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Performance Matters Podcast

Award Winning Podcast

The award-winning Performance Matters Podcast features business leaders, performance improvement practitioners, and learning and development professionals discussing their work alongside new trends and best practices.

Join host Michael Thiel, as he explores and analyzes emerging strategies, technologies, and their applications for learning and development.

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Featured Episode

Future Focus: AI News for L&D | Is L&D Ready for AI?

Enterprise learning leaders are under pressure to keep pace with AI while still protecting quality, compliance, and culture. This Future Focus episode of Performance Matters asks a simple but urgent question: if AI can run complex work tasks end‑to‑end, what does that mean for how L&D designs, delivers, and measures learning?

Recent Episodes

Blended Learning 3.0: Personalized, Adaptive, Impactful

What if your next learning journey wasn’t just digital or face-to-face, but smart, adaptive, and powered by AI? From personalized experiences and role-play bots to learning in the flow of work, this conversation reveals the three stages of AI adoption and practical tips for L&D leaders.

Five VITAL Leadership Skills in the Age of AI

In an era where artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the workplace, leadership itself is undergoing a profound transformation. This episode of the Performance Matters Podcast dives into how leaders can thrive—not by competing with machines, but by embracing what makes them deliberately human.

Resistance to Readiness: How Gibson Guitars Tuned Tradition into Transformation

In this special episode, Rob Ulrich from Gibson Guitars shares a story of navigating change at one of the world’s most iconic brands, tracing the path from resistance to readiness. We discover how organizations and individuals move through the discomfort of change to achieve transformation.

Instructional Design’s Molecular Makeover

Matt Donovan joins the show to introduce a transformative approach to instructional design which breaks learning into its smallest meaningful components, like atoms and molecules, rather than traditional course structures.

Learning is no longer built as monolithic courses but as modular, recombinable assets which can be assembled dynamically by AI based on learner needs, context, and performance goals. But it must be used to foster meaningful connections and not just automate content creation.

Future-Ready Isn’t a Buzzword, It’s a Strategy for Organizational Survival

Nic Girvan joins the show to challenge the traditional approach to training budgets and advocates for investing in individual contributors. Nic explores how empowering frontline employees with development opportunities can drive performance, engagement, and long-term growth.

Learn about the concept of the corporate lattice, a modern alternative to the outdated corporate ladder, how it supports diverse career paths, deeper expertise, and how people-centered development can transform your culture and prepare your workforce for whatever comes next.

Fostering Resilience and Well-Being During Workplace Transformation

Join Leah Clark and Dr. Cheryl Jackson as they dive into the essential role of resilience and well-being in today’s ever-evolving workplace. With decades of experience in leadership consulting and organizational psychology, Leah and Cheryl share practical strategies and real-world insights on how individuals and organizations can thrive—not just survive—through constant change.

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Award Winning Episode

In this episode of the podcast, Tom Pizer joins the show to discuss how the Metaverse is changing the way organizations will interface with their learners. Watch and experience what VR has to offer, from interacting with the simulated environment to showcasing various opportunities to deliver learning.

Virtual reality and the Metaverse can be effective with hard skills development, to develop skills in a safe and effective way. However, it can also be used for developing very important soft skills.”
Tom Pizer

Meet the Host

Michael Thiel

With nearly two decades of thought leadership in corporate L&D, Michael Thiel has a passion for developing experiential learning that “sticks”. Working on the agency side, Michael has directed award-winning content for some of the most admired brands in the world, including: Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Toyota, Honda, Acura, BMW, Kia, and Sub-Zero Group.

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