People Speak Up When They Know It’s Safe.
Chris Sund speaks on psychological safety and trust from the operator’s chair. His culture keynote, You Are Capable of a Better Culture, is built on five SPARK drivers, Support, Purpose, Appreciation, Relationships and Knowledge & Growth, and the cultures he has built have been named Fortune Best Workplaces.
Where Organizations Book Chris on Trust and Safety
Teams stop raising problems long before anyone notices. Chris shows leaders what makes people go quiet, and what brings them back.
HR Conferences
A culture session for people leaders. See HR conferences.
Healthcare Organizations
Where speaking up affects patient safety as well as morale.
Leadership Teams
For managers who want honest feedback and are not getting it.
Annual Meetings
A culture keynote for the whole organization.
Why Do People Stop Speaking Up?
Nobody announces that they have stopped telling the truth at work. They just stop raising problems, stop offering ideas and start protecting themselves. Usually it follows a moment when bad news was punished or an honest question was brushed off.
Chris teaches leaders to build trust through the SPARK drivers, especially Support and Relationships, and to reward honesty over praise. See Truth Over Praise and Bad News, No News.
- What makes people go quiet at work, and how leaders cause it without meaning to
- The five SPARK drivers and where trust lives in them
- How to respond to bad news so people keep bringing it
- Asking for honest feedback and actually getting it
- Why people quit people, not companies
- One trust commitment each leader makes
Proof: Cultures Built, Not Described
Chris runs companies in healthcare staffing, one of the hardest retention environments there is, and the cultures he has built have been named Fortune Best Workplaces while scaling fast.
He has delivered the culture material at the POWER Conference, DisruptHR Omaha, DisruptHR Kansas City and healthcare conferences across the country.
One of my biggest takeaways was that being a leader doesn’t mean removing every hard thing. It means making sure your people don’t have to face it alone. That’s the kind of leader I want to be.
Chris was an outstanding speaker and a highlight of our 2025 Patient Experience Recognition Dinner. He took the time to deeply understand our organization, our culture, and our specific goals, and thoughtfully personalized his presentation.
Programs on Trust and Culture
Every session is customized to your organization.
You Are Capable of a Better Culture
Build a workplace people never want to leave, with the five SPARK drivers.
You Are Capable of More: Leadership
How great leaders unlock the people around them. Chris’s leadership workshop, also available as a keynote.
The Power of Small Moments
Turning good care into great experiences, with the CARE framework for healthcare teams.
People Quit People, Not Companies
The retention side of trust, for leaders and HR.
Formats
Most organizations book the culture keynote. Leadership teams often add the leadership workshop.
Keynote
The culture keynote for the whole room, built on SPARK.
Breakout
A smaller-room session for leaders and HR, with a team diagnosis.
Virtual
The same keynote live online.
Who Books This Session
Related pages: You Are Capable of a Better Culture · Culture Keynote Speaker · Employee Experience Speaker · Truth Over Praise · Bad News, No News · Communication Speaker
What Planners Ask About a Psychological Safety Speaker
Is this an academic talk on psychological safety?
No. Chris speaks as an operator about what leaders do day to day that makes people speak up or go quiet, using his SPARK culture framework.
Does it work for healthcare audiences?
Yes. Healthcare is where his operating experience sits, and speaking up there affects patients as well as teams.
Is it available for SHRM and HR conferences?
Yes. For HR audiences Chris offers the culture keynote, his leadership workshop and the signature keynote.
How much does it cost to book Chris?
Chris quotes the speaking fee and travel together in one proposal, so the total is clear up front. Send your date, city and audience through the contact form and you will have availability and a quote within one business day.
You Are Capable of More
The bestselling book behind the keynote, and the 2026 Paris Book Festival winner in the How-To category. Ten principles for closing the gap between what a team is producing and what it is actually capable of.
Many hosts give every attendee a copy of You Are Capable of More so the message keeps working after the event. Bulk pricing and signed copies are available.
He Still Runs the Companies
Chris is President and COO of Uniti Med, GQR Healthcare and Nebula. He has spent the past decade in healthcare staffing, a business that runs on people, pace and morale, and he speaks two to three times a month alongside running his companies.
He took Uniti Med from startup to one of the largest healthcare staffing companies in the US: 10x revenue growth on the core brand, #3 on the Inc. Regionals list of the fastest-growing companies in the Midwest, and a Fortune Best Workplaces award along the way.
He is the bestselling author of You Are Capable of More, winner of the How-To category at the 2026 Paris Book Festival and built on original research with more than 200 working adults, 92% of whom said they were capable of more than they were doing. He writes for Inc. and Forbes.
Stages I Have Spoken On
Where Audiences Have Heard Chris
Conferences, company meetings and kickoffs where Chris has spoken.
POWER ConferenceOmaha, NENAHCR 2026 Annual ConferenceMilwaukee, WILeadingAge IllinoisPublished the LAARC MethodSIA Healthcare Staffing SummitArlington, TXNATHO Annual ConferenceNationalDefinitive Healthcare SKOBoston, MA · 800+ sellersAlso: You Are Capable of a Better Culture · HR Conference Speaker · All Speaking · See all speaking engagements →
Build a Team That Tells You the Truth
Tell Chris about your audience and your event. You’ll get a fast, straight answer on fit and availability.
Check Availability & FeesResponse within one business day · Speaker kit, bio & headshots