Keynote Speaking
Why
This Talk Is Different
Most burnout talks are built on borrowed frameworks and a motivational arc. This one is built on a study of 212 professionals and a finding that reliably reframes the room: burnout isn't a personal failing, it's a systems failure — and the people with the most power to fix it are burning out fastest.
Signature Topics:
- The Senior Leader Paradox — why the people running the organization are burning out faster than the people they lead.
- The Effort Gap — why working harder doesn’t fix burnout, and what actually does.
- ACT: Attention, Control, Toggle — a practical framework the audience can use the next morning.
- When Work Doesn’t Work — the central question every leader needs to carry, drawn from the new book.
Where I’ve spoken:
- Recurring invited speaker, Annual Leadership Development Conference, Immanuel Business School (Hyderabad, India) — 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019.
- National panelist, Transportation Research Board, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (Washington, D.C.) — 2017 and 2018.
- Multiple invited presentations at the American Psychological Association’s Division 13 (Society of Consulting Psychology) and Division 14 (SIOP) annual conventions, 2016–2021.
- Presented original coaching research at the Institute of Coaching (McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate), Boston.
- Corporate keynotes and seminars for General Motors, Ford, Smith Gardens, and the VA Healthcare Leadership Institute, among others, across a speaking history spanning more than a decade.
Who books this talk: leadership offsites, HR and People conferences, industry associations in technology, aerospace, and professional services, and internal all-hands or leadership-summit audiences.
Who Books This Talk
Primary: HR and People conference organizers, program chairs, and leadership-offsite planners at technology, aerospace, and professional-services companies.
Secondary: Internal event organizers planning all-hands sessions or leadership summits.
Ideal
Client Profile
Primary Audience: Program chairs and HR/People conference organizers evaluating a keynote speaker for their next event or leadership offsite.
Key Characteristics:
- Planning a leadership offsite, all-hands, or industry conference and want a session people actually talk about afterward.
- Tired of generic burnout and wellness talks that don’t hold up against real research.
- Looking for a speaker who can back every claim with original data, not borrowed frameworks.
- Want the audience to leave with something they can use the next morning, not just an inspiring hour.
Typical Pain Points:
- Most keynote submissions are generic leadership talks with no original research behind them.
- Audiences are burned out on burnout talks that recycle the same borrowed frameworks and offer no new data.
- It’s hard to evaluate a speaker’s credibility in the two minutes a program chair typically has to decide.
- Sessions that get great applause in the room rarely translate into anything the audience still uses a month later.
Aspirations
- A speaker who leaves the audience with a framework they’re still using a month later, not just a good feeling.
- A session built on original research, not the same borrowed frameworks every other burnout talk recycles.
- A talk that fits the room — a leadership offsite, an HR conference, or an internal all-hands — without losing its substance.