Laura Gassner Otting

Based on Laura’s Washington Post bestseller, Limitless, named by Robin Roberts as one of Good Morning America’s Favorite Books of the Year, this keynote is perfect for audiences who are ready to push past limiting beliefs and achieve more than they ever thought possible.

Each one of us was handed a scorecard of success at some point—by a parent, a teacher, a celebrity—maybe even before we can remember getting it… and it shaped who we are and what we think we can become. But what if their scorecard isn’t your scorecard, and what if you’ve been busy trying to fill in that myopic, singular, externally defined scorecard of success, only to find that even when the scorecard is full, you still feel empty? (Spoiler Alert: this is why only 23% of people say they feel engaged in their work.)

You can’t be INSATIABLY HUNGRY for someone else’s goals.

Laura spent 20 years leading executive searches, helping thousands of people navigate their most vulnerable moment of career shift and life disruption. Along the way, she discovered that the people who were the most successful, the most fulfilled, and the most profitable and productive for their companies weren’t those who simply hustled harder, but those who knew how to connect their work to what really mattered to them.

A kick in the ass wrapped in a warm hug, Laura teaches your audiences how to ignore the limiting beliefs that created their ceilings, remove the lies we tell ourselves that trap us in our past and find meaning in bigger, more profitable, and sustainable goals.

Your audience will leave with:

- A proven framework to redefine success on their own terms, understanding what truly excites them about the work they do so they are more engaged, passionate, and productive

- Pressure-tested strategies from an expert talent spotter for removing the lies they’ve been telling themselves and finding what makes them special, so they can bring the fullest versions of themselves to their life and work

- Permission to fully embrace their secret ambition, and an actionable roadmap for creating a support system of like-minded achievers and accountability partners who never let them settle for mediocrity

Inspired by her Wall Street Journal bestseller, Wonderhell, and viral talk seen nearly 3M times on TED.com, this keynote is perfect for audiences who feel stuck at their current level of success or who need to embrace new goals, changes, or opportunities.

Each time we experience success, we see what else might be possible. It’s wonderful to see a bigger, better version of ourselves, but it also fills us with anxiety, doubt, fear, impostor syndrome, uncertainty, and burnout. It is wonderful, and it’s hell. It’s Wonderhell.

We think success will make things easier, but it doesn’t. In fact, EVERY NEW LEVEL BRINGS A NEW DEVIL.

After personally interviewing more than 100 Olympic medalists, corporate titans, start-up unicorns, world-changing philanthropists, and glass-ceiling shatterers, Laura made a startling discovery about growth. When we’re faced with the “burden of our potential,” the trajectory-shifting choice is whether we interpret the tsunami of emotions that flood in next as limitations, warning us to stay still, hunker down, and stagnate—or as invitations, cheering for us because we are on the right track.

In Limitless Growth, Laura unpacks the proven strategies that high achievers use to not just survive these most important inflection moments, but learn to look forward to them, learn from them, and thrive in them instead.

Your audience will leave with:

- A radical new approach that allows them to welcome uncertainty and stress and live just a little longer in the discomfort that is the only path to growth

- Deeply researched methodologies for moving past their overwhelm, doubt, and indecision—reinterpreting or renegotiating their relationship with the complex emotions that accompany every opportunity—so that they can embrace their full potential

- Unshakeable confidence that they can anticipate, accept, and get excited by the new, bigger, unproven goals that would have intimidated them in the past

Bringing together three decades of advising leaders from the corner office to the Oval Office, this keynote is perfect for leaders who want experience- and research-based strategies for spotting talent in others and cultivating their greatness towards innovation and growth.

In an ever-changing, increasingly complex world, one thing never changes: we all want to bring out the greatness in ourselves and in those who matter most to us. We applaud ourselves for getting it right because employee engagement is the highest it’s been in ten years… but it’s only 23%. Considering that engaged employees are dramatically more productive and profitable for their companies, 23% simply isn’t enough. What’s happening to the other 77%?

It would be easy to blame them for not leaning into the work, but the truth is harder for leaders to hear: Employees aren’t failing leaders; LEADERS ARE FAILING EMPLOYEES.

We know good leaders will engage their employees more than bad leaders. But what’s less obvious is that even great leaders risk losing their best performers when those performers don’t feel truly seen. In the absence of a strong relationship, they become dissatisfied, disengaged, disappointed… and leave. With turnover costing up to twice the annual salary of departing employees, leaders must embrace a management approach that starts with unlocking greatness.

Leveraging more than a million data points gathered from her multi-year, global research project on employee engagement, Laura reveals how leaders can spot and stoke their employees’ secret talents and hidden passions and leverage deeper, catalyzing relationships to inspire limitless engagement (and profits).

Your audience of leaders will leave with:

- A data-driven understanding of the root causes of employee dissatisfaction, disengagement, and disillusionment… and actionable (free) steps that leaders can immediately take to build strong relationships with their teams

- A proprietary framework and shared language for uncovering what ignites passion and connection within their team, driving higher engagement levels, less turnover, and a more cohesive culture so they can inspire, engage, and retain their best employees

- A proven methodology from an expert talent spotter for determining who on the team (at every level) is ready for greatness, which will inspire common goals and remove friction about uncertainty, change, difficult decisions, and strategic workforce investments

Harnessing everything Laura has learned as a serial entrepreneur, endurance athlete, and the #1 Mindset Coach in the World, this keynote is perfect for igniting excitement and confidence in your sales team and empowering them to crush bigger sales goals.

Winning at sales requires more than product knowledge and the right sales techniques. Successful sales teams deeply understand why their product, service, and brand matter to them and can connect that meaning to their clients’ needs.

Your clients don’t buy a product or service; THEY BUY A SOLUTION TO THEIR PROBLEMS… one they won’t believe will work until they know that you see their problem and truly understand it.

Drawing on decades of experience as an entrepreneur and chief rainmaker, Laura breaks down the process of connection—to self, to product, and to sale—and empowers your sales team to exceed their numbers, improve customer relationships, and drive more profitable growth.

Your sales team will leave with:

- A simple mindset shift—based in an unignorable understanding of why their current approach isn’t working—that will radically transform their approach and make them more effective the minute they walk out of the session

- Deeply researched and practical tools that will give them contagious confidence and greater excitement about the products and services they sell and an enthusiastic belief they can, and will, reach higher sales numbers

- Sightlines into how to create deeper, more expansive customer interactions, built not on transactions but deeply rooted relationships