In this episode of L&D Leadership Edge, host Sheree Comninellis explores how to know if you’re ready to move beyond delivery and step into leadership. If you’ve been wondering whether it’s time to take the next step in your L&D career, this episode will help you spot the signs and understand what leadership really demands.

Sheree Comninellis is an L&D Executive, strategist, and mentor with 17+ years of experience developing leaders and building capability across industries. She founded Lead with Sheree to help ambitious L&D professionals step into leadership.

What you'll learn in this episode:

00:45 Signs you’ve outgrown your current role
02:51 What leadership really demands beyond technical expertise
07:08 The capabilities you need to become a strong L&D leader
08:43 A practical move for this week

Take the L&D Leadership Readiness Quiz (10:41)

👉🏾 Ready to find out where you stand? Take the free Leadership Readiness Quiz and discover your strengths and areas to grow before stepping into L&D leadership. Take the quiz here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/142608949465581483/share.

Thank you for spending this time with me!

👉🏾 The best place to start? Subscribe to Executive Moves — my free weekly newsletter for ambitious L&D professionals. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get one bold insight, one practical move, and one resource to accelerate your journey into L&D leadership.

Sign up here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/98676779613423573/share

You can also connect with me here:

✋🏾 LinkedIn (Sheree Comninellis): https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

🌐 Website: www.leadwithsheree.com

📧 Email: [email protected]

💬 Prefer a quick DM? Send me a message on LinkedIn - I’d love to meet you & hear about where you are in your journey into L&D leadership.

In this debut episode of L&D Leadership Edge, host Sheree Comninellis shares her story and mission, and how this podcast will help you on your journey towards L&D leadership.

Sheree Comninellis is an L&D Executive, strategist, and mentor with 17+ years of experience developing leaders and building capability across industries. She founded Lead with Sheree to help ambitious L&D professionals step into leadership.

What you'll learn in this episode:

00:40 Introduction to Sheree Comninellis
04:45 Why I have launched Lead with Sheree & this podcast
05:44 What you need to make the leap into L&D leadership
07:44 What to expect from this podcast 

Thank you for spending this time with me!

👉🏾 The best place to start? Subscribe to Executive Moves — my free weekly newsletter for ambitious L&D professionals. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get one bold insight, one practical move, and one resource to accelerate your journey into L&D leadership.

Sign up here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/98676779613423573/share

You can also connect with me here:

✋🏾 LinkedIn (Sheree Comninellis): https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheree-comninellis/

🌐 Website: www.leadwithsheree.com

📧 Email: [email protected]

💬 Prefer a quick DM? Send me a message on LinkedIn - I’d love to meet you & hear about where you are in your journey into L&D leadership.

Show Notes

In this episode of the Simplify Leadership podcast, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Lead with Sheree, interviews guest Veronica Taylor, Leadership Coach and Life Strategist from Life Leaders Coaching about her perspective on leadership and how it applies both at work and at home.

Veronica Taylor is a seasoned leadership expert and life coach with over 20 years of corporate experience spanning industries such as finance, technology, and biotech. Specializing in guiding leaders through transformative 1:1 coaching and group programs, Veronica helps them dismantle obstacles like imposter syndrome, limiting beliefs, and assumptions to unlock their full potential. 

She is passionate about life leadership, empowering others to lead not only in business but also in their personal lives. At home, she home schools her two daughters, actively teaching them leadership skills such as active listening, acknowledging and validating others, and more.

In this episode, Veronica shares with us what an unforgettable leader is, and she challenges the traditional concept of leadership as a skill. Instead, she introduces the concept of leadership as a character trait that you can carry with you holistically and therefore apply it in all facets of your life. She talks to us about some of the key skills that are relevant for leaders today from intuitive listening to walking the talk.

We also spoke about how to apply leadership in your home, in your marriage and as a parenting strategy. Veronica shares how she instils strong values at home, and coaches her girls to build the skills that will serve them well in the future. 

This episode will make you think very differently about what leadership is, and how you show up as a leader – especially at home. 

