Steve Gutzler

“Change can be emotionally draining. Or change can be emotionally fuelling. The choice is yours.”

We are living in an era of infinite data, endless distraction, and constant disruption. And let’s be honest—traditional change management is failing. The data tells us that 70% of change initiatives fail. Not because the strategy was flawed. Not because the spreadsheets were wrong. But because we neglected the most powerful variable in the equation: the human element. The emotions. The fears that keep people up at night.

So here is the real question: How equipped is your team with the emotional agility to navigate uncertainty when the ground keeps moving beneath their feet?

With over 25 years of corporate experience coaching leaders through their toughest moments, I’ve learned one thing for certain: You cannot lead people through change until you can first lead them through their emotions. This program doesn’t offer another checklist. It gives your team the mindsets, the strategies, and the emotional awareness to stop surviving change—and start thriving in it.

This dynamic, highly interactive experience introduces The 5 Shifts—a proven framework designed to rewire how you and your team think about change. You will learn to reduce resistance, turn disruptive emotions into powerful fuel, and stay fiercely engaged even when the path forward is unclear.

This Program Is Designed For:

Executive Leaders and Individual Contributors facing the relentless pace of disruption.

Personal Leaders and Teams seeking new strategies to navigate shifting landscapes with confidence.

Organizational Leaders charged with building emotionally intelligent teams that don’t crack under pressure.

What You Will Walk Away With:

 This is not theory. This is practical, research-backed wisdom you can apply the moment you return to your team. Here is what you will gain:

1. Shift from Chaos to Calm

 Emotions are contagious. Your leaders are either spreading anxiety or calm—whether they realize it or not. This shift equips them with the tools to find their center when everything around them is spinning. Your organization gets leaders who become the steady presence their teams need. Clear decisions. Composed leadership. Teams that take a deep breath because their leader took theirs first.

2. Shift from Solo to Collaboration

Here is what happens under pressure: the brain gets hijacked. The amygdala fires. Leaders go blind to the people around them. This shift arms your team with the neuroscience of emotional agility—so they can recognize the hijack before it takes them down. Your organization gets leaders who don’t just survive their own triggers. They tap into the collective intelligence of the team, solving together what they could never solve alone.

3. Shift from Crisis to Innovation

Crisis wants your people to play small. It wants them to play defense. This shift teaches them to flip the script. Your organization gets teams that stop asking “What’s wrong?” and start asking “What’s possible?” They innovate under pressure. They see opportunity where others see only obstacles.

4. Shift from Resistor to Advocate

Every team has three mindsets living in it: The Resistor. The Victim. And the Advocate. Your leaders will learn to spot them instantly—in themselves and in others. Your organization stops wasting energy on resistance and starts building trust, psychological safety, and a culture that doesn’t just accept change—they champion it.

5. Shift from Rigidity to Resilience

The ground is going to keep moving. That is the only guarantee. This shift hands your workforce the tools to tap into resilience when everything feels uncertain. Your organization gets people who bend without breaking. They adapt without melting down. They master uncertainty instead of being mastered by it.

Target Audience:

Steve has delivered this message to a wide array of industries—technology companies, sales teams, government agencies, financial advisors, realtors, small business associations, university programs, and leadership conferences. If your organization is facing restructuring, mergers, digital transformation, or market disruption, this is your playbook.

In a rapidly-evolving sales landscape shaped by technology, competition, and customer expectations, one skill stands out as a game-changer: Emotional Intelligence (EI). In this transformative keynote, Steve Gutzler reveals why EI is no longer optional — it’s the future of successful selling.

Drawing from decades of leadership development and sales expertise, Steve uncovers how mastering EI competencies — such as empathy, self-awareness, and interpersonal skills — empowers sales professionals to build authentic connections, foster trust, and close deals with confidence.

Key Takeaways:

• Leverage Emotional Contagion: Use the science of emotions to influence buying decisions and foster trust.
• People Buy You First: Build rapport and connection as the foundation of every successful sale.
• Sell Through Storytelling: Engage and inspire with compelling narratives that resonate emotionally.
• Empathy in Action: Overcome objections and address challenges by understanding and leveraging client emotions.
• Non-Verbal Mastery: Strengthen your influence with effective body language and non-verbal cues.
• Build Loyalty for Long-Term Success: Cultivate lasting client relationships that drive repeat business.

Packed with real-world examples, actionable insights, and Steve’s signature motivational style, this program will leave your team inspired and equipped to thrive in a sales world where human connection is the ultimate differentiator.

Prepare to elevate your sales performance by harnessing the power of Emotional Intelligence — because in the future of sales, relationships drive results.

In this age where AI and technology are reshaping the way we work and interact, the demand for human-centered skills, particularly Emotional Intelligence (EI), has never been more critical.

As machines take over more of the routine tasks, the truly distinguishing qualities of top leaders are those skills that machines can’t replicate: empathy, awareness, and the nuanced understanding of human emotions.

This program is dedicated to deepening these essential skills. Audiences will learn to harness the power of emotional intelligence to connect, inspire, and lead with authenticity. Our focus will go beyond traditional leadership training, emphasizing how to navigate and lead effectively in an increasingly automated world. We’ll explore how to maintain and enhance human connections and emotional well-being in your teams, ensuring that you stand out as a leader in a technology driven landscape.

