Kathi Crawford, SPHR, MMC (IAC) is passionate about the power of people and the impact on leaders when they learn how to leverage their strengths to motivate and engage employees. She uses a fresh approach in the delivery of her topic and provides the “so what?” She involves her audience and facilitates a dialogue so participants learn from each other and create a supportive community beyond the event.

People Possibilities LLC provides a listing of upcoming events on its Blog as well as insightful dialogue on the power of people. Join the conversation!

Please contact us for more information or to schedule an appearance.

Previous speaking engagements include the following:

Kathi Crawford works with many of Houston’s leaders and influencers to bring a different perspective to the act of leadership. In this podcast, she is interviewed by Kyle Hamer on the subject of leadership.

Am I a good leader?
Am I a bad leader?
What does greatness look like for me?

This week I sat down with Kathi Crawford, SPHR, MMC, World Leader and we discussed how to BE MORE as a leader. What we uncovered isn't rocket science, but the insights might just surprise you. Check out the latest episode of SUMMIT here:

Session Speaker, Montgomery County SHRM Association
“Shifting from New Hire Failure to New Hire Momentum”

What do you think of when you hear the word “onboarding?”

Most of us think of “onboarding” as “orientation” which often involves completing mounds of paperwork! Contrary to popular belief, orientation is not onboarding! Rather, it is the way in which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective organizational members. A successful onboarding integrates a new employee into the social network of an organization and its culture and assists him or her with the performance aspects of the role.

Research has supported the idea that effective onboarding can have a dramatic effect on job performance and satisfaction, organizational commitment, and retention. It is important to make sure the relationship starts off on the right foot, since the first experiences of a new employee in your organization are critical.

• Recognize the link between onboarding and return on investment
• Ascertain the value of socialization and mentorship in new employee onboarding
• Discover the elements of effective onboarding programs
• Determine how you can use a checklist to achieve better onboarding

Luncheon Speaker, International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) E-SIG
“Who’ Taking Care of You?”

Entrepreneurs do it all. We take care of our clients, projects, families. So, who is taking care of us? If our health fails, we can lose our income and a lot more. This program will share strategies for taking care of ourselves, so we can continue to do it all as long as possible. It’s not selfish, it’s essential.

Concurrent Session Speaker, Gulf Coast Symposium on HR Issues, Produced by HR Houston
“How to Achieve Success as a Fully Embodied Team”

Building embodied learning into learning programs allows people to embody their entire humanness — body, behavior, thinking, feeling, and spirit. The more fully embodied you are, the more present you can be. This approach helps people connect to a deeper sense of purpose and connection, clarify their desired future and develop skills to make this a reality. We share the value and approaches in this session.

Conference Session Speaker, CPA Firm Management Association, 2017 National Practice Management Conference
“Better Shorter Faster: The Art of Providing Frequent and Meaningful Coaching to Maximize Employee Performance”

As leaders, we often believe that we can surround ourselves with people who will simply “do the work”. We often assume they will figure it out. “I only hire the best”, we say and then … we pray. Unfortunately, this approach does not support a successful and sustainable business. In this session, Participants walked away with ways in which to create a just-in-time coaching culture in their organizations, replacing the traditional twelve month annual review process with constant feedback, resulting in a more engaged and productive workforce.

Conference Session Speaker, CPA Firm Management Association, 2017 National Practice Management Conference
“Next Level Leadership: Supporting Your Firm’s Growth and Success Using Career Maps”

In this session, Participants captured new ideas and approaches for becoming a Next Level Leader by channeling top talent to expand skills and grow employees within their organization. By using Career Maps, they learned the structures and processes that are needed to increase retention of key employees, generate long-term commitment and fulfill on their Firm’s strategies for growth through its people.

Guest Speaker, “Leadership from The Inside Out” for 100 professionals in the Human Resources function of this U.S. based engineering, procurement and construction services company specialized in the electric power infrastructure and oil and gas infrastructure industries.