What you’ll learn in this episode:

3:44 Veronica’s definition of an unforgettable leader, and some examples from her career

09:06 Leadership as a character trait

10:59 Intuitive listening, and its importance in life

13:28 The importance of walking the talk as a leader

21:36 Why leadership is valuable in the home space

25:43 Values at home, and my big takeaway from the conversation

30:00 Leadership in marriage

33:35 Skills leaders should invest in developing

37:38 Veronica’s plans for 2025

To connect with Veronica Taylor and Life Leaders’ Coaching, visit her website: https://www.lifeleaderscoaching.com/. Or connect with her on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lifeleaderscoaching/. You can also email her to: [email protected]

Thank you for spending the time with me!  

The best place to start? Subscribe to Executive Moves — my free weekly newsletter for ambitious L&D professionals. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get one bold insight, one practical move, and one growth resource to accelerate your leadership journey.

Sign up here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/98676779613423573/share

You can also connect with me and explore more resources:
🌐 Website: www.leadwithsheree.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead-with-sheree/
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LeadwithSheree

And if you’d like to reach out directly, send me a message on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you!

Show Notes

In this episode of the Simplify Leadership podcast, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Lead with Sheree, shares the approach you should take after having a bad hiring experience.

Sheree is a strategist, entrepreneur and expert in Learning and Development. With over 17 years of experience in leadership roles, she has a proven track record of developing and mentoring leaders at all levels. She has worked across a range of industries, from small businesses to large corporations, helping them build their leadership capacity.

In 2023, she founded Lead with Sheree to offer practical, easy-to-implement leadership resources and guidance to new leaders. Her mission is to simplify leadership, making it accessible and actionable, so that new leaders can overcome overwhelm and step into their roles with confidence.

In this episode, I discuss the fact that it is very likely that you will make a bad hiring decision. I explain all of the emotions you may be feeling and how you should reframe this situation so as not to impact your courage to hire again.

I take you through the process you must apply once the team member is no longer with the business. This process will enable you to identify what went wrong and improve your process by closing the gaps. I also explain why you must not give up and why you should try again asap.

This episode is a must listen for any leaders who are new to the hiring process, or those who may be feeling hesitant to hire again after a bad hiring experience.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

00:51 The reason you need to hire in your business

02:00 How you may feel during and after a bad hiring experience

03:08 What to do when you realise you have made a bad hiring decision

07:24 What not to do when you’ve had a bad hiring experience

09:07 How to reflect on the hiring experience and what went wrong

16:00 How to close the gaps in your process

17:42 Why you must not give up

Thank you for spending the time with me!  

The best place to start? Subscribe to Executive Moves — my free weekly newsletter for ambitious L&D professionals. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get one bold insight, one practical move, and one growth resource to accelerate your leadership journey.

Sign up here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/98676779613423573/share

You can also connect with me and explore more resources:
🌐 Website: www.leadwithsheree.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead-with-sheree/
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LeadwithSheree

And if you’d like to reach out directly, send me a message on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you!

Show Notes

In this episode of the Simplify Leadership podcast, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Lead with Sheree, interviews guest Jennifer Brener Seay about her leadership journey with building out her amazing team at Art + Artisans.

Jennifer is the Founder and CEO of Art + Artisans. She has helped clients create meaningful, impactful spaces for over two decades. Jennifer views her primary role today as Chief Relationship Builder with clients and within her team. Jennifer has built a culture at A+A deeply rooted in delivering excellence in both client service and quality of work delivered. Developing and nurturing trust with clients, team members, artists, and vendors has enabled Art + Artisans to successfully grow for 22 years. 

Jennifer has led many large commercial projects nationwide with clients who understand the importance of integrating art to tell a story, convey their brand, build community, and engage people. She has helped hundreds of companies, real estate developers, universities, and healthcare facilities use art to differentiate their space, stand out from their competitors, and create destination-worthy properties.

Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and has lived in Austin for over 30 years. Jennifer has served on the Executive Board of CREW Austin and as a Guardian Angel for the Center for Child Protection. In 2018, she was a nominee for the Austin Business Journal's Profiles in Power, a finalist for the Austin Business Journal's CEO of the Year in 2019, and in 2024 she was a Bisnow honoree for Women Leading Austin Real Estate and an Austin Business Journal Women in Business nominee.

In this episode, Jennifer shares with us how she took the leap to start her business. She openly shares the challenges of the early solopreneur days, and her thinking around her decision to make her first hire. We discuss how her team has grown from these early days to now a team of 10, where not everyone in her team reports directly in to her.

