SESSION TITLE: Escape Fear and Save Your Ambition

Imagine you’re camping in the deep woods when a bear comes roaring into your campsite. It’s a huge Kodiak giant, with razor sharp claws and fangs. What option do you choose? Freeze, fight or flight. Freeze, and you’re lunch. Fight and, well, you’re still lunch. So you flee. You switch off your natural fear response and run for your life. We run into all sorts of bears every day at work. Whatever the problem, be it a nagging little inconvenience or a big Kodiak sized problem, you need to turn off the fear switch. If you don’t, if you just dim it a bit, it will drain your ambition.

Key Takeaways:

• How fear shows up at work — from avoidance and perfectionism to micromanagement — and why standard fixes don’t always work.
• A simple, repeatable “stop, breathe, assess, plan” routine to interrupt fear and create focus.
• Diagnostic questions and conversation prompts to uncover the underlying concerns hiding beneath “I’m scared.”

SESSION TITLE: Right Brain Justified: How Curiosity Overcomes Emotional Hijack

Through the lens of brain science, social science, and practical leadership experience, Mark introduces concepts from Become Unmistakable’s latest book, Right Brain Justified (RBJ)—showing how strong personal connections (right brain) and coaching through genuine curiosity more naturally lead to performance and results (left brain). Together, we’ll explore three of the most persistent challenges organizations face today: how emotions get in the way of performance, feedback, and interpersonal relationships. We will explore how curiosity can help manage emotions “in the moment”, but also how to create patterns and a cadence that allows for coaching through curiosity.

We will present our coaching approach of Connect | Align | Coach, as well as, relatable examples (like pickleball and a preference for cold coffee), to demonstrate how being curious about your people isn’t a bonus—it’s a business imperative.

Key Takeaways:

• It’s not “people over profit”—it’s people lead to profit. If you want to move your company forward, start by leading your people forward.
• Connect – Curiosity leads to connection leads to caring. When people are seen, heard, and valued; they lean in and perform better.
• Align – One often skipped step in leadership is intentionally aligning personal and professional values with team and organizational values. If we don’t help individuals explore how their values align with the organization’s values, people will be less interested and are more likely to go through the motions.
• Coach – Coaching is the mechanism where both a manager and a direct report can be curious and explore goals, challenges, and ways to solve real problems. Curiosity isn’t just a one time thing to try, it’s a posture toward management that leads to incredibly meaningful results.

SESSION TITLE: Lessons in Resiliency from a Failed Rock Star

What happens when you’re on the verge of living your dream… and it disappears overnight?

Before the coaching. Before the book. Before the boardrooms and executive teams. There was a kid with a microphone and a guitar who was this close to getting signed. Record label meetings. Industry buzz. Real traction. A legitimate shot at a record deal.

And then… silence.

The deal was pulled.

Not because the band wasn’t good enough.

Not because the work ethic wasn’t there.

But because musical tastes shifted. The industry pivoted. And overnight, what was “next” became “no longer.”

In this powerful and deeply personal session, Tim Furlong shares the raw story of chasing a rock-and-roll dream, facing rejection head-on, and discovering that resilience isn’t built in the spotlight — it’s forged in the letdown.

Through humor, vulnerability, and his signature Quarter Turns philosophy, Tim unpacks what that season taught him about:

• Separating your identity from your outcomes
• Understanding that timing and market forces don’t define your value
• Avoiding the trap of tying self-worth to external validation
• Pivoting when Plan A collapses
• Making small, intentional shifts that redirect an entire life

This isn’t a “follow your dreams and everything magically works out” talk. It’s a real conversation about what to do when it doesn’t.

Audiences walk away with a renewed perspective on setbacks, a practical framework for navigating change, and the confidence to make their own Quarter Turns when circumstances shift without warning.

Because sometimes the biggest breakthrough in your career comes from the moment it all falls apart.

From almost rock star to executive coach, Tim’s journey proves one thing:

You don’t need a record deal to make an impact.

You just need the courage to make one Quarter Turn.

Key Takeaways:

• Looking at change as an opportunity vs. an outcome
• Understanding that timing and market forces don’t define your value
• Adapting when Plan A collapses
• Making small, intentional shifts that redirect an entire life

SESSION TITLE: Say Yes to Less: The Leadership Skill No One Teaches

In “Say Yes to Less,” Dr. Emily Jacobs challenges the cultural belief that constant self-sacrifice and overperforming are the price of success. She reveals how people-pleasing quietly drains our energy, confidence, and creativity and why boundaries are not barriers, but a profound act of self-respect. Through a powerful blend of science, storytelling, and lived experience, she offers a bold framework for reclaiming vitality, clarity, and purpose. This talk invites us to stop seeking permission to rest and begin honoring our limits as the path to authentic fulfillment and personal power.

Key Takeaways:

• Stop Confusing Busyness with Leadership: Learn how to identify when “being busy” is actually misalignment—and how to shift toward intentional, high-impact decision-making.
• Master Boundaries as a Core Leadership Skill: Discover how high-performing leaders use boundaries to protect their energy, increase effectiveness, and avoid burnout in high-demand environments.
• Say Yes to Less to Lead at a Higher Level: Apply a simple but powerful framework to reduce noise, focus on what matters most, and create sustainable success in a rapidly changing world.