Dr. Carl Lee Tolbert, PhD

Industrial Organizationalist | Author | Founder, Wayward Leaders™

Dr. Carl Lee Tolbert helps industrial organizations integrate AI, human expertise, and leadership culture to strengthen value-added sales and technical performance. As an Industrial Organizationalist and author of The 10 Immutable Laws of the Industrial Distribution Specialist, he equips sales leaders, application engineers, and specialists to harness technology without losing the human credibility customers trust most.

Through his Wayward Leaders™ framework — See → Move → Stabilize— Dr. Tolbert turns the principles of value-added selling into a repeatable system for growth and retention. He shows how the next generation of industrial success depends on aligning AI-driven insight with behavioral intelligence, helping teams sell smarter, lead stronger, and stay relevant in a changing marketplace.

A former engineer and AC-drive reliability expert, Dr. Tolbert bridges technical depth and behavioral science. Using the Big Five Personality Model, he explains how personality, motivation, and adaptability shape the adoption of AI tools and digital-selling systems.

Audiences gain actionable strategies to:

• Integrate AI into value-added sales without eroding trust or authenticity.
• Equip specialists and SMEs to use data as an extension of expertise.
• Lead hybrid technical-sales teams through change with confidence.
• Build a culture that connects innovation, reliability, and growth.

Known for his clarity, humor, and field credibility, Dr. Tolbert delivers research-backed, story-driven keynotes that help distributors, manufacturers, and OEMs thrive at the intersection of people, process, and intelligent technology.

Speaking Tracks

1. Value-Added Sales & AI Integration

Audience: Sales leaders, application engineers, and distributor reps
Focus: How AI enhances—rather than replaces—relationship-based selling.
Key Insights: Turning diagnostics into trust, guiding sales teams through AI adoption, and maintaining authenticity in a data-driven marketplace.

2. Leading Specialists and SMEs

Audience: Senior leaders, technical managers, and HR/training directors
Focus: Leadership behaviors that retain and develop high-performing experts.
Key Insights: Applying See → Move → Stabilize to mentoring, recognizing, and aligning specialists for long-term success.

3. Building Resilience in Maintenance Cultures

Audience: Cross-functional teams in manufacturing, distribution, and service organizations
Focus: How grit, perseverance, and culture—not pay or policy—sustain maintenance reliability and retention.
Key Insights: Drawn from Dr. Tolbert’s Grit Maintenance Study, this session reveals why retention in maintenance teams is often misunderstood by leadership. Attendees learn how perseverance of effort and consistency of interest predict commitment more accurately than incentives, and how leaders can shape environments that strengthen those traits—building resilient, loyal, and high-performing maintenance cultures.

4. The Human Side of Industry 4.0

Audience: Executives, innovation leaders, and technical teams implementing automation and AI
Focus: How workplace culture and leadership determine digital-transformation success.
Key Insights: Managing human resistance, fostering inclusion, and preparing teams for AI and automation adoption.

5. Workshop: See → Move → Stabilize in Action

Audience: Leadership teams seeking practical application
Format: Half- or full-day interactive session
Outcome: Build alignment, define success metrics, and design a retention-and-growth roadmap tailored to the organization.