Whether we have a good day or not depends partly on things we can’t control – perhaps we run into an unexpected crisis, or our colleagues seem unusually cranky. But behavioral science shows us that many things that seem “fixed” or “random” can be surprisingly strongly influenced by our own actions, once we understand just a little of how the brain works. Caroline will demonstrate how tiny tweaks to our daily routines can transform our experience of what happens around us, the number of hours in the day, our level of intelligence, and even other people’s moods. With this kind of powerful insight in our back pocket, we can change our “luck” and put many more good days within reach. (Click here to watch a version of this speech, given by Caroline to the Royal Society of Arts and Management.)

Caroline Webb co-founded McKinsey & Company’s leadership practice, and was the architect of McKinsey’s approaches to transforming senior team dynamics and to improving leadership effectiveness. Over the years, Caroline has taught hundreds of senior clients how to strengthen their leadership skills using science-based techniques, and designed scores of transformational leadership development programs for companies seeking to help their managers raise their game. She also launched McKinsey’s flagship leadership development course for senior female executives. In this speech, Caroline shows how recent scientific research reveals simple steps that leaders can take to transform their organization’s performance culture – and lift their own performance in the process. (This McKinsey Quarterly article and video gives a taste of the themes that Caroline covers in this kind of talk.)

In her many years of work helping organizations transform their professional culture, Caroline has identified seven foundational skills that allow people to truly thrive at work (and beyond):

• PRIORITIES: How to set the kind of goals that can change your life for the better.
• PRODUCTIVITY: How to make the hours in your day go further and count for more.
• RELATIONSHIPS: How to make the most of every interaction, even when you need to mend bridges.
• THINKING: How to be your smartest, wisest, most creative self, whatever challenges you’re facing.
• INFLUENCE: How to communicate with impact, strengthen your confidence and make change happen.
• RESILIENCE: How to master uncertainty and bounce back from setbacks and annoyances.
• ENERGY: How to boost your enthusiasm and enjoyment – even when you’re not loving your job.

Caroline can give an engaging speech on one or more of these topics. Productivity and Resilience are currently strong favorites among her clients:

PRODUCTIVITY – Making Your Time and Effort Count for More
We all want to make the most of the hours in the day – but it’s not always easy to see how to maximize our productivity when we’re surrounded by the always-on demands of modern professional life. In this talk, Caroline Webb shows how we can get things done with less stress, more focus and higher energy, by creating the conditions that our brains really need to perform at their best. Combining leading-edge research with her extensive coaching and consulting experience at McKinsey and Sevenshift, Caroline Webb will demonstrate a number of practical tips that have transformed her clients’ professional lives by boosting their efficiency, sense of achievement and work-life balance. Read about one of her productivity-enhancing techniques in this Business Insider article.

RESILIENCE – Building Resilience to Setbacks and Uncertainty
Setbacks and periods of uncertainty are inevitable in professional life, so your ability to handle challenging situations hugely affects your chances of long-term success. The good news is that science suggests there are plenty of ways to increase your resilience to ups and downs. Based on years of experience in leading business change projects at McKinsey and coaching clients through difficult times, Caroline Webb will explain several powerful, research-backed techniques to help you stay cool when things go wrong, get back on track after disappointments, and handle ambiguity with skill. With these tools in your pocket, you can take more control of the quality of your days—and ultimately boost the effectiveness of your organization, whatever challenges are on the horizon. Read about one of the resilience-boosting techniques she covers in this Quartz article.

Caroline is happy to give speeches ranging from 20-40 minutes in length, followed by Q&A. For those seeking a more relaxed alternative to the classic keynote speech format, Caroline can also engage in lively conversation with one or more of your leaders on stage. For a great example of this kind of format, take a look at this Talks@Google that Caroline did for staff at Google with Matt Brittin (President of Google EMEA). She also runs interactive “workshop” sessions lasting 2 or 4 hours, enabling attendees to get into more depth on issues of particular interest. These workshops are designed to give people time to apply Caroline’s techniques to real-life situations that they’re facing, so that attendees walk away with solutions as well inspiration and ideas.