Sara Ross

Taking on anything challenging—even when meaningful and exciting—will involve stress, discomfort, and struggle. In a world defined by uncertainty, the most powerful way to raise the bar and get to the next level is to boost the collective potential of how people work together. That starts by helping leaders and their people build awareness of their behavior, learn to embrace the emotions that come with challenges, and strengthen the skills of empathy to thrive collectively together, whether in-person or virtually.

Sara Ross, Chief Vitality Officer of the leadership research firm, BrainAmped, studies the influence of emotional intelligence, vitality-generating energy, and organizational culture on leadership, performance, and teamwork. Combining these areas and looking at them through the lens of brain science, Sara uses humor and storytelling to ensure people have actionable strategies they feel empowered to start using the moment they leave their seats. 

Specifically, Sara will share the following in her keynote:

• It’s less about what you know and more about how you lead; learn the key behaviors that differentiate the best from the rest for creating stand-out leadership, performance, and teamwork.
• Knowing what to do and doing what you know are not the same; establish an in-the-moment emotional management strategy to strengthen personal accountability, make better decisions, and respond more skillfully—even in the most challenging circumstances.
• Trust is both a science and a skill; uncover the brain science of trust and how to use it to create more collaborative, innovative, and diverse cultures.
• To demonstrate empathy, you need to first develop it; learn an approach to extend empathy, especially in difficult conversations that get to the heart of the matter while strengthening relationships and driving results.
• Caring for people is not the same as carrying people; embody a mindset to shift leadership fatigue into leadership vitality.

We all want to put the last few years behind us. Unfortunately, with stress spiking, energy dropping, and levels of languishing—that motivation-dulling sense of blah-ness—lingering, we can’t ignore the toll things have had on people.

Based on the research and principles shared in her book, “Dear Work, something has to change,” Sara Ross shows that addressing these challenges and navigating the changing world of work requires a new question. Instead of asking how to help people feel less stressed and tired, Sara transforms the traditional approach by asking how can we help people feel more ALIVE. After all, the antidote to languishing isn’t to languish less—it’s to flourish more.

Looking through the lens of brain science, Sara teaches organizations, leaders, and their people how to boost their work vitality quotient to activate their Aliveness Factor. In addition to learning, this keynote will leave audiences laughing, inspired, and feeling recharged with actionable take aways to create more human-centered organizations, energized leaders, and healthier, happier, high-performing people. 

Specifically, Sara will share how:

• Beliefs can be the biggest barriers; identify three common misconceptions people hold regarding work, success, and rest that keep them stuck in the survival zone and how to shift them into aliveness activators.
• Surviving the day is not a strategy; learn a mindset to work better with stress and how to use it to fuel the energy needed to pursue bold, meaningful goals, invest in important relationships, and live a full, energized life.
• Boosting vitality requires intentionality; build physical, mental, and emotional fitness and fortitude by practicing more strategic self-care both at work and outside of it.
• Standing out shouldn’t mean burning out; highlight the vitality amplification effect of incorporating three simple yet empowering questions that leaders can use to help their people work from their stand-out zone, while moving themselves from feeling leadership fatigue to leadership vitality.
• This is the era of work-life blur; break the cycle of over-working and under-living by managing work-life boundaries (yours and others), while simultaneously contributing to an organizational culture that supports vital work and people—particularly in hybrid environments.

What would you do if you could not fail?" This is a good, thought-provoking question, but unfortunately, it is inherently flawed. If you are going to take on bold goals, get outside of your comfort zone, try new things, and build new skills - it will be hard and you will fail along the way.   

Instead, "What would you do if you knew that even if you failed, you'd be okay?"  This is what it means to have the confidence to get knocked down and the resilience to get back up; stronger, faster, and healthier each time. While researching for her upcoming book, “Dear Work, something has to change” Sara Ross found that in a time of record-setting stress, uncertainty, and change, those most successful didn’t fail less often. Instead, they learned better. It’s the connection between confidence and resilience that free’s people to consistently stretch their potential to innovate, adapt, and thrive – even in the most stressful times.

Too many people miss out on opportunities in work and life because they lack the confidence to try. It might be taking on a new role, adjusting to changing client expectations and competitive market landscapes, or simply seeking feedback. All because they fear that they aren't equipped to handle the obstacles that come with each.  

In this session, Sara will change that by taking the audience through a practical four-step method to strengthen their confidence - resilience loop by: 

• Explaining the brain science of emotions under stress and sharing a strategy to address the three thieves of confidence: perfection, comparison, and the fear of judgment.
• Addressing common misconceptions about what confidence and resilience are and how each is built and maintained.
• Identifying where mindset shifts will help change the narrative of the story people tell themselves when it's keeping them stuck, scared, discouraged, and overwhelmed.
• Building a “resilience resume” to highlight strengths and experiences to draw from when faced with obstacles and channel both into positive, momentum-creating action.

Leadership has never been easy. But in an era where a reported 61% of managers feel underprepared and overwhelmed by escalating complexity, and close to half report regularly running on fumes, it’s clear the traditional “push harder” approach isn’t just falling short—it’s backfiring. But what if the driver of high performance under pressure isn’t doing more but accessing an entirely different fuel source?

Based on the self-leadership pillar of her LeadFULL™ approach and drawing on research from her bestselling book “Dear Work, Something Has to Change,” Sara Ross reveals the game-changing concept of the Vitality Zone™—where the synergy of excellence and energy unlocks a leader’s full potential propelling their best and boldest self forward. When vitality is the fuel of high performance, leaders don’t just achieve more; they shape cultures fueled by well-being and purpose instead of being drained of them. This is how they move from running on fumes to leading from FULL.

