St. Louis keynote speaker for healthcare, logistics, 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 Missouri associations, health systems, logistics and defense employers, and organizations across the St. Louis region.
Response within one business day.
When the work goes right, nothing happens. That is the entire motivation problem here.
St. Louis is one of the great logistics crossroads of the country, and logistics work has a structural feature that quietly wears people down.
This is the third largest rail center in the United States, served by six major railroads, and home to the second busiest inland port in the country. Scott Air Force Base sits twenty five miles east with roughly five thousand civilian and eight thousand military personnel, hosting Air Mobility Command and the headquarters of U.S. Transportation Command, the organization responsible for moving everything the American military moves anywhere on earth. Boeing’s defense unit employs somewhere around fifteen to sixteen thousand people in the metro building fighter aircraft. BJC HealthCare is the region’s largest employer with a workforce in the tens of thousands across fourteen hospitals, alongside SSM Health, Mercy, and Washington University.
Now think about the feedback that kind of work generates. A rail yard that runs clean produces nothing at all. A deployment that moves without incident makes no news. A supply chain that functions is invisible by definition, and so is a surgery that goes exactly as planned or a night shift where nothing went wrong.
The only signal these systems generate on their own is failure. Delays get investigated. Errors get reviewed. Incidents get meetings. Success generates silence, which means a person can do outstanding work for years and receive nothing back from the environment except the absence of trouble.
That leads somewhere specific. In negative feedback work, recognition cannot be event driven, because all the events are bad. It has to be scheduled, deliberate, and slightly artificial, because nothing about the operation will surface it for you. A leader who sets aside time to review what went right, on purpose, on a calendar, is not being sentimental. They are correcting for a system that is only wired to notice the other thing.
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.
Regional Neighbor
Based in Nebraska with keynote work across the midwest, and a straightforward trip to St. Louis.
Operations and Clinical Rooms
Works for a rail or distribution operations meeting, a defense manufacturing all-hands, or a hospital leadership day.
Groups Chris speaks for.
The St. Louis region combines seven Fortune 500 headquarters with major health systems, defense manufacturing, and one of the country’s most important logistics hubs.
- BJC HealthCare, the region’s largest employer with fourteen hospitals and a workforce in the tens of thousands, along with SSM Health and Mercy, for nurse leadership, all-staff, and recognition events
- Washington University in St. Louis, employing above thirteen thousand people across the university and medical school
- Boeing Defense, Space and Security, with roughly fifteen to sixteen thousand people in the metro producing fighter aircraft and defense systems, for shift-repeated crew and supervisor sessions
- Scott Air Force Base, home to Air Mobility Command and U.S. Transportation Command, along with the region’s geospatial intelligence community
- Rail, port, and logistics employers across the country’s third largest rail center and second busiest inland port
- Corporate headquarters including Centene, Edward Jones, Enterprise Mobility, Emerson, Bunge, and Anheuser-Busch
- Missouri statewide associations, area school districts, and long-term care providers across the metro and southern Illinois
St. Louis employers whose success is silent.
Healthcare is where Chris operates, and it shares its feedback problem with most of this region.
Rail, Port, and Logistics
Operations where a clean day produces no signal and the only reviews are triggered by something going wrong.
Defense Manufacturing
Production and quality teams whose best work is measured in the absence of defects.
Healthcare
Clinical and support teams where a routine shift is the goal and generates no acknowledgment.
Financial Services and Corporate Operations
Back office and service teams whose accuracy is noticed only when it fails.
St. Louis and regional venues.
- America’s Center and downtown hotel ballrooms for statewide and regional association annual meetings
- BJC, SSM, and Mercy campuses for nurse leadership and all-staff days
- Manufacturing, rail, and distribution facilities for shift-repeated crew sessions
- Corporate headquarters across Clayton, Creve Coeur, and the metro for all-hands and leadership summits
- Washington University and the region’s colleges for campus and staff programming
- St. Charles, Chesterfield, and the Metro East in southern Illinois
St. Louis events Chris speaks at.
Association Conferences
Statewide and regional 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.
Operations and Plant Meetings
All-hands gatherings, shift meetings, safety kickoffs, and supervisor development days.
Retention and Frontline Leadership
Supervisor development for work where success is invisible and only failure generates attention.
Long-Term and Senior Care
Skilled nursing, assisted living, and continuing care conferences and in-service days.
HR and SHRM Chapter Events
Human resources conferences and chapter meetings on recognition and retention.
Keynote topics for your St. Louis 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 St. Louis
Has Chris spoken in Missouri before?
Does Chris travel to St. Louis?
Our people only hear from leadership when something breaks. Can that be fixed?
Will this land with a rail, plant, or dock audience?
Can the session run for multiple shifts?
What does a St. Louis keynote cost?
Can Chris speak virtually to a Missouri audience?
Bring Chris to your St. Louis 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 · Missouri speaking · All locations