Kathy Peterson

Looking for a fun, dynamic speaker with meaningful content, interaction, and stories, who will tailor a program on leadership or agriculture to your unique audience? You've found her!

Expert on

  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Inspirational
  • Difficult People
  • Agriculture
  • Accountability

Fee Range

$4,500–$7,000

Travels from

IA, US

Biography

Kathy Peterson, CSP creates and delivers customized interactive programs, workshops, seminars, keynotes, and training sessions. Over the years, Kathy has worked with a variety of individuals, employees, managers, organizations, community groups, and schools and she are proud to say they are truly shining stars (and they have helped her shine, too)!

Kathy Peterson, CSP stands out at events because she doesn’t do generic programs or presentations (she does, however, incorporate a few magic tricks and meaningful/fun activities to illustrate key points).  Kathy believes in understanding her audiences and tailoring her programs to meet the needs of your unique group.

Kathy’s focus has been and continues to be helping clients work more effectively with and through people. You’ll notice that all of her keynote and program topics (and her other specialty, management and supervisor training) have to do with people skills. Why does she focus on people skills? Because organizations don’t manufacture, make decisions, serve customers, care for patients, educate, sell, or retain employees. People do! Having outstanding people skills is not a nice-to-have to succeed today, it’s a must have!

Kathy can’t wait to see the rave reviews and hear about how she’s helped your audience members shine by becoming more effective in working and dealing with people!

 

More About Kathy:

At the age of five, Kathy Peterson was an aspiring speaker. Her first podium was a piano bench and her first audience were her dolls and stuffed animals.  Today, Kathy holds the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation, placing her in the top 15% of speakers worldwide.

Prior to founding PeopleWorks in 1998, Kathy worked as a management development specialist in the global human resources department at a Fortune 500 technology company.  There, she designed, developed, and facilitated a variety of management and leadership training programs for more than 3000 leaders worldwide.  Peterson began PeopleWorks because she saw the need to bring this type of management and leadership training to companies of all sizes—all companies need great leaders!  This remains Kathy’s area of specialty, although she has also expanded her business to include employee training and top notch keynote presentations for organizations and conferences across the United States.

Since starting PeopleWorks, Kathy has had the opportunity to work with thousands of amazing people from a wide variety of industries (they share in common the need for a great keynote presentation or great training).  Some of her clients have included: 3M, Ag Processing, Inc. (AGP), Blue Bunny, EMC Insurance Company, Farmers Cooperative, Farm Women’s Symposium, Federal Reserve Bank, First American Bank, i wireless, Kraft Foods, Mercy Medical Center, Mid Kansas Cooperative Association, Musco Lighting, U.S. District Court, Winnebago Industries, and Women in Denim.  Kathy enjoys getting to know her clients (she is fortunate to count many of them as friends) and each of their unique needs and challenges. Her clients see results—reporting an increase in performance, service, retention, and customer satisfaction. Her training programs and keynotes are not only full of great information, but always presented in a fun, highly interactive, and engaging way. And best of all, Kathy’s got a multitude of stories to share from her years of working with employees, leaders, and living on a farm. (See the raving fans page for more from Kathy’s clients.)

Kathy enjoys being involved in several professional organizations, including the National Speakers Association and the Association for Talent Development. She is an avid Iowa State Cyclone fan, having earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from ISU.  Kathy was elected and serves on the ISU Alumni Association Board of Directors, representing 250,000 of her fellow Cyclones.  She also holds a Master’s degree in Adult Learning and Organizational Performance from Drake University.  Kathy has earned certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and also holds the Society of Human Resource Management’s Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) designation.

In addition to being a successful business owner, Kathy is a wife to her very best friend and a mom to four incredible children. Kathy and her husband are proud to be the fifth generation to live and work on the Peterson family farm outside of Storm Lake, Iowa.

 

Most Requested Topics/Programs:

  • Working With You is Killing Me!
  • Difficult People & Difficult Conversations
  • Be Indispensible: Personal Accountability 
  • Finding Happiness in the Craziness of Life
  • Women in (your group) Rock!

