Elevate performance and productivity without sacrificing mental and emotional well-being.
I'll inspire your audience to refresh their relationship with stress. Instead of trying to manage it, they'll discover how to stop creating so much of it in the first place. My message is firmly rooted at the intersection of bottom-line results and a fulfilling, enjoyable human experience at work.
"Allison Graham challenged us to think differently, be curious and to ask the right questions so that as leaders and managers we can help our staff be more aware of the real problems and point the way toward solving problems faster."
Glen B Davies, Hon. B.A., M.A.
C.A.O., Town of Gravenhurst, Ontario
Some of the Clients I'm Proud to Have Served
speech option 1
The Stress Illusion
Defy the Lies that Make Life Harder Than It Needs to Be
Summary
The way most of us learned to manage stress isn't working - if it did, stress levels would not be on the rise nor would burnout rates and stress leaves be at all-time highs.
Takeaways
- Understand why healthy lifestyle choices, delegating tasks, and other productivity hacks are not complete answers to create breathing room in your days and a meaningful alternative.
- Be able to leverage empowering stress, better ride the waves of survival stress and stop creating destructive, overwhelming stress.
- Discover and easy be able to apply three simple techniques to neutralize destructive stress when it happens.
"Allison’s keynotes offered inspiration and results that lasted long after her speech was done. For example, one of the many stories of impact included, after hearing Allison speak, a leader on my team self-identified as being caught in the victim trap, recognized her tendency to complain too much, took responsibility for her negative contribution to team dynamics and committed to practicing Allison’s formula."
Sébastien Fauvel, MBA,
Hiring, Onboarding & Engagement
BMO Financial Group
speech option 2
Leading Through Tough Times Without The Burnout
Honoring the Human Experience While Inspiring Top Performance from You and Your Team
Summary
World events have had an unprecedented emotional toll on even the most accomplished individuals. This in turn has impacted team dynamics and left many leaders feeling responsible for propping up the mood of everyone else – while neglecting their own needs.
People are tired of having to be resilient. I call the exhaustion from having to be resilient ‘Coping Fatigue.’
While nothing can be done to fix the overall situation and intensity of challenges one faces, a fresh perspective and better problem-solving strategies can make the experience better.
Takeaways
- Recognize how overwhelming stress is created and know how to stop it for you and your team.
- Quickly identify different types of challenges and know how to deal with each so that each problem drains less of your available resources.
- Strategies to create mental and emotional space in your days even when it feels like you’re pulled in a million directions.
- The various ways people respond to challenges and how to inspire optimal resilience and problem-solving.
"Allison was a breath of fresh air and a kick start after a long and strange, forced social hibernation. She helped our professional women’s group create an event that perfectly balanced education and inspiration!
Allison is an engaging, authentic and insightful speaker. Everyone in the room was energized and motivated to implement her strategies and keep the momentum going long after the event. We all can’t wait to work with Allison again!"Sabrina Lombardi, Partner
McKenzie Lake Lawyers LLP
speech option 3
On the Brink of Burnout?
Don't Quit!
It's possible to reignite your passion for your work or to help others to do the same even when you have too much to do, too little time and too few resources!
Summary
As a professional, you face intense pressure every day. When you have too much on your plate, it may feel like escaping the daily grind is the only option. There is a better way to deal with the tough stuff and unending workload that can cause unnecessary destructive stress, steal your daily capacity, and make you feel unhappier than you want to be. In this session, Allison will share fresh strategies to shift your perception of all that’s happening around you, so that you can maximize productivity and bottom-line results, stop society’s destructive stress cycle and protect yours and your team members’ mental and emotional well-being.
Takeaways
- Why you don’t need to do less to feel better, but rather shift your relationship with stress and resilience to create mental and emotional space.
- A clear path to minimize destructive stress so the day’s activities do not steal so much of your available resources.
- A strategy to address different challenges that arise each day in a way that gives you a sense of control even in times that are out of your control.
"Allison is a dynamic speaker who provides practical advice. Feedback from the Loyalty One / Air Miles Leadership event was extremely positive and associates put newfound skills to work!
Allison is the ultimate professional."Debbie Baxter
Air Miles | Loyalty One
speech option 4
The Problem-Solving Framework
Moving Beyond Solution-First Thinking to Build True Resilience and Amplify Daily Capacity
Summary
Each day we face a series of tasks, obstacles and adversities that need to be addressed. When challenges arise, if they aren't approached in an effective way, destructive stress and further complications can follow. Using my problem-solving framework, participants will uncover a systematic way to approach daily challenges.
By solving problems more effectively, they will free their personal capacity to be more creative, innovative and engaged in their work.
Takeaways
-
Discover the Problem-Solving Framework and be able to apply it to their circumstances in real time.
-
Adopt a common language to effectively identify different types of challenges and have a clear path to move forward with solutions that will stick.
- Better support colleagues and team members with problem solving efforts and cut through the excess noise that makes problems harder to solve than they need to be.
speech option 5
Take the Stress Out of Networking
Creating Profitable and Meaningful Connections Even When You're Too Busy to Connect or Loathe Networking
Summary
The greatest asset in your professional life is your network. Connecting and building meaningful professional relationships with people from various sectors and within your organization who have access to different resources and wisdom, can be a challenging obstacle.
Overloaded task lists, heavy work demands, and comfort zones can mean that relationship development is reactive at best, and, at worst, non-existent. With the right tools, you can overcome this challenge in a fraction of the time it would take others.
You will learn what others have done to inspire trust while moving a connection from being just known to a loyal professional relationship.
Takeaways
-
The importance of proactively building your network to bolster your career and making the choice to coast or soar.
-
The four motivations that create relationship momentum so that you can identify the easiest way to create meaningful connections with contacts.
-
The four moments in a relationship that will have the biggest influence on trust.
-
Simple tips to move beyond boring small talk to create deeper, more authentic interactions and more memorable conversations, even if you don’t love networking.
-
How to find the best opportunities to network in order to expand your professional circles and debunk the myth that you’re too busy to network effectively.
"Allison Graham is a massive boost of fresh oxygen
from the stage that we all need right now."Richard Ruppell Regional Director, Canadian Association Sales Fairmont Hotels and Resorts