Wayward Leaders founder earns ATD Master Trainer designation

Carl Lee Tolbert, PhD, CMRP, has earned ATD’s Master Trainer designation after completing the association’s eight-week program with a live skills assessment. The recognition adds credibility to Wayward Leaders’ on-site industrial training as Tolbert expands hands-on courses for technicians and sales teams.

Why it matters: - The ATD Master Trainer designation can strengthen credibility for industrial training delivered to technicians, utilities and manufacturers. - Tolbert’s training model emphasizes hands-on problem-solving, which can improve retention for maintenance and operations teams working on real equipment.

What happened: - Carl Lee Tolbert, PhD, CMRP, founder of Wayward Leaders LLC, received the Master Trainer designation from the Association for Talent Development. - The eight-week ATD Master Trainer Program ran from Aug. 3 to Sept. 25, 2026. - The program included a live, observed skills assessment in which each participant facilitated a session and was scored against ATD’s rubric. - Tolbert is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The details: - Wayward Leaders delivers on-site training in variable frequency drives, or VFDs, which control pumps, fans, conveyors and other process equipment in plants and utilities. - Tolbert has commissioned roughly 750 drives over more than 30 years in industrial automation. - Tolbert wrote Before the First Fault, a book focused on VFD installation and reliability. - Tolbert also teaches in doctoral programs at three universities. - Tolbert said the ATD program pushed him toward a more hands-on classroom model, where technicians work the problem themselves and instructors ask better questions. - Wayward Leaders teaches at the client’s facility for groups of 8 to 16. - The flagship course, Before the First Fault: Intermediate and Advanced VFD Training, runs two days with an optional third day. - The flagship course includes 14 hands-on labs and carries 13.5 documented contact hours. - Students wire and commission drives on trainers that come prewired on the power side. - Students tune control loops against four simulated processes: heating, cooling, pressure and flow. - Students diagnose failures using damage cards that include a trend, a parameter snapshot and an operator’s account of the event. - Wayward Leaders also offers VFD Basics for Water and Wastewater, a one-day course with 7.0 contact hours. - Wayward Leaders offers Becoming a Specialist: Technical Sales, a two-day course for industrial sales staff. - Each course includes scored pre- and post-class assessments. - Clients receive a competency report within five business days. - Course details are available at waywardleaders.com/training.

Between the lines: - The new designation aligns with Tolbert’s shift from lecture-heavy instruction toward interactive, lab-based learning. - Wayward Leaders is positioning its courses around measurable competency, not just attendance. - The company’s mix of technical and sales training suggests an effort to serve both plant-floor and go-to-market teams in industrial markets.

What's next: - Wayward Leaders says the rebuilt website now hosts course details. - The company will likely use Tolbert’s ATD credential to support future training sales and custom program development.

The bottom line: - Tolbert’s ATD recognition gives Wayward Leaders a new credential to back its hands-on industrial training approach.