For three decades, Ariel Group has helped global organizations connect leadership to performance. For CEO Steve Nolan, that work depends on leaders who combine emotional intelligence with operational discipline and understand how people, processes, and purpose shape results.

Since stepping into the role of CEO, Nolan has focused on positioning Ariel as a strategic partner for large-scale enterprises, helping leadership teams align around a shared purpose and achieve measurable behavior change. With a background that spans edtech, SaaS strategy, and private equity, Nolan brings a data-driven lens to the human side of business, advocating for an organizational culture where presence and practice are integrated into the daily operating rhythm.

In the following interview, Nolan discusses Ariel’s approach to leadership development, the culture behind its client work, how he’s thinking about AI, and the personal perspective that shapes how he leads. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Consulting Report: Can you provide an overview of your firm's areas of specialization, whether based on sectors or functional areas?

Steve Nolan: Ariel has partnered with clients to develop leadership capabilities for over 30 years. Our solutions combine experiential learning, performance-based training methodologies rooted in performing arts techniques, and personalized executive coaching and advisory to drive sustained behavior change. 

While our programs address diverse business challenges, clients most frequently engage us to solve these three needs: 

• Building Trust: When organizations face change or complexity, even experienced leaders can lose credibility with their teams. Our programs equip leaders with skills like active listening, conflict de-escalation, and adaptive executive presence.
• Accelerating Leadership Effectiveness: Many clients come to us with technically strong leaders who lack the presence, confidence, and communication skills to influence and inspire at the next level. In our experiential programs and executive coaching, we help new leaders develop critical skills through real-world situational practice. 
• Aligning Teams: Organizations also engage us to develop leadership teams by creating a shared language and mission and then aligning the team’s priorities around them. These team-based programs provide a safe space to work through challenges while building the collective leadership capacity needed to execute strategy. 

“The client experience is at the heart of what we do.”

The Consulting Report: How would you describe Ariel’s culture, and how does it shape the client experience?

Steve Nolan: Ariel’s culture is built on a combination of the type of work we do and the size of the company. At Ariel, everybody knows everybody. Nobody is too far away from the client experience, and the client experience is at the heart of what we do. We want to make every experience as meaningful, customized, and impactful as possible—and the team rallies around that.

Even through periods of change and uncertainty, people at Ariel have a tremendously positive attitude, can-do attitude. Ariel employees are people who are really intelligent, very competent at their jobs, and are always willing to chip in without asking “What's in it for me?” It’s rare to have such a small company working with huge, global brands and I think it’s the people that make the experience so worthwhile.

The Consulting Report: How is AI beginning to influence the way organizations approach leadership development and training?

Steve Nolan: For now, it hasn't changed the type of client mandates that Ariel is hired for, but we are getting signals from the market that there is a push to adopt and use AI, especially in the large global enterprises we work with. It's only a matter of time before they're going to ask their vendors to have an AI strategy. 

Ariel’s position is that we believe in using AI to support and enhance the incredibly effective human training and coaching we do. We have been innovating with AI, even ahead of the demands of our customers. We see clients struggle to adopt and implement AI use, so we are creating programs around that. We’ve also introduced AI roleplays to reinforce training that participants have had in-person or virtually. 

AI is the future of how we do business. As these gigantic investments are being made by our clients in AI, Ariel is asking relevant questions, like “What role is AI going to play in your job, in your area, in training and development? How can we play a bigger part in that?”

"If I'm going to be a leader, I've got to be a people-first leader."

The Consulting Report: Is there a book, mentor, or mantra that has influenced how you lead your organization?

Steve Nolan: I came across something several years ago that really clicked with me. It's called “The Living Organization,” by Norman Wolf. The concept of his book is about looking at your company as an organism. For example, this department is the heart, this department is the brain, this department is arms and legs, etc. It’s about realizing that everything is interconnected and for the company to have success, every department has to work together.

Instead of saying, X department is a cost center and Y department is a revenue center, you work to make the organization human-centric. In the end, making the work experience great for your people is going to improve your customer experience. And going further, improving customer experience will grow your revenue. 

I was already applying many of these concepts before I even read this book, but after reading it, something really clicked with me. I realized [that] if I'm going to be a leader, I've got to be a people-first leader. 

The Consulting Report: How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

Steve Nolan: My wife and I have two teenage daughters who are very competitive, pretty highly ranked equestrians. They compete in a few different disciplines—jumping, dressage, and cross country. And we have a stable with five horses, so that's where our weekends go.

I'm essentially my daughters’ assistant. Watching them flourish, grow, and become responsible and goal-oriented is tremendously satisfying. During the season, my wife and I watch them compete every weekend. On top of that, every day you've got to go to the stables to take care of the horses. My kids have shown me unbelievable growth and maturity. I feel like it’s all we talk about at home sometimes, but we love it and we’ve chosen that life.