We spend a lot of time talking about managers.

What if we spent more time talking to them?

The Manager to Manager podcast was built around a simple idea: managers learn best from one another. And the best way to help them and their teams succeed is to understand their experience.

Manager to Manager Live brings that idea to life in a shared experience.

Manager to Manager Live is for people leaders and the people who support them.

If you lead a team, come learn from seasoned people leaders who have done this long enough to have made some mistakes, learned some lessons, and figured out a few things worth sharing.

If you work in HR, Talent, Learning, Organizational Effectiveness, or another role that supports managers, come hear directly from the people you're designing for and join the conversation about what helps them succeed.

Across three focused themes, Relationships, Results, and Enablement, we'll explore what it takes to build strong relationships, deliver results through people, and create the conditions managers need to do both well.

Three mornings. Three lenses.

Day 1

Relationships

Great management starts with great relationships.

On Relationships Day, we're exploring the human side of management: the trust, connection, self-awareness, and partnerships that make everything else possible. Through candid conversations with experienced practitioners, we'll talk about what it takes to know your people, build relationships that can hold honest feedback, create strong partnerships before problems arise, and show up in a way people can trust.

  • People Deserve a Regulated You

    Dr. Jason L. James Jr. · Director of Operations for Student Academic Success, Rutgers University–Camden
    The version of you that shows up as a manager affects the people around you. This conversation explores how self-awareness, emotional regulation, and the ways we care for ourselves shape our consistency, our relationships, and the trust people place in us.

  • Build the Relationship That Can Hold the Hard Conversation

    Yogi Mueller · Owner & Chief Craftsman, Craft Leadership LLC
    Feedback lands differently when it comes from someone you trust and believe has your best interests at heart. This conversation explores how managers can build genuine relationships that create space for honest feedback, difficult conversations, and growth.

  • Build the Partnership Before You Need It

    Michelle Kaufman, PHR · Employee Success Partner, Cengage Group
    The best time for a manager to build a relationship with HR isn't when something has already gone wrong. This conversation looks at how managers and HR can build strong partnerships early, solve problems together, and get the right support before an ember becomes a fire.

  • Improve Relationships Without Losing Yourself

    Kaitlyn Rios, PT, DPT, CWS · Vice President of Strategic Growth & Operations, Superior Healthcare Services
    Managers are constantly navigating relationships with the people they lead, their peers, and the leaders above them. This conversation explores how to build strong relationships across the organization while maintaining the healthy boundaries that allow you to lead well.

Day 2

Results

Great management turns effort into results.

On Results Day, we're talking about what managers need to turn effort into performance. We'll explore how knowledge moves through a team, how managers develop people without becoming the bottleneck, how autonomy and flexibility can coexist with accountability, and why understanding the business helps managers and their teams make better decisions.

  • You Can't Lead What You Don't Understand

    George Rogers · Chief Strategy Officer, Lighthouse Research & Advisory
    Managers make better decisions when they understand more than just the work happening inside their own team. This conversation explores how understanding your people, your numbers, other parts of the business, and how your team's work creates value can make you a more effective and influential leader.

  • When Everyone Knows What Only One Person Knows

    Tieska Jumbo · COO, Onyx SpaceOps
    Teams struggle when critical knowledge lives in one person's head or people don't have the information they need to do their work. This conversation looks at the manager's role in helping knowledge move, creating shared understanding, and making sure work doesn't stop when one person isn't there.

  • Development Means Letting Go

    Jennifer Fields · Chief Technology and Delivery Officer, Acklen Avenue
    Developing people requires managers to give up some control and allow others to take on work they may not get right the first time. This conversation explores how managers can build capability, make room for learning, and keep work at the right level instead of taking it back themselves.

  • Same Result. Different Path.

    James Young · Owner & Vice President, Innotech Pest Management
    People don't always need to work the same way to produce the same result. This conversation looks at how managers can create flexibility and autonomy around how work gets done while remaining clear about expectations, accountability, and the outcomes that matter.

Day 3

Enablement

Managers can't do their jobs well if the system around them makes good management harder.

On Enablement Day, we're looking beyond the individual manager at the conditions organizations create around them. We'll talk about intentional manager development, practical tools and technology, AI that supports rather than replaces judgment, organizational support, and what it takes to reinforce good management in the flow of work.

  • Have We Designed the Manager We Say We Want?

    Robin Hendricks · Head of Talent, Azamara Cruises

    Organizations often have a picture of what good leadership looks like without giving managers enough opportunity to actually develop it. This conversation looks at how clear behavioral expectations, real-world experience, practice, and feedback help managers build capability over time.

  • Automate the Action, Not the Thinking

    Hector Martinez · Senior Manager, Learning & Development, Building Service 32BJ Benefit Funds

    Technology can make a manager's job easier, but it shouldn't make the decisions for them. This conversation explores how organizations can use technology and AI to support managers in the flow of work while preserving the judgment, agency, and critical thinking good management requires.

  • When an Employee Asks for an Accommodation

    David Miklas · Employment Lawyer, Law Office of David Miklas, P.A.

    Managers lead people with different needs, and sometimes that means responding to a request for an accommodation or a different way of working. This conversation explores how organizations can ensure managers understand what they can do, where the boundaries are, and how to respond thoughtfully while supporting both the employee and the organization.

  • Moving Forward Together

    Kamaria Scott · Chief Performance Strategist, Enetic

    Across eleven conversations, we've explored what managers need to build strong relationships, get results through people, and navigate the realities of the job. We'll close Manager to Manager Live together, reflecting on what we've heard, what we're taking with us, and what we can do differently moving forward.

Built for people who lead people — and the people who support them.

People leaders who want practical ideas, fresh perspective, and the chance to learn from people who understand the realities of management.

HR, talent, learning, and organizational leaders who want to better understand the conditions, systems, and support managers need to lead effectively.

Come for the perspective. Leave with practices you can use and a community of people thinking seriously about what it takes to help managers succeed.

Eligible for 6 SHRM PDCs

What to Expect

Each morning features four short, high-value conversations designed to get quickly to the ideas, experiences, and practices that matter.

No long presentations. No generic leadership advice. Just thoughtful, 20–25 minute conversations grounded in real experience.

Managers will hear from other managers and people who understand the work. And the people responsible for supporting managers will get a clearer view of what managers actually need to succeed.

You'll leave with practical takeaways you can put to work right away, plus a few live giveaways throughout the event.