SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
with Laura King
Turn Workplace Burnout Into Breakthrough Performance Through Purposeful Leadership
Your Best People Are Quietly Burning Out. Here's How to Reignite Them.
Your organization is sitting on untapped potential. Whether you're crushing quarterly goals or fighting to find momentum, there's a silent crisis undermining workplaces everywhere—and yours isn't the exception.
82% of white-collar workers report burnout. 53% of C-suite executives face workplace mental health challenges. Your top performers are silently questioning whether the grind is sustainable—and many are already mentally halfway out the door.
The impact extends far beyond retention. Burned-out employees deliver 34% lower productivity and generate 18% less profitability. When your star talent exits, you lose institutional knowledge, client trust, and the cultural momentum they built. Conservative replacement costs? 150-200% of their annual salary.
But here's the breakthrough insight most leaders overlook: This isn't a wellness problem. It's a purpose problem.
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When people can't see the connection between their personal values and their daily work, they begin to feel like they're living someone else's life 40+ hours a week. They show up physically but check out mentally, doing the minimum required to keep their job while their passion slowly drains away.
The Impact: Decreased motivation, reduced creativity, and the quiet erosion of the energy that made them high performers in the first place. They start viewing work as something to endure rather than something that energizes them.
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When high performers don't understand how their unique role contributes to the bigger picture, they become order-takers instead of problem-solvers. They may excel at their tasks but miss opportunities to innovate, collaborate, or add strategic value because they can't see how their piece fits into the larger puzzle.
The Impact: Talented people operating below their potential, missed opportunities for innovation, and team members who execute well but don't think strategically about improving processes or outcomes.
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Organizations typically overload their most reliable people simply because they can handle it. Your best performers become the default choice for every new project, urgent request, and challenging situation. While this feels efficient short-term, it creates an unsustainable burden on the talent you can least afford to lose.
The Impact: Burnout among your highest performers, resentment toward "carrying the team," and eventual departure of the very people who make your organization successful. Meanwhile, other team members remain underutilized and underdeveloped.
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When leaders operate from performance pressure instead of authentic presence, they create cultures where people perform to avoid consequences rather than contribute to shared success. Teams focus on looking good on paper rather than solving real problems or supporting each other's growth.
The Impact: Decreased psychological safety, reduced collaboration, and teams that hit metrics while missing the deeper engagement and innovation that drives long-term success.
Author of Shine Brighter: The High-Performer's Guide to Purpose, Presence and Peak Living, Laura King transforms workplace culture by addressing the four root causes of employee disengagement:
What happens when Laura Speaks?
Evidence‑Backed Insights with stories and data drawn from 30,000+ executive conversations.
Uplifting delivery that’s equal parts warm empathy and precision strategy, so every listener feels seen—and challenged.
Engagement skyrockets as individuals reconnect personal values to daily work
Collaboration deepens when purpose becomes the common language
Culture transforms into a magnet for top talent, driven by clarity and shared “why”
Sustainable growth emerges from a workforce aligned around impact, not just output
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The hidden costs of high-functioning burnout, its impact on employee engagement and retention, and practical strategies for organizational well-being. Laura provides data-driven insights from 30,000+ interviews with concrete solutions for leaders.
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Why top performers are quietly quitting and what organizations can do about it. Laura reveals the gap between external achievement and internal fulfillment that's driving talent to seek more meaningful work.
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How to lead authentically during periods of change and uncertainty. Laura teaches leaders to navigate transformation while maintaining team stability and personal well-being, drawing from real-world executive experiences.
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How the next generation of leaders is redefining success to include well-being, authenticity, and life integration. Laura discusses trends she's observing in executive recruiting and what organizations need to evolve.
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Moving beyond performance-based identity to authentic leadership. Laura helps professionals align their career trajectory with their core values, creating sustainable success that feels as good internally as it looks externally.
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A practical roadmap for sustainable success: Awareness (seeing clearly what no longer fits), Attitude (choosing supportive mindsets), Action (taking aligned micro-moves), and Alignment (living in harmony with your values).
Expertise
"Your teams aren't disengaged because they lack drive. They're disengaged because they're misaligned."
