Speaking & Workshops
Structure without rigidity. CreatiVITY without chaos.
At Work Wise Studio, we design formats that help people recognize and share their own wisdom so that the collective wisdom is shaped into meaningful action. Whether it’s a keynote for hundreds or a workshop for a leadership team, Kathy Conley creates experiences that spark insight, strengthen alignment, and move work forward.
With a blend of clarity, energy, and systems thinking, Kathy helps leaders and teams engage in strategy, culture and execution with confidence and leave with tools they can apply right away.
Signature Keynote
engagement by design:
building enduring capacity
The era of treating change as a one-time event to be "neatly managed" has ended. Change is no longer a project on your desk; it is the permanent environment your organization lives in. To thrive, leaders must move beyond the "Factory" mindset of top-down control and develop the disciplines to increase organizational effectiveness and build enduring capacity
At the heart of this shift is the Möbius Strip of Business: the reality that your internal culture and your customer experience are a single, continuous surface. There is no "inside" and "outside." What happens with your staff eventually becomes what is felt by your clients. You cannot fix one without the other.
This keynote introduces the WORK WISE STUDIO ALIGN METHOD, a structured discipline for navigating this constant motion. Kathy Conley guides leaders through the five practices required to bridge the gap between strategy and execution:
Absorb: Deeply listening to the wisdom already living in your data and your people.
Legitimize: Validating that input by integrating it into real leadership decisions.
Integrate: Aligning roles, strengths, and goals to eliminate organizational whiplash.
Grow: Building the capability to iterate and evolve in real-time.
Nurture: Protecting progress and reinforcing the "unwritten rules" that sustain success.
The outcome? You stop trying to "manage" change and start designing for it. You leave with a framework to ensure your organization has the structural integrity to support the value you promise the world.
Essential Studies
These signature offerings offer high-impact experiences to connect leadership and teams with the practices and strengths needed to thrive. Each program is designed to provide participants with practical tools, shared language, and renewed energy for action.
The WORK WISE Studio ALIGN Method
The leadership alignment study
engagement by design
The Work Wise Studio ALIGN method to align Leaders and Engage Staff in Strategy, Culture and Execution
The Leadership Alignment Study is a three-hour working session designed for leadership teams who are seeking a clear, shared view of how they align around strategy, culture, and execution.
Leaders complete a brief assessment in advance of the session. During the session, we review the findings, highlight what is working well, surface key tensions, and prioritize attention on the issues most affecting effectiveness right now.
By the end of the session, the leadership team will have a clear sketch of how they align around strategy, culture, and execution, and a shared understanding of what deserves attention next.
Post session, we provide a written summary and meet to explore next steps.
This interactive workshop introduces the five practices of the ALIGN Method, a framework to align leadership and engage staff in strategy, culture and execution.
This workshop is designed for directors and senior managers who are responsible for carrying leadership priorities into day-to-day work.
Following the Leadership Alignment Study, senior leaders identify one or two priorities that require focused attention. Applying the ALIGN Method introduces a shared way of working through those priorities, so expectations are clear before the work moves forward.
Participants are introduced to the five practices of ALIGN and work through the method using a real, contained issue relevant to their team or department. The focus is on understanding how the method works in practice, what is required at each stage, and how teams will be engaged along the way.
● Absorb: surface insights and root causes
● Legitimize: clarify significance and direction
● Integrate: test and adapt ideas in real time
● Grow: build resilience and capacity
● Nurture: embed practices into culture
Different by Design: Turning individual Strengths into Collective Wisdom
Utilizing Clifton Strengths, this three-part program helps individuals recognize their unique talents and teams appreciate the diverse strengths of their colleagues. By seeing both the variety of perspectives and the patterns that emerge across the group, teams learn how to turn individual talent into collective wisdom
Part One: The Individual
Explore personal strengths to better understand natural contributions and challenges.
Part Two: The Team
Map collective strengths, document shared norms around decision-making, recognition, and collaboration, and clarify role connections.
Part Three: Application to Work
Apply collective strengths directly to goals, challenges, and opportunities.
Studio Studies
Every organization faces challenges with establishing and maintaining trust, bringing out the best in people and, right now, how to effectively utilize AI. Each workshop is a practical, high-impact way to engage your team and a great way to get to know Work Wise Studio.
The Coaching Manager
Equip managers and emerging leaders with tools and frameworks to develop and guide their teams with clarity, trust, and accountability.
Trust as Catalyst
Create the conditions for innovation and belonging that allow people to contribute, take risks, and innovate.
AI Readiness
Prepare your organization to adopt AI responsibly by aligning strategy, culture, and execution before implementation.
Methods We Use
We often integrate LEGO® Serious Play into workshops. The tactile process of building stimulates creativity, while 3D models create visual stories that promote shared understanding and deeper collaboration.
Formats
KEYNOTES
designed to inspire and frame big ideas (20–60 minutes)
WORKSHOPS
interactive sessions to deepen understanding and apply tools (3–6 hours)
WORKSESSIONS
focused, practical sessions designed to tackle specific challenges or opportunities in real time. (time varies)
RETREATS
customized experiences that combine discovery, alignment, and planning. (half-day to multi-day)
Let’s Work Wise
Let’s explore the wisdom waiting inside your organization — and bring it to life.