I grew up on a farm in Iowa, watching my father do business on a handshake.
I remember his word and his integrity were everything. So much so, that when his boss tried to make him go back on a commitment to a customer, he instead drove 150 miles in a snowstorm to tell him, “I quit.”
That experience is burned into my brain. I remember thinking, “Wow, work can sure be messed up.”
Later in life, I had a bunch of my own experiences—including a stint as a headhunter, where my job was to place people inside companies ripe with dysfunction.
That just felt so wrong to me. I knew there had to be another way.
I was a corporate executive for almost a decade, but I’ve been a workplace optimist for my entire career.
I’ve always been insatiably curious about WHY work is broken — and why the way we TREAT people at work is broken — ever since I was a kid growing up on a farm in Iowa, witnessing my dad being mistreated by his boss.
For far too many people, work sucks. My question was, “Why?” I knew it didn’t have to be that way. After sifting through thousands of employee surveys later on in life, I finally figured it out:
We experience work as a RELATIONSHIP.
If we want to fix work, we need it to feel like any other healthy relationship in our lives. If we want our people to feel ENGAGED at work, then they need to feel appreciated, trusted, and cared for. And, if we want them to give their BEST at work, then we need them to feel empowered to explore their full potential.
Today, I lead keynotes, training, and retreats that help organizations, leaders, and teams break free of outdated paradigms, so they can transform how they work, lead, and live.
We’re redefining work, one relationship at a time.
A dynamic keynote speaker, Jason Lauritsen is a true thought leader in the world of work and employee engagement who is dedicated to revolutionizing the way we Lead with Relationship. He fearlessly challenges traditional norms to reshape the employee experience by consistently placing authentic human connection at the heart of leadership.A firm believer that leadership is most impactful when it’s built on genuine care, support, and respect, helps organizations reimagine their role in helping people lead fuller, more meaningful lives.As a corporate executive, Jason cracked the code to doubling company revenue per employee. But it wasn’t until he began working at a company responsible for Best Places to Work contests across North America that he discovered the key that unlocks employee engagement, no matter the organization: People experience work as a relationship.He is the author of two books, Unlocking High Performance and Social Gravity. His thought leadership has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company Talent Management magazine, HR Executive magazine, and SHRM publications.
