Turning human desire into better performance.

Phil

Meet

Phil Putnam is a workforce and leadership speaker, whose keynotes helps organizations turn human motivation into stronger performance and more engaged teams.
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MEET PHIL PUTNAM, WORKFORCE AND LEADERSHIP SPEAKER

I want people to get exactly what they want from their time alive.

That’s my personal mission that has shaped more than 30 years of my work inside the Tech, Music, and PR industries. I’ve always been fascinated by why people do what they do, and focused on treating people like humans who care deeply about their employer’s success, but care most about their lives, priorities, and ambitions beyond work.

When I became a people leader, I couldn’t ignore that internal mission. I became obsessed with management as a way to care for people. I wanted to find a way to get exceptional performance by using human nature as a source of momentum and power rather than wasting time and money fighting against it.

And, that way of leading transformed my relationships with my teams and the results we produced. Exceptionally talented people chose to work with me, sometimes over higher-paying offers. I avoided costly bad-fit hires, helped turn around employees who had struggled, and built teams that knew I genuinely cared about what mattered most to them. 

I saw firsthand that you can hold a high bar for performance, while treating people with an equally high level of respect. That’s what Why Work? is all about, and I cannot wait to share more about it with your teams and leaders.

Phil is trusted by leaders at:
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SPEAKING FROM THE HEART

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Why Organizations Love Phil

  • He challenges your audience.

    Phil is willing to say the uncomfortable truth: employees will prioritize their lives over the company. Generational differences impact team collaboration. Leaders can mistake menopause symptoms for performance problems. He tackles those conversations with enough empathy, humor, and respect to invite people to reconsider their assumptions without feeling attacked.

  • He practices what he teaches.

    Phil created and proved out his LIFE Motivation Model from his direct experience as an executive at high-performing organizations. His tangible, real-world frameworks help leaders start better conversations and make meaningful changes in the way they lead people so that their people and the organization can thrive.

  • He is relentlessly curious.

    Phil wants to understand why people are behaving the way they are before deciding what should be done about it, on both the individual and generational levels. Phil brings his curiosity to every stage so organizations can go beyond surface-level workplace problems, get to the root of what is driving them, and find real resolution.

  • He cares deeply about people.

    Phil knows that people want to do their best work, and wants to help you make that happen. Phil listens closely and shapes his approach around the people in the room so that your workforce has the knowledge and tools to bring their best to your business every day.

FEEDBACK FROM LEADERS

  • “Phil's session on performance and generational differences quickly became one of the most talked-about parts of our recent CEO summit. He made the audience feel seen, shared insights that stuck, and brought a fresh lens to issues we all experience in today’s multigenerational workplaces. He was an absolute delight to work with. We’d bring him back in a heartbeat.”

    Holly Munter Koenig, Executive Director, Metro NY Society of Association Executives

  • “Phil's ability to connect on a human level, tell his story with vulnerability, and reframe how we think about leadership, success, and fulfillment was inspiring. He brings a rare blend of real-world experience, research-backed insights, and deep empathy to everything he does.”

    Ashton Williams, Director of Enablement, Salesforce

  • “Phil has a particularly special ability to listen—really listen—and then tailor his approach based on what his clients really need. What sets him apart is his ability to draw connections, see the bigger picture, and use data and his observations to make real impacts with people and organizations.”

    Cara Kantrowitz, VP Analytics & Insights, Nielsen

Phil Putnam is a workforce keynote speaker, and author helping associations turn human motivation into stronger performance.

Start the conversation every employee and leader needs to have.

Contact Phil

Ready to ask “Why Work?”

Download chapter one of Desire-Based Leadership for free and experience Phil’s approach for getting first-place business results through people’s first-place motivation.