Jennifer shares her leadership development journey with us. She describes the various hurdles that she has experienced from her early days of leading her team to now, and she shares strategies you can use to find community and learn what you need to learn to lead your team effectively.

This episode is filled with tons of incredible leadership tips – from delegating, to values, to culture, to difficult conversaitons – we talk about it all! And Jennifer, is so generous in sharing about her journey and her strategies throughout.

This conversation is a “must listen” if you are in the “messy middle” of leading your team, and you want to learn from a seasoned leader who has walked the same journey you are on; and to see what is possible for you, your team and your business.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

2:37 What led Jennifer to starting her business

7:15 Jennifer’s thinking around making her first hire

8:50 How Jennifer started to document processes for future onboarding

11:00 Where Jennifer suggests that you should focus your energy

13:13 Jennifer reflects on her current team size of 10 employees, and what works in this situation

16:14 Jennifer’s leadership development journey

19:19 The early days of leading a team for Jennifer 

19:50 The power of being in community with fellow women CEOs

25:20 Jennifer’s leadership highlights

31:00 The structure of Jennifer’s team

35:00 The process of letting go and giving your team the opportunity to learn

36:27 Why giving feedback can be difficult at times

37:32 Jennifer’s leadership tips

45:22 What Jennifer is excited about for the year ahead.

To connect with Jennifer Brener Seay and Art + Artisans, visit her website: https://artplusartisans.com/. Or connect with her on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-brener-seay/.

Thank you for spending the time with me!  

The best place to start? Subscribe to Executive Moves — my free weekly newsletter for ambitious L&D professionals. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get one bold insight, one practical move, and one growth resource to accelerate your leadership journey.

Sign up here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/98676779613423573/share

You can also connect with me and explore more resources:
🌐 Website: www.leadwithsheree.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead-with-sheree/
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LeadwithSheree

And if you’d like to reach out directly, send me a message on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you!

Show Notes

In this episode of the Simplify Leadership podcast, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Lead with Sheree, shares how you can use a strengths framework to lead your team and amplify performance.

Sheree is a strategist, entrepreneur and expert in Learning and Development. With over 17 years of experience in leadership roles, she has a proven track record of developing and mentoring leaders at all levels. She has worked across a range of industries, from small businesses to large corporations, helping them build their leadership capacity.

In 2023, she founded Lead with Sheree to offer practical, easy-to-implement leadership resources and guidance to new leaders. Her mission is to simplify leadership, making it accessible and actionable, so that new leaders can overcome overwhelm and step into their roles with confidence.

In this episode, you will learn more about strengths, and how you can use a strengths framework when leading your team. I share how you can find out what your team’s strengths are and then how to use this information to inform your hiring, your people development strategy and your day-to-day leadership.

She then explains how you can start to think differently about areas of development, and how you can use a strengths approach to support areas of development in your team.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

00:59 Why strengths are important when leading your team

02:21 How to find out what your team’s strengths are

04:03 How to build a strengths matrix for your team

06:36 How team members can use their strengths to amplify their contribution to your team

08:15 How to think differently about areas of development

08:54 How to use strengths to support areas of development

Thank you for spending the time with me!  

The best place to start? Subscribe to Executive Moves — my free weekly newsletter for ambitious L&D professionals. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get one bold insight, one practical move, and one growth resource to accelerate your leadership journey.

Sign up here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/98676779613423573/share

You can also connect with me and explore more resources:
🌐 Website: www.leadwithsheree.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead-with-sheree/
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LeadwithSheree

And if you’d like to reach out directly, send me a message on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you!

Show Notes

In this episode of the Simplify Leadership podcast, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Lead with Sheree, interviews guest Allison De Paoli about how she has built her team at Altiqe, as well as her leadership lessons.

Allison is a business consultant working with employers who know they have a healthcare problem. As the daughter and granddaughter of entrepreneurs – manufacturers, car and heavy equipment dealers, insurance! – Allison had a front-row seat on what it takes to run a business and manage risk. She routinely advises employers on controlling their healthcare budgets and turning their benefit plans into recruiting and retention magnets. 

Allison is the host of Raising The Bar with Allison De Paoli, a podcast designed to help CEOs and Executive Teams learn and leverage what their peers are doing successfully into their own businesses. She is a producer of the new documentary, It’s Not Personal, It’s Just Healthcare, is a contributing author to the Amazon Best Seller Breaking Through the Status Quo and is a regular contributor to Employee Benefits News. 

