Energy Programs Deliver Results

Organizations invest heavily in recruiting top talent, but without effective onboarding, much of that investment is at risk. In fact, companies with strong onboarding programs improve new hire retention by up to 82% and boost productivity by over 70%. The good news? With the right approach, onboarding can become one of the most powerful drivers of culture and performance. In this episode of Bring Out the Talent, we’re joined by Shauna Bona, a learning strategist and organizational development leader who has helped companies transform low-energy onboarding into programs that truly deliver results. With deep expertise in designing experiences that blend strategy, adaptability, and creativity, Shauna brings practical insights into how organizations can energize new hires from day one. This conversation is all about how agile thinking can revitalize onboarding programs that feel stale or uninspired. From spotting the warning signs of a program that’s lost momentum, to building in continuous feedback loops, to balancing consistency with adaptability, Shauna shares actionable strategies leaders can use to turn onboarding into a long-term engine for engagement, productivity, and success. Tune in for an insightful discussion that will leave you rethinking the role of onboarding in shaping employee experience and organizational outcomes.