Matt Poepsel, PhD

The Predictive Index

As Vice President:
> Design and implement strategic programs for F500, federal government, and other large clients
> Facilitate executive workshops in the areas of strategy, transformation, and performance
> Create client-specific talent optimization playbooks
> Evaluate long-term performance and employee experience improvements
> Support other PI functional leaders to best serve our beloved clients and partners

As Godfather of Talent Optimization:
> Serve as chief evangelist of this revolutionary new discipline
> Maintain the Ultimate Guide to Talent Optimization and Talent Optimization Maturity Model
> Educate and empower our global network of Talent Optimization Consultants
> Share the success stories of business and HR leaders 
> Advise other transformative HR Tech companies operating in the talent optimization space

Formerly as head of product:
> Defined and articulated our product vision and strategy
> Prioritized the long-term product roadmap
> Introduced and evolved our agile product development methods
> Partnered with science, sales, marketing, and other functional leaders
> Recruited and mentored all types of software product and design professionals

Vice President & Godfather of Talent Optimization

Covocative, Inc.

I designed a technology-assisted coaching platform and later sold it to a Silicon Valley software company.

Co-founder

Gomez, Inc.

I led our product, presales, consulting, education, and competitive benchmarking functions.

Vice President, Professional Services

US Marine Corps

I served as an Arabic Linguist and Radio Reconnaissance Marine.

Sergeant

I help leaders at every level realize their true potential | Author | Keynote Speaker | Podcast Host | Philosopher

Over a 25-year career, my military and corporate experience helped me become a successful software product executive.

In 2020, I hit a wall.

I began asking myself the BIG questions:

❓ Who am I really?
❓ Where do I fit in?
❓ What difference am I making in the world?

Resuming my long-abandoned meditation practice helped me turn to the past in order to move forward.

I embraced an enlightened leadership style—one inspired by ancient wisdom traditions yet uniquely suited to our modern world of work.

As a result:

🪶 I now feel a sense of lightness in my leadership.
⚡ My energy levels have increased.
💗 I’ve fallen in love with my work again.
🤗 My relationships are deeper.
💪 My influence is stronger.
🦸 I’ve learned to let go of fear and self-doubt.
🧘 I’m at peace knowing all my problems are workable.

Since making this shift, I’ve been sharing my insights and experiences with other aspiring leaders.

Now my mission is to help us liberate ourselves from outdated attitudes and behaviors that hold us back from our true potential.

When working with organizations, I partner with executives, team leaders, and HR pros who seek to help their leaders—and themselves—embody an enlightened leadership approach.

Together, we’re changing our world of work for the better.

If you want to learn more about how I did this (and how you can too):

📖 Read my new book “Expand the Circle”

🎧 Listen to my “Lead the People” podcast

📣 Invite me to speak to your team, company, or audience

Or just hang out with me here on LinkedIn for a bit. 😃

Learn more:

Website: http://mattpoepsel.com
Instagram: @mattpoepsel

Vice President & "The Godfather of Talent Optimization"

As Vice President of Professional Services, I:
✅  Serve our 1,000+ Talent Optimization Consultants around the world
✅  Empower our consultants with the knowledge, skills, and tools they need to serve their clients
✅  Develop highly scalable programs and tools that produce business results
✅  Shadow our consultants through virtual and field-based client engagements
✅  Design strategic talent optimization solutions for clients
✅  Support the transformative power of our new 1:1 Talent Strategy Session and Team Discovery solution
✅  Lead a team of amazing PIoneers and partner with others around our company to fulfill our mission of Better Work, Better World

As “The Godfather of Talent Optimization”, I'm also the chief evangelist of this new discipline that aligns talent strategy with business strategy to deliver optimal business results.

This involves:
🔥  Authoring the Ultimate Guide to Talent Optimization and the Talent Optimization Maturity Model (available at talentoptimization.org)
🔥  Serving as a subject matter expert for the PI Certified Talent Optimization Consultant and PI Certified Talent Optimization Leader programs
🔥  Evangelizing the benefits of talent optimization and its promise to produce superior business outcomes through improved people practices
🔥  Connecting with other amazing business and HR leaders to help them share their talent optimization best practices and stories with the world

I write and speak regularly on a variety of topics including talent strategy, talent management, team dynamics, leadership development, employee engagement, organizational culture, performance psychology, and productivity.

If you would like to work with me or one of our amazing PI Certified Partners, please connect with me!

I spent my Thanksgiving weekend cleaning out my garage.

The leadership lesson almost made it worthwhile. (Almost.)

At first, I was frustrated with myself.

Why did I let it get so disorganized?

You can guess what happened next.

I started blaming my bride and kids for contributing to the mess.

But then I realized who I really needed to blame:

Sir Isaac Newton and his second law of thermodynamics.

(Jerk.)

Any system naturally trends toward disorder.

My garage wasn't messy because someone failed.

It was messy because that's what happens to systems.

The leadership lesson struck me like an apple falling on Newton’s dumb head:

> When we don't understand entropy, we misread systemic breakdown as personal failure.

> We waste precious energy pointing fingers instead of recognizing that drift is inevitable.

> We damage relationships by blaming people for physics.

The real work of leadership isn't preventing entropy—that's impossible.

Instead, it’s recognizing this natural law early and expending energy to restore systems before they collapse.

Now that I've finished sprucing up my garage…

I'll be spending the coming weeks sharing how we can overcome the forces of entropy that are pulling apart our organizations, schools, communities, and society at large.

I’m beyond excited about the journey we’re about to take together!

🧹

Self-Coaching Questions:
> Where am I blaming people for natural system breakdown?
> What energy am I wasting on blame that could be redirected toward solutions?

Let’s teach your teams to Navigate as ONE | Advisor, Keynote Speaker & Professor | Expert in Collective Leadership | Elevate your performance, agility & impact

taplio

Matt Poepsel, PhD's Linkedin Analytics

Matt Poepsel, PhD

Performance ScoreMatt Poepsel, PhD's LinkedIn Performance

What is Matt talking about?

Matt Poepsel, PhD's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

.css-6ytdur{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39, 43, 72, 1) 0%, rgba(33, 47, 183, 1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Matt Poepsel, PhD's Linkedin Analytics

Matt Poepsel, PhD

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Matt Poepsel, PhD's LinkedIn Performance

What is Matt talking about?

Matt Poepsel, PhD's Best Posts .css-1emoo84{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:400;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);}(last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Matt Poepsel, PhD's Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScoreMatt Poepsel, PhD's LinkedIn Performance

Matt Poepsel, PhD's Best Posts (last 30 days)