She has been recognized as a Top Woman in Advising by BenefitsPro Magazine, The Most Innovative Employee Benefits Consultant (YouPowered, 2022), and the Advisor of the Year (NextGen, 2023). 

In this episode, Allison takes us behind the scenes in terms of what it takes to lead an effective team. She begins by sharing with us how she entered the entrepreneurial space, and her thought process and journey with hiring her very first team member. She shares what she includes in her onboarding process so that her team members are able to embody her company brand and company values.

We discuss how to notice when a hire you have made may not be the best fit, and what to do about it. Allison also openly shares her guidance for how to structure your hires, and her leadership tips for growing and leading a team. She also shares some tips with us on how to be confident speakers as entrepreneurs and tells us more about the documentary she has produced: It’s not Personal, It’s Healthcare.

This conversation will help you think about your growth plans for your team and how you can show up effectively as a leader.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

3:58 How Allison entered the entrepreneurship space

5:01 How Allison’s role has shifted in the last year

6:47 Allison’s thought process & journey around making her first hire

12:14 Allison’s guidance on how to structure your first hire

14:53 Elements to include in your onboarding process

21:46 How Allison notices when a hire may not be the best fit

26:18 How Allison’s team embodies her company brand and values to her clients

29:23 Allison’s leadership tips

31:28 Allison’s documentary

To connect with Allison De Paoli and Altiqe, visit her website here: https://altiqe.com/. You can also connect with her on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allison-de-paoli/, and listen to her podcast, Raising the Bar. You can find more about the documentary here: https://go.altiqe.com/documentary.

Thank you for spending the time with me!  

The best place to start? Subscribe to Executive Moves — my free weekly newsletter for ambitious L&D professionals. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get one bold insight, one practical move, and one growth resource to accelerate your leadership journey.

Sign up here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/98676779613423573/share

You can also connect with me and explore more resources:
🌐 Website: www.leadwithsheree.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead-with-sheree/
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LeadwithSheree

And if you’d like to reach out directly, send me a message on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you!

Show Notes

In this episode of the Simplify Leadership podcast, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Lead with Sheree, shares her feedback philosophy and a practical approach to giving feedback effectively.

Sheree is a strategist, entrepreneur and expert in Learning and Development. With over 17 years of experience in leadership roles, she has a proven track record of developing and mentoring leaders at all levels. She has worked across a range of industries, from small businesses to large corporations, helping them build their leadership capacity.

In 2023, she founded Lead with Sheree to offer practical, easy-to-implement leadership resources and guidance to new leaders. Her mission is to simplify leadership, making it accessible and actionable, so that new leaders can overcome overwhelm and step into their roles with confidence.

In this episode, Sheree explains why being able to give feedback effectively is an essential leadership skill that entrepreneurs must hone to ensure their business’ success. She talks about the narrative and culture of feedback that you should be aiming for in your team.

She then explains the popular feedback approach that you must avoid at all costs; and she gives you a framework that you can use instead. She outlines why this approach works and leaves us all with a challenge!

What you’ll learn in this episode:

1:05 Why leaders feel hesitant to give feedback to their teams, and how you feel about this right now.

2:05 What feedback is and how it should be seen in your team; and my unique feedback philosophy

4:24 How to change the narrative around feedback in your team, and the benefits of doing so.

5:40 What makes team members nervous when it comes to feedback

6:44 Why you should not be using the feedback sandwich

9:39 An overview of how to give feedback

15:05 Why this approach works to enhance performance

17:35 My challenge to you

Thank you for spending the time with me!  

The best place to start? Subscribe to Executive Moves — my free weekly newsletter for ambitious L&D professionals. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get one bold insight, one practical move, and one growth resource to accelerate your leadership journey.

Sign up here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/98676779613423573/share

You can also connect with me and explore more resources:
🌐 Website: www.leadwithsheree.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead-with-sheree/
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LeadwithSheree

And if you’d like to reach out directly, send me a message on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you!

Show Notes

In this episode of the Simplify Leadership podcast, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Lead with Sheree, interviews guest Jodi Flynn, CEO and Founder of Women Taking the Lead about leadership and growing your team as an entrepreneur.

