Austin keynote speaker for healthcare, technology, and association events.
Chris Sund is a keynote speaker, Maxwell Leadership Certified Coach, and sitting executive who leads national healthcare staffing organizations. He speaks on workforce motivation, leadership, retention, and human potential for Texas associations, health systems, technology and public sector employers, and organizations across the Austin region.
Response within one business day.
For twelve straight years Austin grew faster than any large metro in America. That is a culture problem before it is a growth story.
Austin is the rare large city where a big share of the people on your team arrived recently, and that quietly changes what leadership has to do.
For twelve consecutive years the Austin metro grew faster in percentage terms than any other large metro in the country, and the region has pushed past two and a half million residents to become one of the twenty five largest metros in the nation. Austin is now one of the ten most populous cities in the United States, alongside Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. The workforce reflects all of that. The University of Texas at Austin, the State of Texas, and the City of Austin anchor a large public and education sector. Dell is headquartered here, Tesla’s Giga Texas and Samsung Austin Semiconductor run major manufacturing floors, and Apple, Oracle, IBM, and Amazon operate large campuses. H-E-B is the biggest private employer in the metro. On the clinical side, St. David’s HealthCare and Ascension Seton run the region’s hospitals.
Most leadership advice quietly assumes a stable workforce, a long tenured core that carries the culture and shows new hires how things are done. Austin frequently does not have that core. When a large share of the room joined in the last few years, there is no old guard to absorb a newcomer and pass along what the place actually values.
So culture here cannot be inherited, it has to be built on purpose and rebuilt continually. The habits a longer settled city takes for granted, how people treat each other, what earns recognition, why the work matters, have to be said out loud and modeled deliberately, because there is no deep bench of tenure quietly transmitting them in the background.
Loyalty works the same way. In a market where people arrived chasing opportunity, they can leave for the next opportunity just as easily, so retention depends on whether a person feels seen and developed where they are now, not on roots they have not had time to grow.
Chris runs national healthcare staffing organizations and has keynoted state association conferences in eleven states, including LeadingAge Illinois and health care associations in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and Colorado.
Operator, Not Consultant
President and COO of national healthcare staffing organizations, still making the hiring and retention calls he speaks about.
Built for Fast-Growing Teams
Material for organizations hiring quickly, where much of the workforce is newer than the culture they are being asked to carry.
TORCH and TARHC
The Power of Small Moments at the Fall Conference and Tradeshow for Texas rural hospital and clinic leadership.
Groups Chris speaks for.
Austin pairs a large state government and university presence with one of the fastest growing technology and healthcare sectors in the country.
- The University of Texas at Austin, one of the largest universities in the nation, along with area school districts and community colleges
- The State of Texas and the City of Austin, anchoring one of the largest public sector workforces in the region, for agency in-service and leadership days
- St. David’s HealthCare and Ascension Seton, the region’s major hospital systems, for nurse leadership, all-staff, and recognition events
- Dell, headquartered in the metro, alongside Tesla’s Giga Texas, Samsung Austin Semiconductor, Apple, Oracle, IBM, and Amazon, for all-hands and supervisor sessions
- H-E-B, the metro’s largest private employer, and the region’s retail and service workforce
- Texas statewide associations holding annual meetings in Austin, the format Chris works in most often
- Startups, creative and digital media employers, and the region’s finance and professional services firms
Austin employers hiring faster than their culture.
Healthcare is where Chris operates, and the newcomer problem belongs to almost every fast growing employer in the region.
Technology and Manufacturing
Teams that doubled in a few years, where most people are newer than the norms they inherited.
State Government and Education
Agencies and campuses onboarding continuously into large, established institutions.
Healthcare
Hospital and clinic teams staffing up for a population that keeps growing.
Startups and Scale-Ups
Young companies setting their culture in real time, before any of it has settled.
Austin and regional venues.
- The Austin Convention Center and downtown hotel ballrooms for statewide and national association meetings
- St. David’s and Ascension Seton campuses for nurse leadership and all-staff days
- Technology and manufacturing campuses across the metro for all-hands and supervisor sessions
- State agency and university facilities for in-service and staff programming
- Corporate offices across downtown, the Domain, and Round Rock
- Cedar Park, Georgetown, San Marcos, and the surrounding Central Texas communities
Austin events Chris speaks at.
Association Conferences
Statewide and national association annual meetings and general sessions, the format Chris works in most often.
Hospital and Health System Events
Leadership days, nurse recognition events, and all-staff meetings.
Corporate and Technology All-Hands
Company meetings, kickoffs, and leadership summits across the region’s tech and manufacturing employers.
Retention and Frontline Leadership
Supervisor development for teams growing faster than the culture that is meant to hold them.
Emerging and New Leaders
Development for the newer managers a fast growing organization keeps promoting into the gap.
HR and SHRM Chapter Events
Human resources conferences and chapter meetings on recognition, onboarding, and retention.
Keynote topics for your Austin event.
Every session is customized for the audience, the format, and what you are actually trying to change.
See what conference organizers and HR leaders have said after booking Chris.
Booking a keynote speaker in Austin
Has Chris spoken in Texas and for fast-growing organizations?
Does Chris travel to Austin?
A lot of our team is new. How does that change the talk?
We are growing fast and losing people just as fast. Can you speak to that?
Can the session reach multiple sites and shifts?
What does an Austin keynote cost?
Can Chris speak virtually to a Texas audience?
Keynote speaking across Texas.
Each city page covers the local employers, the venues Chris speaks in, and the specific workforce pressure leaders there are working on.
Bring Chris to your Austin event.
Send your date, location, and audience. You will get availability and a quote back within one business day.
info@chrissund.com · 402-212-5771 · Texas speaking · All locations
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