What if your manager has more impact on your emotional wellbeing than almost anyone else in your life?

Ryan shares the career journey that took him from industrial-organizational psychology into leadership development, talent strategy, people analytics, and executive coaching.

From building HR systems from the ground up to leading talent development strategies across major organizations, Ryan brings both the human and commercial side of leadership into one powerful conversation.

This episode dives into what makes great leaders, why workplace culture starts with management, and how leadership decisions shape not only business outcomes, but people’s lives far beyond work.

A must-listen for leaders, managers, HR professionals, and anyone building teams.

What you’ll get from this episode

Why managers deeply affect emotional wellbeing
How leadership shapes workplace culture
Lessons from talent development and people analytics
What great leadership looks like in practice
How to think commercially as a people leader
Why development starts with self-awareness

Get to know Ryan:

Ryan McCrea is a senior talent and leadership development leader known for building practical, high-impact strategies that help organizations grow stronger leaders, better teams, and healthier cultures. With more than two decades of experience across talent management, leadership development, organizational effectiveness, mentoring, and culture transformation, Ryan brings a science-practitioner approach to helping people and businesses perform at their best. He is also the author of Quick Bites of Insight, a book that offers practical, real-world leadership lessons for managers and professionals looking to grow in the flow of work.

Most recently, Ryan served as Head of Learning and Leadership Development at Ameren, where he led enterprise-wide learning and leadership development strategy and oversaw a team responsible for building scalable solutions that supported leaders and employees across the organization. He currently serves as President of the Saint Louis Organization Development Network (STL-ODN), reflecting his continued commitment to advancing the field of organizational development and leadership practice.

Previously, Ryan served as Vice President, Talent Development at Commerce Bank, where he launched a company-wide professional development program and led strategic initiatives to strengthen leadership capability, employee growth, and organizational effectiveness.

Ryan is certified in Situational Leadership®, The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety™, DiSC®, and MBTI®, and is also a certified Social and Emotional Intelligence Coach. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Southern Indiana and a Master of Arts in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Based in St. Louis, Ryan lives with his wife, Susan, and their two cats, Zooey and Coco. Outside of work, he is passionate about music, movies, fashion, pop culture, and art, and is always up for a lively conversation about any of them.

Connect with Ryan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmccrea/

Website: www.quickbitesofinsight.com

Buy his book here: https://a.co/d/01WVNkb0

Meet your host, Candice Mitchell

Candice Mitchell is a Talent Development Strategist, CEO of Talent Collective, and USA Today bestselling author of Choose You: For the People Who Refuse to Disappear. With nearly two decades of experience building and leading capability functions inside global and Fortune 500 organizations, she founded Talent Collective, a premium capability-building firm for L&D, HR, Change, and People leaders in high-growth companies.

Your host, Candice Mitchell, can be found online at:

Website: https://talentcollective.org/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candicemitchelltc/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candice_mitchell_msc/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@candice_mitchell_msc

Talent Development Academy: https://courses.talentcollective.org/bundles/talent-development-academy

Choose You book: https://chooseyoubook.com/

Original music composed by: Paul DeHaven

pauldehavenmusic.com