262: Moving Up the Career Ladder – Navigating the Transition from Technical Employee to Managerial Role

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As the Vice President of Customer Service Excellence (SVE) for the Tax & Accounting North America division at Wolters Kluwer, Laurent leads system, process and talent optimization strategy through multi-disciplinary teams that accelerate business performance, customer experience and financial results. He also drives customer experience and software support strategy for technology, knowledge management and technical support delivery for SVE TAA North American business units.a

More Laurent Pierre Jr. 

As the Vice President of Customer Service Excellence (SVE) for the Tax & Accounting North America division at Wolters Kluwer, Laurent leads system, process, and talent optimization strategy through multidisciplinary teams that accelerate business performance, customer experience, and financial results. He also drives customer experience and software support strategy for technology, knowledge management, and technical support delivery for SVE TAA North American business units.

Prior to joining Wolters Kluwer, Laurent was the Partner General Manager for Microsoft Azure supporting US Government agencies and partners.  Laurent also enjoyed a fourteen-year career at IBM leading various teams whose focus was on delivering world-class support to Fortune Global 500 customers, while driving customer experience initiatives using Salesforce, Medallia and IBM Watson AI.  He also led a global team of Client Experience Managers who optimized user and customer experiences and successfully protected $2.4B in software account revenue.

Laurent holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University and dual MBA’s in Financial Management/Management from Southeastern University.  He is married and has five children.  

You can find Laurent on LinkedIn here or on Twitter here.

The Listening Guide

Create a listening culture that elevates the employee experience with The Listening Guide.

Through this guide, Heather uncovers how you can ensure those you lead feel heard by taking 3 approaches to listening inside an organization.

  • Understand why listening is the key to employee engagement
  • Learn how the Cycle of Listening contributes to strong workplace relationships
  • Get a practical framework for creating a listening culture that is bidirectional, responsive, and supportive

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Becoming Unshakeable With Heather R Younger

Becoming Unshakeable is the podcast for leaders, creators, and changemakers who know that true leadership starts from within. Each episode explores what it takes to lead with resilience, compassion, and purpose—without pretending to be perfect.
Through candid conversations with executives, frontline leaders, coaches, and everyday heroes, Heather uncovers the real stories behind growth, setbacks, and transformation. From navigating change to creating emotionally safe cultures, Becoming Unshakeable reveals how self-leadership and Caring Leadership can shape people—and workplaces—that cannot be shaken.

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The Cycle of Active Listening

Create a listening culture that elevates the workplace experience for everyone.

Through this guide, uncover how to ensure those in your care at work feel heard and valued, resulting in increased loyalty and satisfaction.

  • Understand why listening is the key to improved engagement
  • Learn how the Cycle of Active Listening contributes to strong workplace relationships
  • Get a practical framework for creating a listening culture that is bidirectional, responsive, and supportive

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