Professional Development Workshops and Keynote Speaking

Caroline Webb has worked with hundreds of businesses to help their leaders and employees be more productive, energized, and successful at work – first as a partner at McKinsey, where she worked for 12 years and continues to serve as a Senior Advisor, and now as CEO of Sevenshift. An economist and renowned executive coach trained in psychology and neuroscience, she is one of the world’s foremost experts in applying behavioral science in professional contexts, with years of practical experience in designing science-based interventions to help people thrive. And she is an engaging, experienced public speaker. Audiences love Caroline’s blend of smart ideas, humor and down-to-earth anecdotes – plus they always learn something useful. Whether it’s an 20-minute keynote or a half-day team-building workshop, people walk out of her sessions with scientifically-proven tricks they can immediately use to boost their performance and joie de vivre at work.

Moreover, thanks to her wide-ranging consulting and coaching background, Caroline can tailor her content to the context of any organization or team – whether in the private or public sector, at a Fortune 500 company or a start-up, in the boardroom or on the shopfloor. As the BBC has said “Caroline has a quite exceptional range of organizational experience… and she applies this wisdom to help us all sort out the frazzle of our own working day.”

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Topics that Caroline speaks about

How to Have a Good Day: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Our Lives

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.)

Future of Work: Why Every Manager Will Need to Become an Amateur Behavioral Scientist

The workplace is set to change dramatically in the coming years as AI advances to make it possible to automate even our most complex tasks. But at our best, human beings still have distinctive strengths over even the most sophisticated robot: we’re able to make wise decisions and creative choices in ambiguous situations; we can be empathic and inspiring to our fellow humans in challenging times. And if we’re to stay relevant in the future workplace, we are going to need to make sure we’re maxing our capacity to play to those precious human strengths of wisdom, creativity, empathy, and inspiration. Luckily, behavioral science is pretty clear on what it takes for leaders and managers to create an environment that enables those human strengths to flourish. We all just need to learn a little about how the human mind works – as Caroline Webb will show in this talk. (Click here to read Caroline’s piece in Quartz on this topic.)

Leadership: How Behavioral Science Can Help Every Leader Raise Their Game

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.)

Various formats available: keynotes, fireside chats, and workshops

Caroline is happy to give speeches ranging from 20-50 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 practice applying Caroline’s techniques to real-life situations that they’re facing, as well as giving people a chance to get more personalized advice from Caroline during the session.

Caroline Webb is represented by Washington Speakers Bureau for her speaking engagements. To find out more about booking Caroline as a speaker, click here:

Endorsements for Speaking

You went down a storm at our offsite. People loved the insights you brought and the way you seamlessly linked the scientific findings to everyday experiences. They also loved your style of delivery – the way you connected with the audience, your sense of humor, your authenticity and humility. And it’s obvious that what you said has stuck in people’s minds. Since you gave your speech, the phrase “how to have a good day” has been heard many times around the office and I’ve seen your book all over the place. Congratulations. I hope we get a chance to work together again in the future.
Partner and Head of Finance & Risk Practice, Oliver Wyman

I’ve produced many live events over the years with presenters ranging from Grammy winning artists, Nobel Laureates, top ten internet media site founders, and thought leaders of all stripes. Caroline Webb is as good as any of the best speakers I’ve ever seen. Her fascinating insights into workplace dynamics are the result of careful analysis of the most recent research on behavioral sciences, along with her significant experience as an executive coach, and she presents with wit, charm, and authority.
Executive Producer, LucidNYC

THANK YOU so much again for yesterday! In spite of the worst possible weather, you filled the room with people, and they all thoroughly enjoyed learning from you. The evaluations are fabulous. One of our survey questions asks about the three most important things that people have learned. Some people said: “ways to change the perception of reality,” “ways to manage stress,” or “ways to manage time.” But my absolute favorite was this comment: “all of it was very helpful.”
New York Public Library

Caroline is an intelligent, dynamic speaker who is able to engage audiences with ease. Thanks to her energy, her ability to relate to her audience, and her sense of humor, she takes complex topics and makes them not only understandable but also enjoyable and riveting. She was a big hit.
Planning-ness Conference Founder

This is a short note to say thank you for delivering such an inspirational talk to us today. In a short amount of time you covered three really fascinating topics, distilling scientific research into clear, entertaining, insightful and practical information. The whole audience was totally engaged and left the room buzzing with energy and interest. On a personal level I took away several actions which I know will make me more effective at work.
Finance Director

An amazing talk that had everyone talking after the event. Delegates were delighted and inspired by the clear and practical advice on how to work smarter and understand the latest thinking on how our brains work.
Marketing Consultant

She did a great job of steering the program and using non-aggressive crowd control techniques. Very inspiring too.
Attorney

A quick word of thanks for your truly inspiring, insightful, personal, entertaining and impactful performance. Content and delivery were just outstanding. The participants were blown out of the room. It was superb.
Technology company executive

Caroline commands a room, not only with her own presence but also through the atmosphere she creates among everyone in the room. She is deeply perceptive about people, highly skilled in facilitating conversations, and courageous in asking difficult questions.
Manufacturing Company CEO

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Caroline Webb

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