Episode 307: Dave Sparkman, How Leaders Shape a Positive Culture
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
Release Date: 01/13/2026
Episode 318: Kristin Russell, CEO, CBTS
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we interviewed Kristin Russell. Kristin is the CEO of CBTS and a member of its Board of Directors. Kristin shapes and drives the organization's strategic direction. A dynamic visionary, she is guiding CBTS's evolution from a traditional infrastructure and managed services firm into a market leader in AI-enabled digital transformation solutions. Kristin is a seasoned industry veteran with over 20 years of experience driving transformative growth at leading technology companies. Prior to joining CBTS, she served as the President of Arrow Electronics’ Global Enterprise Computing...
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Episode 317: Todd Henry, The Motivation Code (replay)
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week we revisit our conversation with Todd Henry regarding the book, The Motivation Code, Discover the Hidden Forces That Drive Your Best Work. Todd is the author of seven books (including The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, and Herding Tigers), which have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and he speaks internationally on creativity, productivity, passion for work, and generating brilliant ideas. Todd’s podcast, Daily Creative, has been downloaded more than 20 million times since 2005. Over the years, Todd has developed a comprehensive framework (The...
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Episode 316: Ryan Hawk (replay)
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we revisit our conversation with Ryan Hawk—leadership advisor, keynote speaker, and creator of The Learning Leader Show, a top‑ranked podcast downloaded tens of millions of times around the world. Ryan is known for his curiosity, preparation, and ability to draw out deep insights from world‑class performers across business, sports, and culture. He’s the bestselling author of Welcome to Management, The Pursuit of Excellence, and The Score That Matters. In this conversation, Ryan shares how leaders can transition seamlessly from individual contributor to exceptional leader.
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Episode 315: Lorraine Parker-Clegg, Chief People Officer, Allison Transmission
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
In this week’s episode, we revisit our interview with Lorraine Parker-Clegg. Lorraine is the Chief People Officer at Allison Transmission. Lorraine shares lessons learned in her career and her perspective on hiring great talent. Lorraine is an international business leader with in-country expertise across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Lorraine has held Human Resources leadership positions with companies such as BE Aerospace, Bristol Myers Squibb, Medtronic, most recently, she was the Chief Human Resources Officer at Doncasters Group. Lorraine is highly regarded for her ability to...
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Episode 314: Christopher Millerick, Decision Frameworks
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week we interview Christopher J. Millerick. Christopher is a revenue architect, go-to-market strategist, and expert in partner eco-systems leadership who has spent more than fifteen years engineering the systems that translate Private Equity and Venture Capital investment theses into predictable, capital-efficient revenue growth for enterprise SaaS and cybersecurity companies. As Global Vice President of Worldwide Partner Sales, Alliances & Hyperscalers at Infoblox—a Vista Equity Partners and Warburg Pincus portfolio company—Chris led the structural transformation of a stagnant...
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Episode 313: John Milad, CEO, VC, Board Member
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we revisit our interview with John Milad. John has 25 years of experience as a start-up executive, venture investor, and banker specializing in healthcare innovation across the UK, Europe, and the US. He had 10 years of life sciences venture experience at a family office, Atlas Venture, NBGI Venture and Downing. Notable exits include Symetis, ACT/EPIX, BoneSupport and Medcast/WebMD. John is a Co-founder of Quanta Dialysis Technologies, which I led as CEO for 8 years. Notable outcomes include creating an award-winning, disruptive portable dialysis system; raising nearly $400m in...
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Episode 312: Stacey Porter (replay)
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we revisit our interview with Stacey Porter. Stacey is the Chief People Officer at PROCEPT BioRobotics. Prior to that, she was the Chief People Officer at Outset Medical. Stacey has expertise in organizational design, innovative talent practices, and employee engagement. Prior to Outset, she was the Head of Global Talent Development for Intuitive Surgical, Inc., responsible for designing performance and succession practices, while developing leaders and high-performing teams. Stacey has held leadership roles at VMware and Roche, and has built a career on creating nimble,...
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Episode 311: Keith Grossman (replay)
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
This week, we revisit our conversation with Keith Grossman. Keith has been a leader in the medical technology industry for more than 35 years. He was the Chairman of the Board of Nevro Corporation (NVRO) until April 2025, having previously served as President and CEO from 2019 to April 2023. Prior to Nevro, he was named President and CEO of Thoratec Corp. (THOR) for the second time in 2014. He led the company’s return to growth, a 2.5x increase in company value, and its $3.4 billion acquisition by St. Jude Medical in 2015. He previously served as the CEO, President, and Director of...
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Episode 310: Dr. Robert Quinn, Purpose Driven Leadership
Motivated to Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim
In this episode, we revisit our conversation with Dr. Robert Quinn as he shares powerful insights on what it means to become a purpose-driven leader. Dr. Quinn has spent the past 40 years researching, publishing, teaching, consulting, and speaking to more than half of the Fortune 500. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and the author of 18 books, including Deep Change, a long term bestseller. He was named one of the “World’s Top 30 Organizational Culture Professionals” in 2018 and holds one of the highest repeat invitation rates in the...
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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...
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.