Attendees will learn:

• Building Influence through Connections: Learn how to forge meaningful relationships that boost your influence in every interaction.
• Emotional Intelligence and Self-Awareness: Gain insights into managing emotions effectively, both your own and those of others, especially under pressure.
• The Science of Emotions: Explore what happens in the brain during stressful situations and uncover strategies to navigate these challenges smoothly.
• Empathy as a Leadership Tool: Understand why empathy is crucial for fostering influence, connection, loyalty, collaboration, and effective persuasion.
• Enhancing Job Satisfaction: Discover methods to elevate levels of job satisfaction, engagement, and inspiration within your team.
• Authentic Relationships: Learn how to authentically capture interest and build genuine relationships that last.

Backed by compelling case studies and enriched with Steve’s inspiring anecdotes, this keynote will empower your audience to embrace and apply the principles of human-centered leadership, leading to more successful and cohesive teams.

This program is ideal for organizations aiming to:

• Build a more collaborative and communicative workplace.
• Equip your team with the tools to navigate change smoothly and effectively.
• Create strategies to eliminate workplace dissatisfaction and support emotional well-being.
• Develop a workplace environment that values contribution and mutual support.
• Enhance your team’s ability to grow sales and strengthen client relations.
• Foster a setting where team members feel valued and motivated to excel.

Not surprisingly, a new study from Harvard Business Review shows burnout, anxiety, and depression are on a rapid increase for employees today, regardless of their title or position.

• 89% of the respondents said their work-life balance is getting worse, not better
• 85% said they struggle with stress, anxiety, and burnout
• 82% said emotional health and well-being are in decline
• 76% said they welcome help in wellness strategies for improved emotional health and balance

In today’s fast-paced and competitive environment, a person’s emotional health affects their overall work performance; how they cultivate meaningful relationships inside and outside the business; and how they will manage their overall mental health and sustainability moving forward.

In this interactive program, you’ll discover the same proven and actionable strategies employed by frontline health professionals, SWAT teams, leading corporate executives, and personal leaders. These proven tactics help reset and calibrate emotional wellness to handle stress in these rapidly changing times, resulting in achievable (and sustainable) balance.

Key points in this program:

• Learn how emotional health and balance are the new fundamental currency for successful personal leaders and teams today
• Discover the power of energy management Identify the five stages of trauma that hold you back
• Learn how stress hijacks job performance and shuts down creativity and memory function
• Discover the “window of tolerance” as the key to playing and performing at our best
• Unlock self-leadership and self-care strategies to stress-proof your personal leadership and regain emotional health and balance

Each participant receives Steve’s Emotional Health and Balance Assessment, which can be utilized as an interactive onsite exercise or as a follow up to the program.

Ideal for any audience, and customized for each organization, this interactive presentation is designed to help leaders, teams, and individual contributors reset and recharge.

Emotional Intelligence affects how we manage our emotions, navigate relationships, and achieve positive results. For today’s workforce, emotions are now the biggest factor in employee experience, organizational culture, and team performance. Teams want to feel valued, and they want to work for leaders and companies that truly care about their well-being.

Emotions drive performance every day. And positive results in the workplace are determined by how your employees navigate change and uncertainty, and how they emotionally impact and influence others on the team.

In this interactive keynote program, Steve Gutzler will provide breakthrough techniques and strategies to create positive influence, high-performing teams, and proven results that will boost your bottom line.

Recent research has made it clear that increasing your emotional currency and emotional intelligence skillset is the single most important driver of an engaged, results-driven, and highly agile workforce.

Key points in this program:

• Self-awareness for better influence and communication among team members
• A deeper understanding of the science behind emotions: what the brain does under pressure, and specific tools and strategies to manage stressful situations
• Building empathy by being sensitive to the underlying emotional exchange
• How to use connected language to improve persuasion skills – highly impacting outcomes and profitability
• How to win the hearts and minds of your people
• Steve’s engaging stories and case studies to inspire teams to thrive in the most challenging circumstances as seen in world-class environments such as the International Space Station, Microsoft, Google, and Yale University.

This program can be tailored to emphasize a variety of objectives, such as:

• Team collaboration and communication
• Navigating change and managing disruptions
• Eliminating employee burnout and optimizing emotional health
• Nurturing emerging leaders and supporting individual contributors
• Generating sales and cultivating client relationships
• Adapting Emotional Intelligence skills for challenging fields

How do you create a sustainable pace and sustainable success while feeling incredible responsibility, pressure, and stress?

This dynamic keynote addresses the epidemic of stress, pressure, and resiliency. Through inspiring stories and real-life case studies, Steve explains how leaders today need to be both smart and healthy, operating at optimum levels while facing deadlines and challenging relationships.

Steve will help your leaders and teams increase performance, and provide you with breakthrough techniques and strategies for self-leadership and sustainable success.

Key points in this program:

• How to self-manage those 17% moments when interactions in business become challenging and work more difficult
• How to create stress-resiliency tactics for sustainable success
• How to operate at your full potential and tap into confidence, optimism, resiliency, and enthusiasm
• How to remain healthy and recognize that exhaustion and burnout are not considered badges of honor
• How leaders help others manage energy and emotion when it matters most
• Learn the five shifts to grow your influence, impact, and inspiration
• Gain clarity around your MVP (Most Valuable and Profitable) accomplishments
• How to become both smart and healthy