Upcoming Event · September 2026 · Kansas City, MO

DisruptHR Kansas City

Your Best Hire Already Works for You — Twenty slides, fifteen seconds each, five minutes total, and one uncomfortable question: how many of the roles you went outside to fill could have been filled by someone already badged in?

Chris Sund speaking at the NAHCR 2026 annual conference
Location
Kansas City, MO
Venue
Rock Island Bridge
Date
September 23, 2026
Talk
Your Best Hire Already Works for You
Keynote SpeakerAuthor of You Are Capable of MorePresident & COOInc. Regionals #3 Fastest-Growing in the MidwestFortune Magazine Best Workplaces Award10x Revenue GrowthMaxwell Leadership Certified CoachKeynote SpeakerAuthor of You Are Capable of MorePresident & COOInc. Regionals #3 Fastest-Growing in the MidwestFortune Magazine Best Workplaces Award10x Revenue GrowthMaxwell Leadership Certified Coach
DisruptHR Kansas City logo
About the Event

Five minutes.
No hiding.

DisruptHR is a global event series built to shake up the way people talk about talent, culture, and leadership. The Kansas City chapter brings HR leaders, executives, and people-first practitioners together for an evening of rapid-fire talks and real conversation at Rock Island Bridge, the venue suspended over the Kaw River between Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas.

The format is deliberately unforgiving. Every speaker gets twenty slides, fifteen seconds per slide, five minutes total, and the slides advance whether you are ready or not. DisruptHR Kansas City 6.0 is organized by Matt Filing and Zach Brown of Lockton Companies.

The Talk

Your Best Hire Already Works for You

Exclusive to this stage.

◆ About the Talk

Every open role starts the same way. Write the job description, post it, screen the pile, pay the fee, wait ninety days for someone to learn what half your team already knows. Meanwhile the person who could have done the job walks past your office twice a day.

We have been trained to believe talent is something you go get. Chris makes the case that most of the capability you are shopping for is already on your payroll, unused, and that the reason you cannot see it is that you have only ever evaluated people against the job they currently hold. Potential does not announce itself. It waits to be asked.

Inside the Talk
01

The Search You Keep Restarting

What going outside actually costs, once you count the ramp and not just the fee.

02

Potential Is Quiet

Your strongest internal candidate is usually the one not lobbying for the job.

03

Nobody Is Ever Ready

The external hire you settled for was not ready either. You just could not see it.

04

Promote the Trajectory

Hire the slope, not the snapshot. Bet on who someone is becoming.

What to Expect

What Attendees Will Take Away

01

An honest count of the roles filled outside that could have been filled inside.

02

How to spot capability that never shows up on a résumé.

03

The question to ask your team before you approve the next req.

04

One name to develop on purpose, starting this week.

What People Say

Feedback from leaders in the room.

His topics are well researched, and he weaves in practical tips and real-life examples that make every session realistic and relatable.
TB
Terry BennettNAHCR Immediate Past President
Chris consistently brings knowledge, insight, and practical advice to every presentation, elevating the value he brings to every engagement.
GS
Gina SalazarTalent Acquisition Lead, University of Kansas Health System
I always have takeaways to put into action after Chris’ sessions. He cares deeply about uplifting the entire profession.
MW
Melissa WheelerCommunity Health Network
Chris Sund seated with his book You Are Capable of More
The Book

You Are Capable of More.

The five minutes on the DisruptHR stage are a compressed version of something longer. You Are Capable of More is the bestselling book behind the talk — ten principles for closing the gap between what you are doing and what you are actually capable of.

It is built for leaders who keep hitting the same ceiling with their people and cannot work out whether the problem is the talent, the system, or themselves. Most of the time it is none of the three. It is what nobody has asked of them yet.

Stages I Have Spoken On
DisruptHR Kansas City
DisruptHR Omaha
NAHCR
NATHO
TORCH/TARHC Fall Conference
POWER Conference
SIA Healthcare Staffing Summit
TravCon
TalentTrack
AHCA/NCAL
DisruptHR Kansas City
DisruptHR Omaha
NAHCR
NATHO
TORCH/TARHC Fall Conference
POWER Conference
SIA Healthcare Staffing Summit
TravCon
TalentTrack
AHCA/NCAL
Iowa Health Care Association
South Dakota Health Care Association
Colorado Health Care Association
Montana Health Care Association
LeadingAge Illinois
Rural Health Association of Utah
Virginia Community Healthcare Association
WSHMMA
National Commission on Correctional Health Care
Iowa Health Care Association
South Dakota Health Care Association
Colorado Health Care Association
Montana Health Care Association
LeadingAge Illinois
Rural Health Association of Utah
Virginia Community Healthcare Association
WSHMMA
National Commission on Correctional Health Care
ACHE Wisconsin Chapter
AOHP
Crawford County Memorial Hospital
Greater Omaha Chamber
Fremont High School
YP Summit
emPower Breakfast
Authentica Connect and Inspire
BeatStars
California Staffing and Recruiting Association
ACHE Wisconsin Chapter
AOHP
Crawford County Memorial Hospital
Greater Omaha Chamber
Fremont High School
YP Summit
emPower Breakfast
Authentica Connect and Inspire
BeatStars
California Staffing and Recruiting Association
Chris Sund seated holding his book You Are Capable of More

You Are Capable of More.

Chris is the author of the bestselling You Are Capable of More. Copies can be bundled for attendees, and Chris can run a signing table in the exhibit hall — which drives traffic for your sponsors.

About the Book
About the Event

DisruptHR Kansas City.

DisruptHR is a global information exchange built to energize, inform and empower people in HR, running in more than 200 cities worldwide. The format is deliberately unforgiving: twenty slides, fifteen seconds each, auto-advancing. Five minutes, no hiding behind a deck.

The Kansas City chapter holds its sixth event at the Rock Island Bridge, the 35,000 square foot entertainment space built on a 1905 railroad bridge spanning the Kansas River. Chris has also spoken at DisruptHR Omaha.

Chris Sund, keynote speaker and authorBring This to Your Event

Book Chris for your event.

Chris’s talks on leadership, growth, and the talent already sitting inside your building are among his most requested sessions. Check availability and receive a customized proposal.

Or reach out directly: info@chrissund.com · 402-212-5771