30,000
Interviews conducted with Executives, Founders, Leaders and High-Achievers.
20+
Years placing talent as an
executive recruiter
82%
White-Collar Workers Report Burnout
THIS ISN’T JUST culture–building
it’s culture REWIRING.
Meet Laura King
The Alignment Strategist
I'm Laura King—executive recruiter turned transformation guide. For 20+ years, I've been the trusted confidant of high-achievers: C-suite executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders seeking clarity in the chaos of ambition.
I've witnessed the "silent epidemic" of high-functioning burnout among accomplished professionals—and experienced my own breakdown despite outward success. That breakdown became my breakthrough, leading to the creation of PurposeOS™, the proven system that transforms workplace culture by addressing the root cause of disengagement.
I bridge the intersection of business strategy and human wisdom, offering practical frameworks that appeal to both analytical minds and intuitive leaders. My approach is grounded in behavioral science and delivered with the warmth of someone who's walked this path personally.
Today’s workforce isn’t just burned out—they’re misaligned.
Despite investing in engagement surveys, wellness perks, and leadership development, many organizations still struggle to retain top talent and sustain high performance. Why? Because employees aren't just seeking success—they’re craving alignment.
In this high-impact keynote, Talent Strategist and author Laura King delivers a fresh, results-focused framework for optimizing performance without sacrificing well-being. Drawing on two decades of executive recruiting and coaching high performers, Laura reveals how aligning roles to purpose is the most underutilized—and highest ROI—strategy for reducing turnover, boosting engagement, and creating cultures where people actually want to work.
Backed by data and brought to life through live audience coaching and interactive group moments, this session shows leaders not just what to do, but how to build teams that shine from the inside out.
SHINE BRIGHTER: THE TALENT STRATEGY THAT CONNECTS PURPOSE TO PERFORMANCE
KEY TAKEAWAYS
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TAKEWAY #1
Reduce Turnover by Identifying Misalignment Before It Becomes Resignation
Equip your leaders with a simple diagnostic that reveals who's thriving, who's surviving—and who's one misstep away from leaving.Key Outcomes:
Early warning system for at-risk talent
Data-driven conversations that build trust
Targeted retention plans based on individual alignment
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TAKEWAY #2
Drive High Performance Without Burning Out Your Best People
Shift your leadership mindset from "How can we get more?" to "How can we protect our top performers?"
Key Outcomes:
Strategic capacity mapping and task elimination
Boundary protocols that preserve energy for high-impact work
Force-multiplier mindset that scales talent sustainably
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TAKEWAY #3
Increase Engagement Without Adding Perks
Transform engagement by helping every role connect to purpose—no gimmicks, benefits, or costly add-ons required.
Key Outcomes:
Mission-mapping exercises connecting tasks to company impact
Purpose activation conversations that reframe "just a job" into mission-critical work
Engagement systems that sustain meaning over time
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Jackie Rieck
I stand in awe of Laura King’s exceptional ability to engage and inspire her audience. The energy she brings to the room is infectious, and her genuine connection with people goes beyond being an influencer - it’s about creating a transformational experience. Laura is a true catalyst for positive change, leaving a lasting impression that resonates long after the event. I feel privileged to have experienced her inspiring presence!
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Aramondo Davison
Sometimes it can feel like a keynote speaker is so “smart” they’re just spewing words at you. But Laura holds space in such a safe and vulnerable way that her audience often feels as if she’s growing with you.
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McKaela Baldus
I have worked with Laura for years and seen her speak in front of groups of many sizes. She has a way of making everyone feel at ease and instantly connected with her, reminding us that we are all just people here to learn, talk, interact, and ask questions. This connectedness brings people back time and time again for whatever topic Laura may be speaking about.
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Mike Rabon
Laura King connects with her audience because she understands what matters. I could feel the joy, feel the sadness, and understand the vicissitudes of life by listening to Laura. Few people know how to genuinely and authentically connect with people. Laura's speaking skills are like sweet-sounding music. You don't want it to end.
YOUR TURN
READY to Connect Purpose
to Performance?
Transform your culture from the inside out. Move from performance pressure to authentic presence. Build a workplace where purpose drives performance and your best people choose to stay.