“It’s time to put love at the center of work!”
Renée’s Signature Talks
Renée shows audiences how to transform their work to build healthy, thriving organizations and lives that are good for people and for results by being loving and human.
Renée speaks in Doha, Qatar.
“Make Work More Human”
What does it take to create a workplace where customers are satisfied and employees and teams can truly thrive? It takes decreasing fear and increasing a sense of psychological safety to foster a more human way of working. That turn from fear toward psychological safety is based in love. Love? Yes, love!
With candor and warmth, Renée makes the business case for love. Based on insights from her primary research that included 70 formal interviews as well as hundreds of informal dialogues, learn how caring workplaces are more effective workplaces. Explore the neuroscience of fear and of love. Discover practices to create more trust, engagement, satisfaction, and performance on teams. Explore the role of accountability in a human workplace. Learn a tool to bring more love to any challenge or opportunity. Be inspired to make your work more human every day!
Audience: Anyone who wants work to be a more positive and successful experience
Common Venues: Leadership team retreats, all-staff gatherings, industry conference keynotes.
Outcomes:
Practical ways to make work a positive experience.
Understand that what’s good for people is good for business too.
Learn useful methods for putting love into daily practice.
Know the solid business case for love over fear.
Why now? People have been suffering at work for a long time, struggling with burnout and a lack of connection and meaning. Today, people are leaving dehumanizing workplaces in droves. These workplaces are in crisis and don’t know what to do. Renée provides the answers. Her talk is for leaders and teams who want to create a more successful, human future.
Length: Versions of this talk can be 30 minutes, 60 minutes, and 90 minutes. Longer talks are interactive workshops and involve reflection, breakout conversations, application, and exercises.
Complementary Offerings: A keynote talk can be complemented by a workshop to equip participants with tools and practical resources, by a signature Human Workplace Gathering to activate cultural values, or by a series to apply loving leadership or team practice meaningfully over time.
Renée speaks at the Lean Enterprise Institute.
"The Courage to Love"
One day when she was 27 years old everything came crashing down, literally. In the brokenness, Renée knew this was the time to put love at the center. Later after years of neglect, she realized it was time to put love for her own life at the center again. This set her on a courageous and unlikely journey to put love at the center of government and then to advocate for love at the center of businesses around the world.
With disarming openness and warmth, Renée tells the story of tragedy that is the seeds for connection, impact and love.
Be inspired with four key lessons for boldly centering on what’s most important. Hear how she turned challenges and obstacles into the meaningful contributions. A timely and relevant message for all who are reconsidering what’s most important in light of the pandemic and want a more meaningful future for their work and in their lives.
Audience: Anyone who has or will face adversity, who can benefit from inspiration and a positive message of hope.
Common Venues: Leadership team retreats, all-staff gatherings, industry conference keynotes.
Outcomes:
Inspiration for overcoming the difficulties and challenges many people are facing as a result of the pandemic and other life events
Affirmation of the human spirit and our ability to overcome the odds
Motivation to rethink and reframe obstacles with the perspective of time
Why now? So many people have faced hardship and loss during the pandemic. This is a time to remember the nobility and strength of the human spirit and our ability to find a meaning and a way forward during darkness. This journey can ultimately can bring more light, love, and meaning to our lives and to the world.
Length: Versions of this talk can be 30 minutes, 60 minutes or 90 minutes. Longer talks are interactive and involve breakouts, reflections, and engagement.
Complementary Offerings: This talk can be complemented by one or more signature Human Workplace Gatherings, by the More Human Now six-part series, by the Loving Leadership program, or by one on one coaching with Renée or one of the AHW coaches.
Watch Renée Speak!
“Renée is so much more than a great speaker!”
“Her message is a challenging one - the need to promote Love over Fear in the workplace. However, her delivery is perfect. She is empathetic and engaging but also hard-hitting and effective. This powerful combination leaves no-one in any doubt of the seriousness of her message.
It is my belief that everyone hoping to lead people through these incredible changing times, needs to hear Renée's talk and introduce her to their team to facilitate meaningful conversations.”
— Simon Phillips, The Change Man and Founder of the Changemaker Group, United Kingdom
Why Renée Smith Speaks
In 2015 Renée was an award-winning executive in Washington State government, leading a culture and operations transformation. She had a life-changing insight into what it takes for employees to really be engaged, so they speak up, point out problems, share ideas, innovate, and improve to deliver value to constituents.
The secret is less fear and more love in the workplace.
Love?
Yes love!
Convinced that love is fundamentally helpful while fear is harmful, Smith wanted to truly understand their impacts.
As a behavioral scientist, she launched a research project that continues to this day, interviewing people about their experiences of love and fear at work.
Since 2017, she’s been honored to listen to and receive hundreds of people’s stories in research interviews and workshops. Here’s what became crystal clear: Fear at work is devastating to people, teams, and organizations as well as to the customers and causes they serve. The human toll is heart-breaking. Looking so many people in the eye and seeing the cost of toxicity, bullying, shame, and harassment in their lives motivates Renée to speak out against fear.
But stronger than all that fear is love.
Stories of love at work are truly inspiring. Whether that loved looks like respect, compassion, equity, or appreciation, Love unleashes the very best in people.
It became clear to Renée that love supports our greatest contributions. Love inspires our most meaningful team experiences. Love fosters more productivity. Love delivers sustained, long-term business results. And, love at work ripples its benefits to families and communities too.
Shrinking fear and expanding love FEELS BETTER, but it also helps us DO BETTER and BE BETTER in business, in society, and in life!
Why wouldn’t we put love at the center of work?
Renee speaks remotely on respect from her studio in Washington State.
Renee Smith speaks at the Canadian Institute in Toronto.
Renée laughs with the audience at Washington State’s Lean Conference.
Renée teaches at ITeC - The Catalonia Institute of Construction Technology in Barcelona
“I want to thank you for your presentation during our Leadership Conference, I was motivated to look at my leadership style and make necessary changes to improve myself as a leader.”
— Manager, State of Arizona