Talent Development

Your next generation of leaders is already in your building.

Most organizations spend their leadership development budget at the top. The people who will actually need to lead in five years are sitting in mid-level roles right now, mostly on their own.

Matt Sprang, talent development facilitator, Greater Philadelphia region

The problem

Companies are losing their best younger associates. Not because the work is bad or the pay is wrong. Because no one is investing in them. The leadership development budget flows up. The C-suite gets the coaches and the retreats. Younger associates get an onboarding checklist and a manager who is already stretched thin.

Three things are happening at once. The pipeline is not being built. Succession is not a future concern; it is an active problem. Young talent is walking, and the reasons are rarely compensation. They are belonging, growth, and the feeling that someone sees their potential and is willing to invest in it.

What does it actually cost to lose a good 28-year-old? Not just the recruiting fee. The institutional knowledge. The client relationships. The two years it takes to rebuild what leaves with them. Matt has a number for that — and it is larger than most organizations want to admit.

Why Matt

Matt spent 25 years working directly with younger associates during their most formative years. He did not do it by making things easy. He convinced teenagers to get into a cold pool three times a week at 5 a.m. before school. He helped them set goals that felt impossible and build the process to reach them.

He then spent 16 years as an Owner and CEO leading a staff of 45 employees through daily operations and through genuine crisis, knowing firsthand what it costs to lose good young people and what it takes to build the kind of environment where they stay and grow.

He is a trained facilitator with more than 200 events, a 9.4 average rating, and a Net Promoter Score of 85, and his methodology is built on the XChange Approach, rooted in Appreciative Inquiry; he draws the intelligence out of a room rather than dispensing it from the front.

Read more about Matt's background and what makes this work different.

Matt Sprang, talent development facilitator

The methodology

Strengths-based

The work starts with what someone already has. People build on strength faster and more sustainably than they overcome deficit.

Group facilitation

Matt draws out the collective intelligence in the room rather than depositing knowledge into it. The Appreciative Inquiry approach asks what is working, what is possible, and what conditions produce the best results.

Active listening

The ability to hold space, to ask one more question instead of offering one more answer, is central to how the work gets done.

What an engagement looks like

Engagements typically begin with a diagnostic conversation to understand the organization and the people being developed. From there, Matt designs and facilitates a structured process with the team or cohort — drawing out what is working, what is possible, and what the group can commit to together. The engagement closes with a set of commitments the group generates themselves. Not assignments. Intentions they chose.

Some organizations work with Matt for a single focused day. Others build ongoing programs over several months. The work is designed around where you actually are — not a pre-packaged curriculum. The methodology is consistent. The shape is not.

The methodology Matt uses does not start with a curriculum. It starts with a question. Most organizations are surprised by what comes up when someone asks the right one.

Common questions

Who is this for?

Organizations that employ Millennial and Gen Z workers who want to invest in developing those employees into future leaders before they lose them. Common entry points: companies experiencing turnover they cannot explain, organizations with no clear succession plan, and leaders who know their bench is thin.

How is this different from a one-day workshop?

Some organizations do work with Matt for a single day. Others build ongoing programs over weeks or months. What makes it different is that this is never a pre-packaged curriculum. It is designed around who your people actually are and what the organization genuinely needs.

How long does an engagement typically run?

Engagements range from a single focused session to multi-month programs. It starts with a conversation about where the organization is and what would actually move the needle.

What does the facilitation process look like?

Matt uses the XChange Approach, rooted in Appreciative Inquiry. Rather than depositing content from the front of the room, he draws the intelligence out of the group. The result is a set of commitments the participants generated themselves — which means they follow through.

Start the conversation.

The work is built around what your organization actually needs. Let's talk about where you are and what that looks like.

Get in touch Read more about Matt