Marlene Chism helps leaders tackle difficult conversations, strengthen accountability and remove communication barriers that undermine execution.
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5.00 of 5
Top rated!Marlene Chism is an executive advisor, leadership consultant, speaker and author who helps organizations fix the conversations that quietly undermine execution. Her work focuses on the hidden breakdowns in clarity, accountability and communication that can surface as workplace conflict, disengagement, turnover and stalled results. Through practical leadership insights, Marlene helps leaders approach difficult conversations with greater courage and effectiveness. She is the author of From Conflict to Courage, No-Drama Leadership and Stop Workplace Drama, and a LinkedIn Learning instructor whose courses have reached more than 700,000 learners worldwide.
Marlene Chism is an executive advisor, leadership consultant, speaker and author focused on a challenge that can quietly weaken even strong organizations: conversations that are avoided, mishandled or left unresolved. When expectations are unclear, accountability slips or communication breaks down, the effects can spread throughout an organization. Disengagement increases, conflict lingers, turnover becomes a concern and execution can stall.
Marlene works with leaders to identify and address these hidden breakdowns. Her approach brings attention to the conversations that need to happen and the leadership behaviors required to move forward with greater clarity. Rather than allowing communication problems to remain beneath the surface, she helps leaders recognize where conversations are getting in the way of execution and how to address them more effectively.
For organizations looking to strengthen leadership communication and accountability, booking Marlene Chism offers a practical perspective on how everyday conversations influence workplace performance.
Difficult conversations are a central theme throughout Marlene Chism's work. Her book From Conflict to Courage explores the connection between conflict, communication and the courage required to address challenging situations. This focus also runs through her broader work as a leadership consultant and speaker.
Marlene helps leaders understand how unresolved conversations can become larger organizational problems. What begins as a lack of clarity or an avoided discussion can eventually appear as frustration, disengagement, conflict or stalled results. By addressing these issues earlier and more directly, leaders can create clearer expectations and stronger accountability.
Her work is particularly relevant for leaders who want to become more effective when conversations are uncomfortable, expectations need to be clarified or workplace tensions are affecting execution.
Marlene combines her work as an executive advisor and leadership consultant with extensive experience developing leadership content. She is the author of three books that explore leadership, communication and workplace dynamics:
She is also a LinkedIn Learning instructor, with courses that have reached more than 700,000 learners worldwide. This reach reflects her ability to translate leadership challenges into accessible ideas that professionals can apply in their own working environments.
Marlene has also worked with Biz Library to produce a course on Future Ready Leadership, extending her focus to the leadership capabilities needed to navigate changing workplace demands.
Marlene Chism has brought her expertise in leadership effectiveness and difficult conversations into the healthcare sector through her partnership with the American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL).
As part of this work, she has developed healthcare leadership content designed for professionals working in demanding clinical and organizational environments. This includes a book for clinic administrators as well as an online course for physician leaders focused on leadership effectiveness and difficult conversations.
Her healthcare work addresses the same fundamental leadership challenges found across organizations: creating clarity, communicating expectations, strengthening accountability and handling conversations that can otherwise become barriers to effective execution.
A keynote or presentation with Marlene Chism brings attention to an aspect of leadership that is easy to underestimate: the quality of the conversations happening inside an organization. Strategies and priorities depend on people understanding expectations, addressing problems and communicating clearly enough to turn intentions into action.
Marlene's perspective connects leadership communication directly with execution. She helps audiences see how seemingly small communication breakdowns can contribute to larger problems, including disengagement, turnover, ongoing conflict and stalled results.
Her work gives leaders a framework for thinking differently about difficult conversations and accountability. Instead of treating conflict and communication as separate interpersonal issues, Marlene connects them to the broader responsibilities of leadership and organizational effectiveness.
5 of 5
You are a treasure. Your life's work is a gift and this gift allows me the opportunity to learn and in doing so, I become a better husband, father, son and leader. You see, being present in the moment, in those conversations, has helped me begin to refocus and to become the best possible version of "me". I gained clarity from listening to you! I am committing to make every day count and yesterday was the beginning. You have inspired to get moving and to strive beyond the limits of my current reach! I have come to realize that I need to take ownership of my professional development. I need to forge a clear-cut vision of what I really want to do and be. It has been a while since I have focused and tried to get clear. My oars have been inside the boat and I have been drifting. What else can I say?! Thank you for your dedication and passion for your work.
Joe Sadtler, Jr. Office ManagerSouth Louisville Pediatrics, P.S.C.
5 of 5
Marlene wowed our global marketing team with a leadership workshop that was not only insightful, but highly actionable. I personally came away with a deeper understanding of why conflict happens, how it presents in the workplace, and what my team and I personally can do to navigate toward more successful outcomes. I highly recommend Marlene for any team seeking to level-up their communication and leadership skills!
Donna Stokes, SVP & CMOLexis Nexis Risk Solutions
5 of 5
I would like to echo Grissette’s sentiments. The session exceeded every expectation. The material shared was easy to understand and practical. Your presentation style was relatable, engaging and created a common ground by demonstrating we all face similar challenges. Thank you for sharing your wisdom, insights and life experiences. We appreciated your vulnerability, candor and humor. Hope you enjoyed your stay in Miami! Looking forward to connecting soon.
Nancy Baptista, CEOBaptist Health
Keynote by Marlene Chism:
In today’s fast paced high-pressure world, conflict is inevitable. But here’s the truth most leaders miss: Conflict itself isn’t the problem—mismanagement is.
When leaders avoid conflict they create bigger problems: eroded trust, disengagement, and costly turnover. Every big conflict in an organization can be traced back to a conversation that should have happened but didn’t.