This Keynote is Best for Leaders Who:

• Are ready to transform their approach to pressure and want sustainable ways to boost energy, productivity, and performance—without the exhaustion (and are skeptical it’s even possible).
• Seek and often struggle to prioritize well-being practices while navigating demanding environments and high expectations.
• Feel trapped in the time-consuming cycle of reactive mode, knowing strategic thinking, personal learning, and team development are stuck on the back burner.
• Recognize their commitment to work too often becomes all-consuming, affecting their health, happiness, relationships, and quality of life.

Audiences Will Leave Able To:

• Use the Leading from FULL Framework to take on challenges from the Vitality Zone™ with greater capacity, confidence, and energy.
• Embrace a Possibility Mindset to transform their brain's default negativity bias into fuel for motivation, a foundation for well-being, expanded thinking, and purposeful bold action.
• Break free from fixer fatigue with three simple questions that empower teams, energize results, and help them reclaim time in their day.
• Apply the Activate20 Principal™ to reignite a sense of aliveness, rest without guilt, and live with renewed joy.

This inspiring & deeply thought-provoking keynote focuses on the self-leadership element of the LeadFULL approach. It can be expanded into an interactive breakout session and up to a half day workshop.

In a world where technology is transforming how we work, a counter-intuitive truth is emerging: despite the focus on AI, an organization's greatest competitive advantage isn't found in technology—it's in human potential. A 2024 Deloitte survey reinforces this reality: 8 in 10 executives agree that human-centered skills are critical for success in an increasingly complex world fiercely competing for top talent. Yet traditional leadership approaches are falling short, leaving both leaders and teams stretched thin and their full potential untapped.

What's the key to unlocking this powerful competitive advantage? Drawing from research with over 10,000 people and fifteen years in the field of emotional intelligence, Sara Ross reveals her breakthrough LeadFULL™ Approach. In this keynote, she shares a vitality-fueling Unlocking FULL framework to equip leaders to bring out the best and boldest in others. When leaders master this approach, they create unstoppable teams where opportunities are seized, connections flourish, and energized excellence becomes the new standard.

This Keynote is Best for Leaders Who:

• Face compounding pressures—AI transformations, organizational shifts, rising customer demands, and critical talent challenges.
• Excel technically but recognize the need for deeper levels of emotional intelligence (i.e. creating belonging, psychological safety, feedback conversations) to generate results through others.
• Aim to transform siloed, disconnected teams into high-performing collaborative powerhouses—in-person and virtually.
• Seek practical strategies to elevate their leadership impact and overcome the invisible barriers holding them and their teams back.

Audiences Will Leave Able To:

• Use the Unlocking FULL Framework to create example-led accountability, apply actioned empathy, and multiply the potential of their people, fueling a thriving environment of excellence and collective growth.
• Use a self-management strategy to strengthen self-awareness, activate curiosity, make better decisions with less information, and connect skillfully, particularly in high-stress environments.
• Address under-challenging, over-pressuring, and micromanaging with brain science-informed strategies that encourage teams to courageously stretch both themselves and their ideas.
• Fully grasp and harness the outsized influence they have in setting the tone of their teams and shaping the cultures of their organizations, particularly in an AI-intensifying “always-on” world. 

This empowering & interactive keynote focuses on the leadership of teams in the LEAD FULL Approach & can be customized around connection for non-leaders, sales, or service-focused audiences. 

In today's dynamic world, there are two zones from which we can approach change: the Survival Zone, where we're stressed out, frustrated, and change-fatigued, or the Vitality Zone, where we're energized, resilient, and future-ready. With research suggesting the average organization has undergone five enterprise changes in the past three years—and 73% expecting more ahead—leading change from the Vitality Zone isn't just an option, it's a competitive advantage.

Grounded in her LeadFULL™ approach and drawing on fifteen years of experience researching, coaching, and advising leaders and their organizations through change efforts, Sara Ross introduces the transformative FULL Resilience Framework to face change from the Vitality Zone™. Here, resilience isn't a reactive tactic called upon in moments of need—it's a proactive practice strengthened daily. Stress then becomes a springboard to purpose, uncertainty creates possibility, and rest and reflection are embraced as collective responsibilities and non-negotiable catalysts for innovation and growth. 

This Keynote is Best for Leaders and Teams Who:

• Work in industries facing significant disruption or organizational transformations and see/feel signs of burnout or rampant stress and want to navigate change in healthier, energizing ways.
• Recognize the need to proactively strengthen future readiness.
• Want to better understand the change process, how to influence buy-in, and overcome resistance.
• Question whether operating from the Vitality Zone means ignoring real challenges or forcing artificial positivity (it’s quite the opposite).

Audience Will Leave Able To:

• Apply the FULL Resilience Framework to navigate change from the Vitality Zone—transforming how they respond to stress and setbacks.
• Leverage behavioral science insights to become more comfortable with the unknown, reframe fear into innovation fuel, and create environments of experimentation.
• Channel the full spectrum of emotions that accompany change—including negativity and resistance—into courage catalysts for clarity, connection, and collaboration.
• Replace FAUX Resilience beliefs which breed toxic positivity, isolation, and exhaustion with FULL Resilience beliefs, rooted in realistic optimism, community, and well-being. 

This inspiring and interactive keynote can be customized for leaders and general audiences as well as expanded into a breakout session and up to a half-day workshop.