Banking & Financial Services Keynote Speaker

Branch and Lending Teams Are Leaving Faster Than You Can Train Them

Community banks and credit unions are losing tellers, lenders, and back-office staff to employers who never used to compete for them. Chris Sund speaks about the retention and development work that holds a team together when you cannot win on pay alone.

Black and white portrait of Chris Sund, banking and financial services keynote speaker
Keynote SpeakerPresident & COOFortune Best Workplaces AwardWorld-Class Employee NPSInc. Regionals #3 Fastest-Growing in the MidwestAuthor of You Are Capable of MoreKeynote SpeakerPresident & COOFortune Best Workplaces AwardWorld-Class Employee NPSInc. Regionals #3 Fastest-Growing in the MidwestAuthor of You Are Capable of More

What Your Members Take Back

Banking has a specific version of the workforce problem: front-line roles with real responsibility, modest pay bands, and a customer relationship that only works when the same face is there next year. Chris speaks to what a branch manager or regional lead actually controls — which turns out to be most of the reason people stay.

  • Keeping front-line staff when retail and logistics are paying more
  • Developing lenders and managers from inside rather than recruiting them
  • Why customer relationships suffer most from turnover nobody tracked
  • Recognition that works within fixed compensation structures
  • Original research: 92% believe they are capable of more than they are doing now

Popular Programs for Financial Institutions

Every session is customized to your institution, members, and format.

People Quit People, Not Companies

Retention as a teachable skill for branch and department managers.

You Are Capable of a Better Culture

Five research-backed drivers of a workplace people do not leave.

How to Handle Objections

For lenders and business development teams selling in a rate-sensitive market.

You Are Capable of More

The signature keynote — strong fit for an annual meeting or convention.

Financial Services Audiences

State Banking AssociationsCredit Union LeaguesCommunity Bank ConferencesLeadership & Management ProgramsAnnual MeetingsLender & BD Team Events

Related pages: Association Conference Speaker · Employee Retention Speaker · Sales Keynote Speaker

What Planners Ask

Does he have banking experience?

No, and he says so. His subject is workforce and leadership, not lending or compliance. What he asks for beforehand is enough detail about your members that the examples land rather than float.

Will it work for a mixed room of executives and front-line staff?

Yes. The material is behavioral, so branch staff take away what they control and executives take away the systems view.

Annual meeting or leadership program?

Both, and they are different sessions. An annual meeting wants a keynote the whole membership feels; a leadership program wants a working session managers can act on.

Can he tailor to community institutions specifically?

Yes, and that is the better fit. Competing for people against larger employers is a smaller-institution problem more than a national-bank one.

Chris Sund seated with his book You Are Capable of More
The Book

You Are Capable of More

The bestselling book behind the keynotes — ten principles for closing the gap between what a team is producing and what it is actually capable of.

Associations and institutions often pair a keynote with copies for attendees or branch leadership. Bulk pricing and signed editions are available.

Chris Sund delivering a leadership keynote
Meet Chris

He Runs a People Business Too

Chris is President & COO of Uniti Med, GQR Healthcare, and Nebula. Staffing lives or dies on the same things banking does — trust built over time, front-line people who represent the whole institution, and turnover that costs far more than the requisition suggests.

He took Uniti Med from startup to one of the largest healthcare staffing firms in the country, earning a Fortune Best Workplaces award and world-class employee NPS during 10x growth.

He is a bestselling author, a Maxwell Leadership Certified coach, an Inc. contributor, a Forbes Business Council member, and lives in Fremont, Nebraska.

Chris Sund on My KC Live at KCTV5 in Kansas City

As Seen & Heard

Television, national business press, and the podcasts where Chris talks workforce, retention, and growth.

ForbesInc. magazineMy KC Live on KCTV5KXANCatalytic Leadership PodcastCulture From the Heart PodcastForbesInc. magazineMy KC Live on KCTV5KXANCatalytic Leadership PodcastCulture From the Heart Podcast
Unlocking High Performance PodcastKiller Growth PodcastTalentTrack PodcastAtlas PodcastAmplify Speakers PodcastStaffing Stories PodcastUnlocking High Performance PodcastKiller Growth PodcastTalentTrack PodcastAtlas PodcastAmplify Speakers PodcastStaffing Stories Podcast

Bring Chris to Your Banking Event

Tell Chris about your institution or membership and what the room needs. You’ll get a fast, straight answer on fit and availability.

Check Availability & Fees

Response within one business day · Speaker kit, bio & headshots