In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, leaders are up against unprecedented challenges. AI is transforming industries, reshaping job roles, and automating once-essential tasks. The workforce is navigating uncertainty, burnout, and shifting expectations about what it means to feel engaged and valued.
Yet, amid this disruption, one truth remains: human connection is the ultimate competitive advantage.
According to Workday’s AI Skills Revolution report, 81% of employees recognize AI is changing the skills required for their jobs, with the biggest demand now placed on uniquely human capabilities. However, a disconnect remains: while 82% of employees believe human connection will become even more crucial as AI usage grows, only 65% of managers agree. This gap presents a critical opportunity for leaders to step up -- not just as strategists, but as connectors, bridge-builders, and culture-shapers.
In this powerful keynote, Chris Schembra unpacks the essential human skills that define modern leadership: relationship-building, emotional intelligence, resilience, and gratitude. Drawing from his experience working with Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, and high-performing teams, Chris introduces a practical, actionable framework for leading with authenticity, adaptability, and impact.
Key Takeaways:
Leadership is no longer just about managing people -- it’s about inspiring movements, creating belonging, and unlocking human potential. This keynote will leave attendees energized, equipped, and ready to lead in a world that demands more human-centered leadership.
The future of leadership isn’t just about strategy—it’s about connection.
In a world that demands rapid innovation, resilience, and adaptability, the greatest competitive advantage isn’t just technology or strategy—it’s human connection.
Breakthroughs don’t happen in isolation. They happen when we pause to gain clarity, ask better questions to unlock new insights, shift our perspective to embrace possibility, take action with courage, and appreciate the process—together.
This keynote introduces the PASTA Framework -- a powerful approach to driving meaningful change, strengthening relationships, and fostering resilience in uncertain times. Through stories, science, and real-world application, Chris Schembra will show how small shifts in mindset and behavior lead to big breakthroughs in leadership, teamwork, and organizational success.
Key Takeaways:
When we breakthrough together, we don’t just survive change -- we lead it.
In a world where leadership often translates to quicker decisions, larger initiatives, and greater pressures, it's easy to overlook the core elements that sustain long-term success. Leaders are struggling not just to excel but to meaningfully connect in ways that promote sustainable excellence.
The typical response to mounting pressures is to accelerate efforts—more output, more innovation, more speed. But might true excellence stem from a deeper, often neglected source? What if the pathway to outstanding achievement lies in the quiet power of gratitude?
This keynote explores how gratitude isn't just about giving thanks—it's a strategic advantage that can redefine leadership and organizational success. We'll delve into how historical figures like Paul Revere and modern innovators like Toyota have achieved remarkable excellence by embedding gratitude into their leadership ethos. Learn how these principles can foster a culture of continuous improvement, deeper engagement, and superior performance.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace Slow Listening: When leaders create space and time to slow down, they prioritize understanding, empathy, learning, and genuine connections. Slow listeners make great innovators. They connect disparate ideas and bring into the world solutions only they are deeply qualified to bring.
Generosity in Service: We tell the story of Paul Revere, the super connector that risked his life on Aril 18th, 1775 to spread the message that the war was coming. The greatest leaders build networks of weak ties, acting as information brokers, catalysts, and connectors, fostering change and uniting diverse groups within their organizations in meaningful ways. We have to be prepared to be strong and to be the navigator of change, because we are the glue that holds a lot of the things together for this.
In this powerful and insightful keynote, Chris Schembra unveils the unseen crisis of disconnection and loneliness within the contemporary workplace. Diving deep into recent statistics and expert views, he exposes the dramatic impact of isolation on employee mental health and overall organizational engagement. Chris brings forth thought-provoking insights from authoritative studies like Gallup's Global State of the Workplace report and the shocking truth about employee disengagement rates. Chris shares his powerful 3-step method for solving this pervasive problem: embracing the present and recognizing our shared humanity, learning to give and receive authentic gratitude, and fostering curiosity and inquisitiveness for the future. This keynote will provide attendees with practical, actionable strategies to bring about emotional well-being and foster a vibrant, connected culture within their own organizations.
Key Takeaways:
In this transformative keynote, Chris Schembra explores the significance of empathy, gratitude, and human connection in creating enduring customer relationships. He presents the necessity of engaging with customers beyond transactions and emphasizes the critical link between team well-being and exceptional customer service. Chris delves into the power of emotional connections in shaping customer loyalty, brand perception, and fostering referrals. He provides practical advice on expressing gratitude that deeply resonates with customers, forging stronger bonds and lasting impressions.
Chris concludes by revealing the transformative impact of creating a connected customer network, promoting a sense of belonging, and nurturing brand advocates. He highlights the essential shift in focus onto your team and customers as the key to unlocking substantial value in genuine connections and a customer-centric approach.
Key Takeaways:
G: Given Prosocially For many years, positivity gurus have promoted the idea of the gratitude journal as the end-all-be-all solution for gratitude. You write in it twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, to give gratitude to positive things in your life. Now, what’s great about the gratitude journal is that it gives you an instantaneous momentary burst of happiness and thanks. But the problem is that just practicing gratitude on your own in a journal does not have the same benefits as practicing in a prosocial way. When you practice gratitude in a small group format, people get the benefits of giving gratitude, receiving gratitude and observing gratitude. In essence, it builds community. R: Rooted in the Past, Granular and Specific So many people will write in their gratitude journals that they’re thankful for the sun, grateful for their health, grateful for food, and so. The issue is, that’s not specific. Gratitude in the present is just mindfulness, rumination and momentary appreciation. Gratitude in the past is giving credit and thanks to something measurable that you can track the benefits of. A: Authentic and Intrinsically Motivated You can give gratitude in a very selfish way, meaning you give gratitude in a way that’s most convenient for you, the giver. We believe that in order for something to be authentic, you must be intrinsically motivated and go out of your way to show that credit and thanks when it is due. Z: Zero Expectations of Reciprocity Gratitude is not a response to feeling indebted. Gratitude is not a response for someone giving you something and you feeling like you have to give that back. When you want to give gratitude, do it in a giving way. Adam Grant wrote a book, Give and Take, on how the most successful people in the world are intrinsically motivated, altruistic givers. Gratitude is that thing. Gratitude isn’t writing down all the benefits you’ve received and making sure you pay them back. Gratitude isn’t writing down all the gratitude that you’ve given and making sure you get it back. In fact, when you give gratitude through a gift or a card, we almost want you to burn any trace of you giving that gratitude, so you don’t get in the habit of measuring whether you’ve received it back from that person or not. I: Inquisitive Question-Asking Sir Francis Bacon is often attributed to having said, “a good prudent question is one-half of wisdom.” We believe that a good prudent question is one-half of gratitude. All the work that we do revolves around a good prudent question or signature gratitude question: If you could give credit or thanks to one person in your life whom you don’t give enough credit or thanks to, who would that be? Who have you never thought to thank? This question makes you sit and think about gratitude and identify measurable specific moments from your past that you’d like to give thanks to. E: Egoless and Empathetic Not all gratitude given is gratitude heard. Giving gratitude in a language that’s most convenient to you is ego — it’s lazy and selfish. But giving gratitude in the language of the recipient is empathetic. Gary Chapman wrote The Five Love Languages and in the book, he outlines that people like to receive love in one (or sometimes more) of five ways: receiving gifts, words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch or gifts. The language or way of giving that’s convenient to you might not be the same to the receiver. Today is your call to action. Go out and observe the life around you. What benefits have you received from others that you’ve overlooked? Who do you need to thank?
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