Collaboration Strategists + Authors of Bridge the Gap

Katie McCleary + Jennifer Edwards

Business. Change-Management. Collaboration. Communication. Emotional Intelligence. Leadership. Teamwork.

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Katie McCleary & Jennifer Edwards

Speaker Bio

Jennifer Edwards and Katie McCleary are co-authors of BRIDGE THE GAP: Breakthrough Communication Tools to Transform Work Relationships from Challenging to Collaborative (McGraw-Hill), they show everyday professionals how to use the social psychology of human behavior to drive meaningful communication and collaboration at work. They teach professionals how to elevate their emotional intelligence and influence.

Bridge the Gap is a thoroughly researched book, featuring credible data and best practices from 59 thought leaders and professionals and garnered Inc Magazine’s 1 of 3 business books to read in 2022.

They personally know the transformative power of collaboration between unique, talented, and smart people. They embrace their own energetic dichotomies of being Traditional/Non-Traditional; Country/Rock-n-Roll; Christian/Buddhist, and Executive/Creative to help thousands find the sweet spot in their teams and relationships by transforming how they think, behave, converse, and collaborate.

Katie McCleary & Jennifer Edwards Topics
C.I.A: Elevating Emotional Intelligence.
The Four C's to Mastering Collaboration.
Two Ears. One Mouth. The Power of Silence to a Become an Effective and Transparent Communicator.

Sometimes collaborating with people can feel like being in a murky swamp. There is a proverb that says, “Words build worlds,” because the meaning that we each assign to words impacts our relationships. Emotional intelligence is a key skill to cultivate, especially in our fast-paced, diverse world.

Emotions often color our interactions and drive what’s possible between people. Communication experts, Jennifer Edwards and Katie McCleary, will demonstrate how to cultivate emotional intelligence and use it to gain clarity, foster great relationships, and create winning collaborations with practical and immediately useable tools that will allow you to foster connection with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Edwards and McCleary, seasoned entrepreneurs and leaders, walk the talk and have been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, ComputerWorld, Apple News, and many more. Building upon their differences and unique strengths, they prove not only why emotional intelligence matters but also how to get at the heart of true partnership.

With engaging props, stories, and activities grounded in neuroscience, Edwards and McCleary captivate audiences and help them find the sweet spot in their teamwork and relationships. Audiences will activate into their behavior and collaboration the 3 words that radically impact how we access emotional intelligence to be in optimal performance:

CONCRETE: Are the emotions that are present concrete—are they heavy because of the very real weight of our lives?

INFLATED: Are the feelings that are present inflated and need processing to deflate them?

ASSUMPTION: Are we making false assumptions and creating negative stories for no reason?

Collaboration and proactive communication drive teamwork and culture forward while improving profitability. Equipping professionals with practical tools to have innovative, critical, and actionable conversations, Bridge the Gap focuses on the art and science of emotional intelligence and human dynamics. They optimize people to show up powerfully to better connect, converse, and collaborate.

Co-authors, Jennifer Edwards and Katie McCleary engage audiences with research-based best practices featured in their viral TEDx Talk and their book, Bridge the Gap, which Inc Magazine named 1 of 3 must-read business books. Far from fluff or jargon, they offer immediate shifts that professionals can activate to improve their relationships, elevate their influence, provide value, and increase performance. Building upon their differences and unique strengths, they prove not only why collaboration matters but also how to get at the heart of true partnership.

As seasoned entrepreneurs and leaders, walk the talk and have been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, ComputerWorld, Apple News, and many more.

With engaging props, stories, and activities grounded in neuroscience, Edwards and McCleary captivate audiences and help them find the sweet spot in their teamwork and relationships. Audiences will learn the 4 C’s to Mastering Collaboration and specifically know how to show up in any interaction by being:

Psychologically Clean—where people are calm, present, willing and able to collaborate or converse without dominating the conversation, becoming defensive, or being triggered.

Radically Curious—where people learn replicable conversation patterns that open everyone up to hear diverse perspectives and creative ideas without fear or tension.

Truly Collaborative—where people create action around shared goals and outcomes and then execute them efficiently using teamwork.

Committed to Caring  where people commit to quality work and actively foster trust and respect in their professional relationships.

Do you listen to your listening? Have you ever found yourself listening to someone, and then realize you have entered a rabbit hole of your own thoughts? It happens to everyone. Quality communication arises from how you interact with others, and too much emphasis is often placed on language to do the hard work of communication. Let’s face it, many conversations go sideways.

In a fast-paced, reactive, and noisy world, listening and speaking truth has become more complicated than ever. Great conversations that move the needle forward and improve processes begin with intentional listening. Rooted in practical neuroscience, Edwards and McCleary equip audiences around the world and across industries with paradigm shifts and essential skills to help them communicate and collaborate better with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Learning Objectives:

– Learn to hold yourself present in any conversation and navigate challenging conversations.

– Strengthen yourself and/or a team to be more productive, innovative, and collaborative

– Explore “4 Hurdles to Listening” that everyone faces and how to maneuver through them.

– Discover game-changing differences between “sloppy” and “clean and curious” listening.

– Acquire the right questions that open you—and others up—to create breakthroughs.

– Walk away with effective language to use in any conversation to be highly effective, transparent, and collaborative.

Katie McCleary & Jennifer Edwards

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Katie McCleary & Jennifer Edwards's

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Bridge the Gap: Breakthrough Communication Tools to Transform Work Relationships From Challenging to Collaborative
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Testimonials

Words for
Katie McCleary & Jennifer Edwards

Daniel H. Pink.

“Teamwork is ubiquitous—and underappreciated. Almost every job depends not only on getting the work done, but also on getting that work done through other people. Edwards and McCleary have written a clear and timely guide for any professional who wants to build a better collaborative environment.”

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of When, Drive, To Sell Is Human, and The Power of Regret.
Amy C. Edmondson

Bridge the Gap teaches professionals how to intentionally put genuine curiosity at the heart of any working relationship where understanding, collaboration, and respect are paramount for success. Packed with examples and tools, this is a truly practical guide to being effective at work in the 21st century.”

Professor at Harvard Business School; Author of The Fearless Organization.
Greg McKeown

“For years I have asked ‘Why do people struggle to understand each other?’ It’s the wrong question! A better question is’ ‘How do any of us ever understand each other?” And that’s because there is a veritable chasm—the gap as McCleary and Edwards put it—keeping us in our own heads, keeping us lonely and keeping our relationships less effective than they could be. The challenge and the solution are brilliantly captured in this new book!”

Author of the New York Times Bestsellers of Effortless and Essentialism
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