What Clients Say:

The buzz after our keynotes, break-outs, and training is what keeps our business hopping!  One example of that is the annual Iowa Admitting and Healthcare Access Association Conference.  We have been invited back each of the last ten years because of how we stand out at their event.  Participants say the following about Kathy:  

“Oh My! What a speaker! She was wonderful…the best I have heard!”

“Excellent presentation – Outstanding. Very informative and fun. Kept things moving, very knowledgeable, super organized, very easy to understand.”

“She was very informative, energetic. I learned a lot about myself and people around me, both in the work place and home.”

“The Best! Have her back.”

“Excellent and very inspiring. I want her energy!”

“Wow! Energetic, fun, smiles, great voice, happy, and liked her info. I enjoyed the ride!”

– Participant Evaluations

WORKING WITH YOU IS KILLING ME!

In this interactive keynote, we will talk about how to:  

  • Ensure you are having the right conversation with the person who is “killing” you, always keeping in mind the result you desire.
  • Separate facts from your stories.
  • Approach a person who is “killing you” so they will listen to you.
  • Use a proven strategy/model for having a productive conversation about the things that are driving you crazy.
  • Get buy-in for change by effectively asking for the other person’s point of view.
  • Pull the conversation back if the other person takes it down a destructive path.
  • Focus on developing solutions to improve.

BE INDISPENSABLE: PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY

We’ve all heard people say things like, “Everybody’s replaceable.” That’s true, only if you are not a high value player within your organization. How do you create more value? Be accountable. It’s easy to be accountable when things turn out great or when everything goes smoothly. You become indispensable when you react and respond with a problem solving response vs. an emotional response when circumstances are difficult or obstacles present themselves. Your beliefs about your job/work impact your actions and ultimately your results. We’ll discuss these things and so much more during this program, including a secret about something that every CEO wants/looks for, but might not tell you.

As a result of this program, participants should be able to:

  • Define what accountability is and what it isn’t.
  • Explain why peer-to-peer accountability is important for creating an accountability culture (it’s not just a leader’s job to hold people accountable).
  • Describe the difference between victim thinking and CEO thinking.
  • Examine the limiting beliefs you may have about your work that are holding you back.
  • Understand the real cost of creating drama in the workplace and how to immediately increase your value as an employee.
  • Explain what it means to take ownership/responsibility by taking an “above the line” problem solving approach vs. a “below the line” emotional response.
  • Remember that if everything were easy, ANYONE could do the work/job.  What really sets you apart from the rest is what you do/how you respond when the circumstances are tough.

LEAD: OVERCOME THE TRAPS THAT ARE HOLDING YOUR RESULTS & YOUR PEOPLE BACK

When business is going well, when you have a great team, and when everything’s running smoothly, it’s easy to lead.  Your leadership is put to the test when things aren’t perfect (which, for some of us, is a majority of the time!).  There are some common traps that hold us back from getting amazing results and hold our team back from peak performance.

In this program, we will cover how best to avoid the following traps (complete with tips, tools, and techniques):

  • Allowing poor behavior or performance because, “That’s just Kathy, that’s just how she is”!
  • Thinking that being fair and consistent means treating everyone exactly the same.   (Let’s get pizza for the whole team!)
  • Coming around only when something has gone wrong.  (It’s a bad thing for others to see your name on Caller ID or have someone in your office with the door closed.)
  • Allowing team members to have meetings after meetings to avoid conflict during the meetings.
  • Leading performance as a once a year event. (You are a working manager and lead people, too.  Leadership is an afterthought.)
  • Thinking employee beliefs don’t really impact actions, results, and goal achievement.  (Keep in mind that changing what an employee believes is key to changing employee behavior.)

FINDING HAPPINESS IN THE CRAZINESS OF LIFE

Being happy is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves AND those around us. Yet, for most people, the goal of being happy can seem an unrealistic pursuit.

In this inspirational and insightful presentation, you will be reminded that greater happiness and increased energy have been found to be the result of specific beliefs and behaviors.  We’ll talk about what the research says makes you happy and the habits of happier people.  We’ll also discuss the five things that you can do, despite the craziness in your life, to find happiness too!