Jodi Flynn is the CEO and Founder of Women Taking the Lead, a leadership development company that works with individuals, allies, and organizations, to close the gender parity gap by attracting, developing and successfully promoting more women into senior levels of leadership. She helps organizations realize these benefits through coaching, consulting, leadership development programs and keynotes. 

She’s been featured in Entrepreneur and Forbes magazines and Jodi is the host of the nationally recognized Women Taking the Lead podcast. She is also an Amazon bestselling author with her book, Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing.

In this episode, Jodi shares her journey from her first leadership role, to her decision to dive in and start her business. We discuss how Jodi uncovered that supporting women leaders and helping organisations meet their gender parity goals was a priority for her in her business; and she gives us some tips on how to discover your niche too.

We go on to discussing how to understand our skills as women leaders, and the unique challenges we may face. We also discuss the reluctance women entrepreneurs have for hiring and how this can hold us back from achieving our business goals, and life purpose as a result. 

We talk through the benefits of growing your team, and how you can help yourself to overcome these and other leadership challenges you may experience on your journey.

This conversation will help you think about your skills as a leader, and how to think differently about expanding your team and supporting your own development.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

2:28 How Jodi kicked off her entrepreneurial journey & her first leadership role

10:35 Why Jodi has made supporting women leaders and organisations to meet their gender parity goals her priority in her business; and how you can find out your niche too.

16:46 Understanding your skills as a women leader, and where your areas of challenge may be.

27:58 How leadership challenges impact women entrepreneurs

33:00 Why you may be hesitant to hire help for your business and how to think differently about this

37:24 The benefits of growing your team for you and your business

41:40 How to fast track your progress as a leader

Connect with Jodi Flynn

To connect with Jodi Flynn from Women Taking the Lead, visit her website here: WomenTakingTheLead.com. You can also connect with her on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodiflynn, and listen to her podcast, Women Taking the Lead.

Take Jodi’s Leadership Skills Inventory at https://womentakingthelead.com/leadership-abilities-inventory/ to find out what your leadership strengths and gaps are, so that you know what to focus on to be more confident and competent. 

Thank you for spending the time with me!  

The best place to start? Subscribe to Executive Moves — my free weekly newsletter for ambitious L&D professionals. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get one bold insight, one practical move, and one growth resource to accelerate your leadership journey.

Sign up here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/98676779613423573/share

You can also connect with me and explore more resources:
🌐 Website: www.leadwithsheree.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead-with-sheree/
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LeadwithSheree

And if you’d like to reach out directly, send me a message on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you!

Show Notes

In this episode of the Simplify Leadership podcast, Sheree Comninellis, CEO of Lead with Sheree, explains the importance of company values and how these can assist you to drive performance in your team.

Sheree is a strategist, entrepreneur and expert in Learning and Development. With over 17 years of experience in leadership roles, she has a proven track record of developing and mentoring leaders at all levels. She has worked across a range of industries, from small businesses to large corporations, helping them build their leadership capacity.

In 2023, she founded Lead with Sheree to offer practical, easy-to-implement leadership resources and guidance to new leaders. Her mission is to simplify leadership, making it accessible and actionable, so that new leaders can overcome overwhelm and step into their roles with confidence.

In this episode, Sheree shares about the importance of company values. She walks you through the process of how to identify your company values and then strategies you can use to make them come alive for your team. 

She also discusses whether you need values as a solopreneur, what to do when a team member is not living the values and how to use your company values to drive team and business performance. 

What you’ll learn in this episode:

1:05 The importance of company values

3:44 What your company values should not be

4:10 How to go about identifying the values for your company

10:52 Do you need values as a solopreneur?

11:32 How to help your team understand what your values mean

14:36 Strategies to make your company values come alive for your team

20:30 What to do when a team member does not live the values

23:02 How values can drive performance in your team

Thank you for spending the time with me!  

The best place to start? Subscribe to Executive Moves — my free weekly newsletter for ambitious L&D professionals. In just 5 minutes, you’ll get one bold insight, one practical move, and one growth resource to accelerate your leadership journey.

Sign up here: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/589169/98676779613423573/share

You can also connect with me and explore more resources:
🌐 Website: www.leadwithsheree.com
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lead-with-sheree/
▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LeadwithSheree

And if you’d like to reach out directly, send me a message on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear from you!