Keynote Speaking
Dr. Cris Wildermuth, Linked:HR's Community Leader and an Associate Professor at Drake University, is available to speak on the following topics:
Dr. Wildermuth has published multiple articles in peer-reviewed journals and is the author of a book on Diversity Training published by the Association for Talent Development. Fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Dr. Wildermuth has traveled extensively and conducted leadership, team development, and intercultural relations programs and presentations in various European, North, and South American countries. |
Ethical Challenges in the Workplace
Ethical decisions may be trickier than we think. First, engaging leaders must demonstrate both fairness and compassion. Sometimes, these two critical demands clash. Second, leaders may feel closer to some employees than to others. Proximity tends to change the way we reason about ethical decisions. In this presentation, Dr. Wildermuth shares the results of a study involving more than 1,000 professionals, suggests implications of her findings, and offers recommendations for leaders.
Decoding Leadership Change
Common myths regarding change include "The Fortune Teller Myth" (the idea that leaders know exactly what will happen as a result of change initiatives, "The Super Hero Myth" (the expectation that the leader can lead followers to a promised land of safety and abundance), and "The Mechanic Myth" (the attempt to address change issues by focusing on one small problem at a time, independently of others). This presentation helps dispel such myths and addresses the very real uncertainties, losses, and conflicts resulting from changing conditions. Topics such as adaptive leadership, systems thinking, and connections between leadership and biology are further explored.
Towards Acceptance: Effective Intercultural Development Practices
A critical medical tenet is “First do no harm.” When diversity initiatives ignore a group’s level of intercultural development, they could increase fear and prejudice and exacerbate in-group / out-group separation. In this thought-provoking presentation, the speaker addresses the problem and proposes solutions. Specifically, she shares a model of intercultural development, connects interventions to employees’ development stage, offers realistic and helpful tips, and introduces Conversity®, a simple and effective process to increase acceptance and respect in your organization. This program can be run as a shorter keynote or as a four hour workshop.
A Leader's Guide to Passion
Dr. Wildermuth introduces you to a critical “passion formula” that could explain approximately 70% of the variation in emotional engagement at work. Learn the differences between physical, cognitive, and emotional engagement; review relationships between individual personalities, psychological conditions related to employee engagement and passion; focus on the importance of “meaningfulness” and “fit”; and recognize your own role, as a leader, in nurturing a culture of meaningfulness and passion at work.
Beneath the Surface: Understanding Personality Diversity
Leaders operate in the “people business.” It is vital that they understand the basics of human psychology and become aware of their own challenges and opportunities for success. Personality colors the lenses through which we see, judge, and relate to others. It gives us a special language – a language that only those who share key pieces of our personality puzzle can understand. Even though personality is often not excluded from diversity training initiatives, it is a highly significant, albeit invisible, source of bias and conflict in the workplace. This presentation introduces human resources practitioners to personality diversity and helps them plan to incorporate this important topic in their diversity initiatives.
Ethical decisions may be trickier than we think. First, engaging leaders must demonstrate both fairness and compassion. Sometimes, these two critical demands clash. Second, leaders may feel closer to some employees than to others. Proximity tends to change the way we reason about ethical decisions. In this presentation, Dr. Wildermuth shares the results of a study involving more than 1,000 professionals, suggests implications of her findings, and offers recommendations for leaders.
Decoding Leadership Change
Common myths regarding change include "The Fortune Teller Myth" (the idea that leaders know exactly what will happen as a result of change initiatives, "The Super Hero Myth" (the expectation that the leader can lead followers to a promised land of safety and abundance), and "The Mechanic Myth" (the attempt to address change issues by focusing on one small problem at a time, independently of others). This presentation helps dispel such myths and addresses the very real uncertainties, losses, and conflicts resulting from changing conditions. Topics such as adaptive leadership, systems thinking, and connections between leadership and biology are further explored.
Towards Acceptance: Effective Intercultural Development Practices
A critical medical tenet is “First do no harm.” When diversity initiatives ignore a group’s level of intercultural development, they could increase fear and prejudice and exacerbate in-group / out-group separation. In this thought-provoking presentation, the speaker addresses the problem and proposes solutions. Specifically, she shares a model of intercultural development, connects interventions to employees’ development stage, offers realistic and helpful tips, and introduces Conversity®, a simple and effective process to increase acceptance and respect in your organization. This program can be run as a shorter keynote or as a four hour workshop.
A Leader's Guide to Passion
Dr. Wildermuth introduces you to a critical “passion formula” that could explain approximately 70% of the variation in emotional engagement at work. Learn the differences between physical, cognitive, and emotional engagement; review relationships between individual personalities, psychological conditions related to employee engagement and passion; focus on the importance of “meaningfulness” and “fit”; and recognize your own role, as a leader, in nurturing a culture of meaningfulness and passion at work.
Beneath the Surface: Understanding Personality Diversity
Leaders operate in the “people business.” It is vital that they understand the basics of human psychology and become aware of their own challenges and opportunities for success. Personality colors the lenses through which we see, judge, and relate to others. It gives us a special language – a language that only those who share key pieces of our personality puzzle can understand. Even though personality is often not excluded from diversity training initiatives, it is a highly significant, albeit invisible, source of bias and conflict in the workplace. This presentation introduces human resources practitioners to personality diversity and helps them plan to incorporate this important topic in their diversity initiatives.