In this engaging keynote, Marlene Chism reveals how to turn conflict into a strategic advantage for building confident leaders, collaborative relationships and accountable cultures.
Learning Objectives
Why and how leaders mismanage conflict
Common leadership behaviors that quietly erode trust
How inner conflict and identity affect decision making
Three components necessary for building conflict capacity
Practical tools based on From Conflict to Courage to use immediately
If you’re looking for academic theory, a lecture, or another motivational talk about leadership this isn’t it. If you want practical tools, real-world stories, and straight talk about what it means to build courageous leadership, this keynote is for you.
Keynote by Marlene Chism:
Leaders don’t avoid difficult conversations because they lack courage or communication skills. More often, they avoid them because they care. They want to preserve relationships, avoid causing harm, reduce tension, or prevent unintended consequences. Ironically, the very qualities that make people effective caregivers and leaders can also create hesitation when difficult conversations are needed most.
In high risk environments, delayed conversations can quietly create confusion, frustration, burnout, strained relationships, and accountability problems that affect both teams and outcomes.
In this interactive session, Marlene Chism introduces a simple diagnostic tool called the Alignment Chain, which helps leaders identify where execution begins to break down, often earlier than expected. Through stories and discussion, participants will learn how small shifts in clarity, mindset, and conversation can prevent problems before they grow.
Learning Objectives
Apply the Leadership Clarity Model™ to identify how assumptions, ambiguity, and competing priorities cause leaders to lose clarity before execution breaks down.
Identify where breakdowns occur; clarity, conversation, accountability, or execution.
Distinguish responsibility from accountability using Marlene’s four-quadrant Accountability Diagnostic™ to identify the true source of performance and ownership challenges.
Connect behavioral and performance issues to the broader business impact by thinking like a consultant and identifying the underlying source of the problem.
Keynote by Marlene Chism:
Finding the Fulcrum Point
Leaders often assume resistance to change comes from difficult people, lack of buy-in, or organizational barriers. But resistance rarely begins "out there." More often, resistance shows up internally—through attachment, distraction, assumptions, and hidden patterns that quietly keep individuals and teams stuck.
In this engaging and practical session, leadership consultant and author Marlene Chism introduces the Fulcrum Point of Change—the precise moment where forward movement becomes possible. Participants will learn how to identify hidden states of resistance using the SAND method and discover practical tools to shift themselves and others from stagnation toward action.
Participants will leave with a practical framework for recognizing resistance, improving self-awareness, and coaching teams through change with greater clarity and confidence.
Learning Objectives
Use Marlene’s five-part SAND method to identify hidden resistance.
Identify the three types of resistance.
Recognize the Fulcrum Point; the moment where change becomes possible.
Practice the “magic phrase” to test for resistance.
Apply Coaching to Empowerment™ method for moving forward and reducing resistance.
Keynote by Marlene Chism:
The Inner Transformation Required to Lead What Comes Next
AI can accelerate work. It can also expose unclear priorities, avoided conversations, and decisions no one has taken responsibility for. When the pace increases, those gaps become harder for leaders to ignore.
In this keynote, Marlene Chism challenges leaders to look beyond adoption and ask a more personal question: What must change in me to lead well through what comes next? Drawing on her Fulcrum Point of Change, she shows why wanting change and being willing to change are different. She then uses the Alignment Chain to show how clarity, conversation, and accountability turn that willingness into execution.
With practical distinctions and relatable stories, Marlene helps leaders examine their own resistance, make clearer choices, and build the human capacity that faster tools demand.
Learning Objectives
Spot the resistance that slows change, including their own.
Use the Fulcrum Point of Change to move from wanting change to choosing it.
Use the Alignment Chain to find where execution is breaking down.
Choose one conversation or decision that will move their team forward.
Keynote by Marlene Chism:
A facilitated conversation that meets your audience where they are
No preset lecture. Marlene Chism joins your leaders for a candid conversation built around the challenges they’re facing now. Together, they explore questions about clarity, difficult conversations, accountability, change, or leadership in the age of AI.
Marlene introduces relevant models and distinctions as they become useful, helping participants uncover a practical next step.
Available as a moderated fireside chat or an interactive audience conversation. The organizer and Marlene agree on a starting theme in advance, then make room for the questions that matter most in the room.
Keynote by Marlene Chism:
What is leadership in the era of AI?
Is it being tech-savvy? Mastering the latest tools? Keeping up with changes that happen before you’ve finished your morning coffee?
Marlene Chism explores this question through the human side of leadership: managing yourself, recognizing your choices, and creating a future people want to be part of. How we use technology depends on how we think, what we value, and the conversations we’re willing to have.
PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN TO
Keynote by Marlene Chism:
The meeting ends, but the real conversation happens in the hallway. Everyone agrees, yet nothing moves. A familiar problem returns wearing a different outfit.
Leaders don’t always need more information. Sometimes they need room to think, question their assumptions, and talk about what’s actually happening. Leadership Unscripted is a facilitated experience with author and executive advisor Marlene Chism. Built around a leadership theme and the challenges participants bring, each session combines practical models, candid dialogue, and questions that open new possibilities.
Bring your leadership challenges. Expect candid conversation, practical tools, and room to think.
PARTICIPANTS WILL
TAILORED TO YOUR GROUP
Available for executive roundtables, leadership retreats, and association gatherings as an intimate executive forum or an interactive leadership lab for 12-200 participants.
The format is tailored to the audience size, theme, and desired outcomes.
Watch Marlene Chism in action
