Debbie Peterson

Leadership Keynote Speaker on Employee Engagement

Expert on

  • Leadership
  • Women in Business
  • Employee Engagement
  • Workplace Culture
  • Communications
  • Change
 

Fee Range

$10,000–$15,000

Travels from

FL, US

Biography

An award-winning keynote speaker, Leadership Readiness Strategist, and consultant, Debbie addresses a challenge facing organizations everywhere: talented people are being asked to take on greater leadership responsibilities, often without the clarity, capacity, or preparation they need to succeed.

Drawing on more than 25 years of corporate experience, Debbie helps emerging and established leaders cut through competing demands, make better decisions, communicate with intention, and prepare for what leadership requires next.

Through her signature keynote, The Readiness Reset™, Debbie brings a refreshing mix of relatable stories, audience engagement, and practical strategies that participants can put to work immediately. Every audience member leaves with greater clarity about what matters most and a commitment to take their next clear move within 48 hours.

A Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), Debbie is the author of Clarity: How Smart Professionals Create Career Success on Their Terms and host of the Getting to Clarity podcast. Her honors include SMART Meetings, SMART Speaker Award for Career Optimization, and the ATHENA International Global Servant Leadership Award.

Speaker Videos

The Readiness Reset

When leaders are constantly busy, stretched thin, and focused on keeping up, it’s easy to lose sight of what matters most. The Readiness Reset™ helps leaders cut through the noise, reconnect with what matters, and make more intentional decisions about where to focus their time, energy, and attention.

Through practical strategies and a clear approach to decision-making, audiences leave with greater clarity about what’s required of them and a next clear move they can put into action.

Participants will learn to:

  1. Recognize how competing demands, distractions, and constant busyness impact their leadership effectiveness and readiness for what’s next.
  2. Apply a practical decision-making framework to clarify what matters most and align their time, energy, and attention with their priorities.
  3. Identify their next clear move and commit to meaningful action that strengthens their leadership readiness.

You First

How can you lead others effectively if you’ve lost touch with who you are? YOU FIRST explores the connection between self-awareness, authenticity, and the way leaders show up for the people around them.

Audiences learn to recognize where they’ve been adapting to expectations at the expense of their own clarity and how reconnecting with who they are helps them build stronger relationships, communicate more authentically, and lead with intention.

Participants will learn to:

  1. Recognize how expectations, external pressures, and personal assumptions influence how they show up as leaders.
  2. Reconnect with their values, strengths, and what matters most to lead with greater authenticity and intention.
  3. Identify practical ways to strengthen self-awareness, build more meaningful relationships, and lead others more effectively.

Communicate Like You Mean It!

Communication problems often begin long before anyone opens their mouth. When leaders aren’t clear about what they mean, what matters, or what they need, that confusion can ripple through their teams.

Communicate Like You Mean It! helps audiences recognize how clarity influences communication, strengthen the way they connect with others, and have more intentional conversations that improve understanding and working relationships.

Participants will learn to:

  1. Recognize how a lack of personal clarity creates misunderstandings, assumptions, and communication challenges.
  2. Apply practical strategies to communicate more intentionally, strengthen understanding, and build trust in professional relationships.
  3. Identify opportunities to improve everyday conversations, address communication gaps, and create stronger connections with others.

Stronger Together

When leaders are focused on day-to-day demands, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture and the conversations that matter most. Stronger Together creates space for executive teams and volunteer boards to step back, explore shared challenges, strengthen relationships, and get clear about where they can make the greatest impact.

Through guided discussions, thought-provoking questions, and shared insights, participants identify what matters most, build greater alignment around organizational priorities, and leave with a next clear move to strengthen their collective impact.

Participants will:

  1. Explore shared leadership challenges, organizational priorities, and opportunities through meaningful, facilitated conversations.
  2. Build greater understanding and alignment around what matters most to the team or board and where their collective efforts can make the greatest impact.
  3. Identify a clear priority and commit to a next clear move that strengthens collaboration and moves the organization forward.