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Dr. Anne Harbison    

Fortune 100 Executive Coach, Crisis & Change Expert, Author

Dr. Anne Harbison is an executive leadership educator known for her work with some of the world’s greatest organizations and thought leaders.

For the last 20 years, she has been teaching, researching and consulting with organizations about how they can thrive through times of great change and transition. In this time of global upheaval, Anne is passionate about sharing her message of how people and organizations learn through, during, and from crisis, as she explains in her new book, Never Waste a Crisis.

Anne began her career in Health Care Brand Management at Procter and Gamble and then served as a management consultant specializing in organizational change and learning. Anne was a Principal Strategic Consultant in Gallup’s executive leadership practice, working domestically and internationally in the health care, manufacturing, retail and government sectors. She received her doctorate from Harvard University researching and teaching on best practices for leadership success.

She has spoken to audiences around the world, including being a featured speaker at The Brooking Institute, the Academy of Management, the Association of Talent and Development as well as Fortune 100 companies such as Best Buy, Cargill, Toyota, Boeing among others.

Speech Topics


Dare to Thrive: Leading with Courage and Compassion in a Changing World

Our world in the 2020s continues to be a shock to the nervous system. With all the upheaval and uncertainty, one thing remains true: All positive, meaningful change comes from people.

It’s the teams and leaders who understand how to lead with courage and compassion that will help carve our collective path forward. And it’s those organizations who prioritize heart, boldness, and honesty that will succeed.

Anne is an author, Harvard Doctorate, and executive leadership educator for some of the world’s top organizations and thought leaders. She’s known for her real-life stories of dynamic and authentic leadership, and for captivating audiences through the spectrum of full human emotion. She knows the world’s top organizations need less empty hustling, and more heart, courage, and honesty. She leads them there with over 20 years of experience.

Key Takeaways:

  • Learn why the traditional leadership status quo will no longer work for leading great organizations in the Now

  • Create a purposeful culture of courage and compassion where employees feel free and safe to be their authentic, talented selves

  • Challenge notions of cold professionalism with research-backed methods of building psychological safety

  • Implement strategies for fostering teams of creative and innovative individuals

  • Transform your organization with the secrets to thrive in the new & evolving 2020s

Women Thriving Together: Naming and Claiming Our Work in the World

There are key differences between men and women as organizational leaders, and given the right resources, women pose a future-forward advantage for building more diverse, connected, and mindful winning teams.

An inspiring, enriching day of diving deep and reaching wide, Anne provides the perfect opportunity for your women's leadership group to elevate its vision, talent, and impact in concrete and actionable ways.

Anne is an author, Harvard Doctorate, and executive leadership educator for some of the world’s top organizations and thought leaders. She’s known for her real-life stories of dynamic and authentic leadership, and for captivating audiences through the spectrum of full human emotion. She knows the ins and outs of women’s leadership from over 20 years of experience with top organizations, and leads her audiences today with heart, courage, and purpose.

Key Takeaways:

  • Learn not only how to nurture more women leaders within your organization, but how to have them foster the same down the line.

  • Find out how to provide a culture of stability, risk-taking, and confidence for individuals and teams to push the boundaries of success.

  • Evolve your definitions of success and leadership with challenging exercises on how to lead with courage, compassion, boldness, and honesty.

  • Create your fresh vision for the future, including actionable steps to implement positive change.

Never Waste A Crisis - Surviving and Thriving Through Life’s Tightropes, Turmoil, and Tragedy

For 20 years, before the coronavirus, Dr. Harbison had been researching, teaching, and consulting on how to navigate transition and change. When tough times hit, we have a unique opportunity to look up and reach out, to reinvent ourselves and our organizations. In fact, some of the greatest inventions, companies, and stories of personal triumph emerge from tumultuous times. Now more than ever, the world needs expert, compassionate guidance on how to not only survive but actually thrive together during difficult times. Organizational leaders and individuals alike will learn vital information and inspiration for:

  • Creating stability and confidence in yourself and those around you

  • Challenging mind-traps that shut down learning and connection

  • Nurturing social community while physical distancing

  • Building a growth mindset for greater resilience and optimism

  • Envisioning a “new normal” that will inspire, equip, and sustain you

The Achiever’s Dilemma - Are you driving your Achiever or is your Achiever driving you?

Working harder, longer, faster may be the way to climb the first part of your career ladder. But is there an end in sight? Decades of drive can easily turn into a grueling treadmill of effort and exhaustion. That's a dangerous place to be in the middle of times of upheaval. Now is the time to purposely navigate, not mindlessly execute. Organizational leaders and individuals alike will learn vital information about:

  • The different types of Achievers: The Caretaker, The Intellect, & The Hero

  • How we fall back on tropes or expectations that no longer serve us

  • The 3 myths that trap serious Achievers: “Because I can, I should,” “Because I did, I do,” and “If I don't, no one will.”

  • Why tough times are a period for being, not doing.

  • How to better navigate (and even grow through) difficult change and transition

Land Your Brand - A Leader’s Guide to Presence and Purpose

Whether it’s a product, service or company, strong brands create an emotional bond with its customers that result in loyalty, engagement, and advocacy. They don’t only offer a product; they create an experience. Leaders are the same - but they often don’t look intentionally at what kind of experience they are creating for those around them. Based on her experience in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble (the world’s premiere brand builder), research in behavioral economics, and years working with Fortune 500 leaders, Dr. Harbison will guide leaders in a highly energizing and interactive session.

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