Author: Chris Leonard
-
If I’m ever stranded in a broken elevator with six strangers, I’d avoid divisive topics: politics, religion, AI, and pizza. Instead, I’d pass the time discussing one man: Homer Simpson. Homer and I go way back. He was there in 1st grade, when my school banned Simpsons from the dress code. He was there in my latchkey pre-teen years of cooking dinner for the family with the house to myself. And he’s been there in memes ever since, gingerly fading into boxwoods when things get awkward. Homer also happens to…
-
Jim Collins published Good to Great in 2001, the year I graduated high school. I was, predictably, 18; less predictably, I read it. I was not an aspiring MBA at the time; my chosen career was music. However, more than any other book I read that year, Good to Great stuck with me. I was later to the party with another crucial cultural product of that era, Enter the Wu Tang 36 Chambers by the Wu Tang Clan, released in 1993. I first heard it 16 years later, in 2009.…
-
Where’s all the great advice for teams? I read a lot of business books, and I have a big problem with most of them. They seem to think I’m a CEO and I’m not. I actually like that executive leaders have so much smart advice available. Good for them! It’s lonely at the top, but in a King-Kong-on-a-tower kind of way. But most of us aren’t in that reality. Most of us are in teams of people working for a mid-level leader who is a work in progress, not a…
-
Why Faster Systems Still Need Human Leaders Abstract AI promises efficiency and acceleration—but faster systems don’t automatically create healthier teams. In this session, we explore how AI adoption can unintentionally increase cognitive load, ambiguity, and burnout. Learn how adaptive leaders align purpose, data, and delivery tactics to build resilient teams in an AI-enabled future of work. Description As organizations adopt AI, project cycles accelerate, reporting becomes predictive, and expectations rise. Yet many teams feel more overwhelmed—not less. Why? Because AI increases output, complexity, and decision pressure—but it does not increase…
-
We all know good leadership requires giving effective feedback, and we can all improve at it. What’s so often neglected is that how a leader receives feedback directly relates to how well they give feedback. Description In this session, learners explore the physiology of giving and receiving feedback; how to foresee manage their behavior; plan for the best outcome; and follow through for maximum impact. A combination of interaction and exposition will guide the group to mastering this crucial leadership skill. Learning Objectives Format and Duration 40-50 minutes Also available…
-
The Pivots That Change Everything What if the moment that disrupts your path is the one that sets you free? In this keynote, I explore “Mirror Moments”, those pivotal encounters that reveal where your current trajectory leads and invite you to make a decisive shift. Through storytelling and practical insight, leaders will learn how to recognize these moments, use clarity as a competitive advantage, and make bold pivots that realign success with purpose, values, and long-term direction. Description Every leader has had one. A conversation that stops you cold. A…
-
Beating Burnout with Purpose Burnout is more than a morale issue. It’s a performance risk. Description When burnout rises, execution slows, ownership drops, and top performers disengage or leave. Most responses fail because they don’t address how work actually happens. This keynote reframes burnout as an operational and leadership challenge. It exposes the systemic conditions that drain capacity and shows how they impact delivery, decision-making, and retention. Participants will learn to identify hidden burnout drivers and apply three practical tools that restore focus, increase ownership, and stabilize performance under pressure.…
-
Speaking up always incurs a price. Is the benefit worth it? Too many people let their anxiety and discomfort sabotage the productivity of whole teams. But there is a better way to intervene – with purpose, empathy and awareness. Why would be assume that these amazing people we scoured the earth to find are so clueless that they’ll just throw themselves into the sea like lemmings unless we micromanage them? This talk shows you when to intervene, what it really costs, and how to minimize the costs. You can carefully…
-
AI Tools for Creative Problem Solving Can AI help us live more joyfully? Our endless days of draining meetings and busywork can change. Applying AI imaginatively, we can overcome the obstacles that limit our impact and dive deeper into the work closest to our true passions and values This session gets you started with common AI tools to immediately scale your creative problem-solving skills. Learn to flex AI’s expanding capabilities to win back time from busywork and double your focus on the highest, most joyful uses of your talents. Learning…