Motivational speaking is a powerful tool that can inspire, educate, and energize employees in organizations. It can help them break through their limitations by reframing their perspectives and assumptions to unlock their full potential. It is an essential component of building an engaging, high-performance work culture, which can lead to better performance, higher job satisfaction, healthier and happier employees, and a healthier bottom line.
The importance of motivational speaking in organizations cannot be overstated. It is a key factor in driving innovation and creativity, building resilience and commitment, and boosting morale. A skilled motivational speaker can help employees see their work in a new light, and challenge them to take risks to grow their capacity and ultimately reach their goals. This, in turn, can lead to a more engaged and committed workforce, which is critical to the success of any organization especially now when so many organizations are combatting high employee turnover.
One of the biggest benefits of motivational speaking is that it can help employees develop a growth mindset. A growth mindset is a belief that one’s abilities and intelligence can be developed through hard work and dedication. This mindset is essential for success in any field, as it helps individuals develop resilience.
A skilled motivational speaker can help employees develop this mindset by encouraging them to embrace challenges as opportunities, learn from failure, and persevere through difficult times becoming both self-determined and self-propelled through developing intrinsic motivation.
Heather E. McGowan, an internationally recognized speaker, writer, and advisor, is one such motivational speaker who can help organizations prepare for the Future of Work which will be marked by rapid advancements in technology tools and, thus, the need for continuous learning and adaptation. Having speakers like Heather on board can lead to greater employee satisfaction and performance as evidenced by a report showing that 62% of businesses have reported these outcomes.
Heather was born on April 17, 1971, in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned a BFA in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1993 and later completed her MBA with a major in entrepreneurship from Babson College in 2001.
When it was time for McGowan to begin her career, she started as a designer at Safety 1st, then worked in boutique investment banking and management consulting, and played a key role in advising Stephen Spinelli Jr., the current president of Babson College, for the creation of the Kanbar College of Design Engineering and Commerce at Philadelphia University (now Jefferson University).
In 2019, she was appointed as a faculty member of the Swinburne University Centre for the New Workforce in Melbourne, Australia. Thus, McGowan was doing well and excelling in every field she was stepping into. It was due to her dedication that she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in 2022.
But undoubtedly, her most prominent work remained as a future-of-work strategist who has helped leaders prepare their teams and organizations for the post-pandemic world of work. She gives people the courage and insight that allows them to create a path and follow it to move forward.
Her sessions have helped employees and leaders prepare for and adapt to jobs that do not yet exist, creating a sense of optimism and momentum that allows people to find their path forward. She has been a keynote speaker for audiences from start-up groups, government organizations, universities, and publicly traded Fortune 100 companies, among others.
Her key talks have reached hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, and her speaking notes are often featured on major media platforms, notably in the New York Times.
Furthermore, McGowan also serves on the advisory board for Sparks & Honey, a New York-based culture-focused agency looking to the future of brands. Her academic work includes roles at the Rhode Island School of Design and Jefferson University, where she was the strategic architect of the first undergraduate college focused exclusively on innovation.
McGowan is recognized for her work as a management consultant and speaker. She has been ranked among the top 10 female speakers of 2021 by Big Speak and was recognized by LinkedIn as its Number One Global Voice for Education in 2017. In 2019, she was appointed as a faculty member of the Swinburne University Centre for the New Workforce in Melbourne, Australia.
Apart from being a speaker, McGowan is also an exceptional author. She is the co-author and editor of the book, Disrupts Together: How Teams Consistently Innovate, which highlights the importance of teamwork and innovation in achieving success in the business world. Her first book on the future of work, The Adaptation Advantage: Let Go, Learn Fast, and Thrive in the Future of Work, published in 2020, was ranked third in business management books on Amazon and named among the best business books of 2021 by Soundview magazine.
McGowan’s latest book, The Empathy Advantage: Leading the Empowered Workforce, published in March 2023, is a finalist for the Next Big Idea Book Club and has been classified as one of the top ten business books to read in 2023 by Business Chief. The book is a testament to McGowan’s commitment to innovation and leadership and highlights the importance of empathy in creating a successful and empowered workforce.
Undoubtedly, whether it is by writing influential books or delivering words that stay in the minds of readers for a long time as a future of work keynote speaker, she has made a name for herself and is living proof that with hard work and dedication, anything can be made possible.
