Episode 307: Dave Sparkman, How Leaders Shape a Positive Culture
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
Release Date: 01/13/2026
Episode 309: Molly Fletcher, The Energy Clock (replay)
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we revisit our conversation with Molly Fletcher. Molly made her mark as one of the first female sports agents, and during her nearly two decades as President of CSE she negotiated more than $500 million in contracts. She represented over 300 of sports’ biggest names, including Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz, PGA Tour golfer Matt Kuchar, broadcaster Erin Andrews, and championship coaches Tom Izzo and Doc Rivers. Today, Molly is recognized as one of the world’s top keynote speakers, and her TED Talk, “Secrets of a Champion Mindset,” has surpassed one million views. She also...
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Episode 308: Steven Kwast, Lieutenant General, U.S. Air Force (ret.) replay
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week on Motivated to Lead, we revisit a conversation with General Steven Kwast, CEO of SpaceBilt and one of the most forward thinking voices in national security and the future of space. General Kwast’s story is remarkable. Raised in a remote African tribe, he went on to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy in astronautical engineering and later earned a master’s in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School. Over his distinguished career, he has recruited, educated, and developed the Air Force’s workforce, served as President of Air University, and led at every level as a...
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Episode 307: Dave Sparkman, How Leaders Shape a Positive Culture
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we interviewed Dave Sparkman. Dave is the founder and managing director of SPARK Your Culture, a corporate culture advisory services firm, specializing in helping organizations transform and flourish through healthy, high-performance cultures. In his corporate career, Dave served as the SVP, Culture at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune 5 public company based in Minnetonka, MN. Over 9 years in that role, he led efforts to infuse an over 300,000 person organization with a corporate mission and values that would improve corporate results, including the customer and employee...
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Episode 306: Shellye Archambeau, Unapologetically Ambitious (replay)
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we revisit our interview with Shellye Archambeau. Shellye is an experienced CEO and Board Director with a track record of accomplishments building brands, high-performance teams, and organizations. She shares lessons learned from her life that she has written about in her new book, Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers, and Create Success on Your Own Terms. A book that will inspire you, and provide the tools to enable you to fight the battles, make the tradeoffs and create the life you want. Shellye Archambeau currently serves on the boards of Verizon [NYSE:VZ],...
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Episode 305: Dr. Wayne Baker, All You Have To Do Is Ask (replay)
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we revisit our interview with Wayne Baker. Wayne is the author of the book All You Have to Do Is Ask, and the Robert P. Thome Professor of Business Administration and Professor of Management & Organizations at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. He is also a Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan and Faculty Associate at the Institute for Social Research. He currently serves as Faculty Director of the Center for Positive Organizations. His teaching and research focus on social capital, social networks, generosity, positive organizational...
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Episode 304: Susan Ashford, The Power of Flexing (replay)
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we revisit our interview with Susan (Sue) Ashford, who is an award-winning scholar and Professor at the University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business. She is the author of "The Power of Flexing: How to Use Small Daily Experiments to Create Big Life-Changing Growth". Sue’s passion for helping people to be maximally effective in their work lives has driven her teaching and research work on self-management, proactivity, change from below, and leadership and its development. Her research has been summarized as advice for managers in the Harvard Business Review, the...
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Episode 303: Andy Bass, Start With What Works (replay)
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we revisit our interview with Andy Bass. Andy is a consultant, author, and speaker who works with businesses to find and exploit their hidden assets. He has worked with organizations in the UK, US and Far East including International Automotive Component Group, Rolls Royce, L’Oreal, Trimas, Deutsche Bank and The Advanced Propulsion Centre. Prior to his consulting career, Andy was a lecturer at Aston Business School and has also taught at Oxford Saïd, Warwick and Strathclyde Business Schools. Andy has a PhD in Software Engineering and describes himself as a geek who learned to...
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Episode: 302: Ken Sher, What's TRUST Got To Do With It?
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we interviewed Ken Sher, who is an Executive Coach, Career Coach, Keynote Speaker, and, most recently, an author. Ken spent more than 25 years at Johnson & Johnson in leadership roles across Sales, Marketing, Recruiting, Training, and Leadership Development. Through his experience, Ken has seen that technical skills alone don’t make leaders successful. The best leaders are compassionate, authentic, and know how to build strong, trusting relationships that help teams thrive. He brings these lessons to life in his book, What’s TRUST Got to Do with It? Transforming Leadership,...
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Episode 301: Dr. Andrew Denton, President, Crown College
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we interviewed Dr. Andrew C. Denton, President of Crown College. Andrew is the 17th president of Crown College. His vision, directed by the Lord, is for Crown to be the boldly Christian college of the Midwest. He provides a high level of vision, strategy, and execution to Crown while remaining deeply committed to leading Crown to be a boldly Christian, academically excellent college that fosters a lifelong, authentic community. Since beginning his presidency, Dr. Denton has led Crown through nearly $ 20 million in capital investments across campus, including the...
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Episode 300: Amir Abolfathi, Healthcare Executive, Board Member & Leadership Mentor
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we interview Amir Abolfathi. Amir is an experienced innovator and medical device executive with a proven record of building and scaling successful enterprises. He was a founding team member of uLab Systems, Tusker Medical (acquired by Smith and Nephew), and Sonitus Medical. Amir also served for 6 years as an Officer and Vice President of R&D at Align Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ALGN), the creator of a unique, invisible orthodontic product. Previously, Amir was the first member of the senior management team at Embolic Protection Inc. (acquired by Boston Scientific), where he...
info_outlineThis week, we interviewed Dave Sparkman. Dave is the founder and managing director of SPARK Your Culture, a corporate culture advisory services firm, specializing in helping organizations transform and flourish through healthy, high-performance cultures.
In his corporate career, Dave served as the SVP, Culture at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune 5 public company based in Minnetonka, MN. Over 9 years in that role, he led efforts to infuse an over 300,000 person organization with a corporate mission and values that would improve corporate results, including the customer and employee experience.
Prior to UnitedHealth Group, Dave lived in Los Angeles and served as the partner responsible for the West Region Human Resources function at Arthur Andersen, a worldwide audit, tax, and consulting firm.
He also currently serves as the volunteer Executive Director and Board Chair for Crossroads Career, a faith-based, job transition ministry dedicated to helping people who are unfulfilled or unemployed.
Dave and his wife, Carrie, have four adult children and five grandchildren.