Mary Abbajay

Human beings are social creatures, and the workplace is—at its core—a social system. Understanding the true drivers of human social behavior is becoming ever more urgent if we are to create more inclusive, productive, and positive workplaces. In a world of increasing interconnectedness, diversity, and rapid change, there is a growing need to improve the way people work and engage with each other. Social neuroscience’s exploration of the biological foundation of the way humans relate to each other and themselves can help us understand and enhance our ability to accelerate high-performance and high engagement workplaces. In this engaging, high-energy presentation, workplace expert and best-selling author, Mary Abbajay, explores how five key neuropsychological domains of human experience can enrich the human experience in the workplace and explains why this is essential to your success to your workplace relationships.

So maybe your team doesn’t hate you—but you might be driving them crazy without even knowing it. Managing others is hard—and let’s be honest—we may not be as good at it as we think we are. Research repeatedly shows that poor managers remain one of the top reasons why talent walks. Creating a culture of high performance, engagement, and retention requires paying attention to the impact of our leadership behaviors. In this engaging and fast-paced presentation, best-selling author and workplace expert, Mary Abbajay, shares the top ten managerial behaviors that disempower, demotivate, and diminish organizational productivity and positivity—and how to avoid them. 

Whether we like it or not, our bosses have enormous influence over our ability to succeed, thrive, and advance in our organizations, in our careers and in our own leadership journey. Establishing strong, productive working relationships with those above us is the single most effective way to accelerate success in any organization. Whether you are reporting to a supervisor, middle manager, VP, top executive, or a board of directors, managing up is a skill that we all need. This lively and interactive presentation provides proven strategies and techniques to increase cooperation and collaboration between those who have different power levels, perspectives, and personalities. Learning to effectively manage up is good for you, good for your boss, and good for your organization.

Recent research shows that organizations with high levels of psychological safety simply perform better. According to data from the PEW Research Center, 89% of employees say that psychological safety is essential and that business leaders are responsible for creating it. Organizations with robust psychological safety can magnify the contributions of talent at all levels. Colleagues who feel psychologically safe at work are more willing to exhibit behaviors that contribute to greater organizational engagement and innovation—like speaking up, asking questions, sharing unspoken reservations, and respectfully disagreeing. They trust that their co-workers and leaders value honesty, candor, and truth-telling. This ultimately creates a more robust, dynamic, innovative, and inclusive climate and culture. In this high-energy presentation, workplace expert and best-selling author, Mary Abbajay shares key strategies to create and sustain psychological safety in teams, groups, and organizations.

Everyone has a brand whether they realize it or not. Your personal brand differentiates you from others. It is the impression you both want to make and do make on others. Done well, your personal brand and reputation can help you succeed professionally—both internally and externally. It helps guide the way you present yourself to others—ensuring that people see you in the way you want them to, instead of in some arbitrary, possibly detrimental, way. You can either ignore your personal brand and reputation, and let it develop organically—possibly chaotically beyond your control—or you can take active steps to create a personal brand that accurately depicts you as the person you want to be. In this engaging, high-energy presentation, workplace expert and best-selling author, Mary Abbajay helps participants identify key components of their brand, assess gaps between desired brand and real-world reputation, identify key strategies to reinforce their brand while engaging with others, and explore social media best practices for personal brand promotion. Perfect for senior level directors and executives focused on building their personal brand/public profile, customer-facing employees looking for added confidence, sales teams aiming to strengthen customer relationships, or even providing a comprehensive guide for Gen Z employees building their professional pathways and learning to understand the effects of their online presence.