NextGen: Tom Smigielski

The Tough Talk™ Team Clarity Workshop Understanding the Patterns That Make or Break Team Performance

Workshop Description

Most teams don’t struggle because people don’t care — they struggle because of unspoken patterns. Unclear roles, misaligned expectations, and avoided conversations quietly create friction that slows progress and frustrates good people.

The Tough Talk™ Team Clarity Workshop helps leaders and teams identify the patterns shaping how they work, clarify the difference between leadership and management, and create shared language that improves communication, decision-making, and execution.

This session is direct, practical, and designed to create clarity — not hype or surface-level motivation.

 

Speaker Bio

Tom Smigielski is an executive and leadership coach known for asking the questions most people in the room are thinking—but few are willing to say out loud.

Before becoming a coach, Tom spent more than 20 years in advertising agencies in account management roles, working directly with clients to research challenges, define positioning, and translate business goals into clear strategic direction. That experience gave him a front-row seat to how unclear expectations, misaligned roles, and avoided conversations quietly undermine results.

Tom is the creator of The Tough Talk™ Team Clarity Workshop and a lead advisor with Leadership Roanoke Valley, where he supports leadership teams through a ten-month development journey. He is known for his calm, direct approach and his ability to create clarity when teams feel stuck.