Keynotes
Live & Virtual Keynotes | Workshops
Moderation & Facilitation
Main Themes
A selection of the most popular keynote themes.
Main Themes
A selection of the most popular keynote themes.
I talk about leadership, talent, burnout, diversity, culture and values, and I am an expert in helping people balance their inner identities in order to fight toxic work cultures.
My interactive keynotes and workshops deliver a call to action to help people develop a certain mindset, demonstrate desired behaviors, inspire and equip them with the necessary tools to change.
I look forward to working with you in building an impactful and inspiring event for your organization. Below you can find some of my most popular themes.
The balance in people’s inner identities fights toxic work cultures.
The variety of the elements you self-identify with define your inner balance. It is a scientific fact, that you’ll be much happier if you just stop trying to be one dimensional and accept your own complexity. In fact, not just accept it, but aim to expand it.
Have you ever felt exhausted trying to live up to the expectations of a certain role? The good daughter or son, the friend who steps in to save the day, the reliable professional. Do you know what it’s like to have an identity crisis, the feeling that the whole world is collapsing because you lost your job or you failed at your pitch to your dream client?
It’s an understandable feeling, but it’s not a reality. If you’re in a crisis about who you really are, it’s likely because you haven’t embraced that you actually have multiple inner identities. You don’t just have one role/identity in this life. You have many. And by recognizing and nurturing your inner identities you become stronger, more resilient, more adaptable and more importantly more confident.
Strong cultures are built by nurturing each individual’s inner identities. In order to avoid toxicity in your work environment and to build a healthy climate, you need to respect and enhance your people’s all inner identities.
I’m burnout, you’ re burnout, what’s that smell?
Who holds the responsibility when we experience burnout? Is it the management, our colleagues or us?
Burnout is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. Most people don’t realize that they’re reaching burnout until something extreme happens to them and they hear the news from their coach.
When we think of burnout, we typically think of people being very tired and taking a short leave from work. It’s actually messier than that. Let me give you an example. When you take a day break to rest, how do you feel the following morning going to work? Revitalized or still exhausted? Now let me ask you again, when was the last time you felt truly energized and full of life? I think you get the point.
Our body is a complex system that needs to be treated with respect and care. We upgrade our software and change tires on our cars, nurture our plants with special fertilizers and give only the best pet food to our pets. But we don’t do the same for ourselves and our mental health.
Burnout is our responsibility, but most people cannot tell they are burnout out, because it has become normalized. And let’s be honest, most people can’t cope (let alone afford) with having to say ‘no’ to their boss. With “burnout” now officially recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the responsibility for managing is shifting away from the individual and towards the organization.
So what can you as an individual do to protect yourself from burnout and what can you as an organization do to protect your most valuable asset, your people?
We’ve all been that other
When we talk about DEI and biases the truth is that we all know the data. What we don’t realize is the fact that we’re all prejudiced one way or another. Our past experiences develop our biases which are part of our innate defense mechanism. If you’ve been bitten by a dog when you were a toddler chances are that you don’t feel comfortable around dogs. This one experience of yours doesn’t shape the rules, but it forms your perception of reality and how you view the world around you.
We’ve all felt as being that “other” person – when we felt that we didn’t fit in in a social group, or we felt that we didn’t belong in a specific work environment or even when we had the complete opposite opinion on a matter than all the rest.
To understand DEI, you first need to understand that we’ve all experienced inequality or simply not fitting in.
The most important thing is to take those biases that we have and evaluate them, so as to see which of them truly are defense mechanisms and which of them are just perceptions that we’ve turned into stereotypes.
Standing on the shoulders of giants
In 1675, Isaac Newton remarked in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants”. You’ve probably heard of the popular phrase ‘teamwork makes the dream work’.
However, have you ever considered why teamwork is nowadays more important than ever before? Disruption is everywhere as we are currently evolving at the speed of light and this makes change no longer an option, but a mandatory skill set.
At the heart of any successful transformation program and of any healthy organization lies a fully functional, agile and collaborative team.
Teamwork bonds people together, builds trust and allows them to rely on one another to get things done. Teamwork also enables progress and allows the group to overcome obstacles that would have frustrated an individual. Without teamwork, progress is simply not possible.
Praises
Zoe’s inputs and insights as part of our coaching engagement have been very powerful in helping me realize some of my blind spots…
Her approach is very smooth and her questions are great in uncovering underlying issues and limitations.
Zoe is as inspirational, knowledgeable and eloquent.
I have enjoyed every moment of this mentorial relationship.
I have learnt and developed thanks to Zoe.
I cannot think of anyone more capable of coaching professionals than Zoe.
Zoe is one of the most talented professionals I have ever worked with. My approach to work and life has been transformed by her. She helped me to discover better ways to deal with complex situations.
Zoe is a key member of the CTO Academy coaching team and works with our senior technology leaders from all over the world. She has a remarkable 1:1 ability to identify and help clients unblock what’s holding them back and from there, unlock their true leadership potential.
An internal reengineering combined with a new way of messaging the values of our company, needed a quality professional HR with a broad range of skills. Those were all compiled in the personality of Zoe… thus knowledge of employment law, writing and developing strategic plans, and general critical-thinking skills were all implemented and finally reflected in the new “ID” of our company.
One of the best hires I made in my life. She is phenomenal. The value-add she can bring to business effortlessly and naturally with grace is a great experience to witness.
Zoe is a true talent! Words are not enough to describe this rare personality. She managed to gain our trust from our first meeting. She understood immediately our needs, our company’s culture and provided effective solutions to problems that have been troubling us for years. Her knowledge, experience, professionalism, influence and high perception are admirable especially when taking into consideration her young age. We consider our company lucky to have come across her. Zoe is unique in every way!
Zoe combines the things that you already know with the things you need to develop. A driving force for our team!
Zoe was able to immediately engage and provide valuable insights after only our first session. Since then we have worked together to clarify the factors which most seriously affect my professional performance. Zoe has consistently provided practical advice that I have applied in my every day work activities. She has also proscribed exercises and activities to help me develop my skills overall. Zoe is direct, but supportive and always constructive in her feedback. Her guidance has proven to be consistently accurate and effective.
Zoe has an uncanny ability to take apart the perceived problem to find the real problem then help through a solution.
Zoe is very professional, listens well, and diagnoses the problems with surprising accuracy!
I rarely come across real talents who stand out like Zoe. She is a creative mind and a thinking person. Mostly, she is a great professional! Her knowledge extends to many areas. She is really talented to recruiting, career coaching, motivational speaking and consulting, and with her wonderful personality can gain not only the respect but also the trust of her colleagues.