In a lively discussion of leader others and self-leadership, participants gained an understanding of the business impact for leading from the inside out. They increased self-awareness through an exploration of their “why” and left empowered to make choices from this place. Perception is in the eyes of the perceiver and behavioral intent does not always equal our impact on others. Understanding we have the opportunity to choose where we wish to grow from allows us to focus our attention here.

Guest Panelist, “Creating A Great PlaceTo Work With Alumni,” Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program.

Working with the What’s Next Committee, Kathi Crawford and Michelle Howison of People Possibilities held up a mirror and gave the audience a new perspective on their culture around hiring, retaining and motivating employees. They showed the audience what it looks like now and what it could be. The audience learned how to tell if their team was engaged, disengaged or actively disengaged.

Insights and takeaways from the event include:

What will you implement right away?
"Talking to my highly trusted employees so they know they are trusted"
"Check "employment brand"; conduct regular "stay interviews""
"Get feedback from all levels of the organization"
"Think more about the 8 hidden reasons people leave a company”

What did you learn from the workshop that will help your business improve?
"Better goal setting and communication"
"Be more open as a leader & more sensitive to my company"
"I'm going to empower my team to create & implement these new goals"
"Build a better culture”

Keynote, “Energizing Your Professional Brand,” APRA (American Prospect Research Association) Greater Houston, Winter Workshop, March 6, 2015

Guest Panelist, “Building and Fostering a Coaching Culture,” Talent Management Roundtable Group, December 5, 2014

The panel shared experiences and best practices around creating a coaching culture in organizations. Bringing a variety of perspectives, including an external coach perspective and internal talent management leaders, the panel highlighted the challenges and benefits for using a coaching approach to develop leaders and employees.

People Possibilities Writes Article for the Chief Outsiders, Growth Insights for CEOs

Download the article here.

People Possibilities Contributes to Article for the Resident Assistance program at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine

Download the article here.

Guest Panelist, “Developing Profitable Partnerships: OD, HR, and L&D,” ASTD Houston Chapter Meeting, October 15, 2013

The panel made the link between the Organizational Development, Human Resources and Learning & Development functions in an organization, highlighting the value of each role and function and how to communicate and partner effectively with each other.

Guest Panelist, “Finding, Hiring and Keeping the Best Talent,” Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses ("10KSB") Program held at the Houston Community College, September 19, 2013

The panel interacted with Houston area 10KSB alumni and future scholars (small businesses) to provide solutions for staffing their companies with top talent.

Guest Speaker, “Differentiate or Disintegrate: How to Use Your Personal B.R.A.N.D to Get Ahead,” University of Houston-Clear Lake, Beta Alpha Psi, Zeta Upsilon Chapter Meeting, March 8, 2013

Guest Panelist, “Navigating the Impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA),” Business Owners Leadership Dynamics (BOLD) Meeting, February 21, 2013

Guest Speaker, “Differentiate or Disintegrate: How to Use Your Personal B.R.A.N.D to Get Ahead,” The Financial Executives Networking Group, January 29, 2013

Guest Speaker, "Birkman and Emotional Intelligence", Birkman User Group (BUG) Meeting, January 28, 2013

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups. Kathi is an instructor in the University of Houston EMPOWER Leadership Certificate Program and uses The Birkman Method assessment to teach Interpersonal Mastery, Emotional/Social Intelligence and the Capstone (career planning) modules. In this session, she provided an overview of how she works with leaders in the UH program to help them learn about their own and others' EI and the application exercises they complete. Participants learned how the Birkman can be used to understand our own level of EI in terms of the four basic EI competencies - self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.

Guest Speaker, “What is Coaching and Why Does it Matter?,” Professional Development Group (PDG), October 1, 2012

Kathi Crawford Serves on Board of Directors for Houston's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For™

Kathi was selected to serve on the Board of Directors for the inaugural year of the Houston's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For™.The program, to be held on October 25, 2012, is the celebration of companies that recognize employees as their greatest asset and as a result have improved costs, operations and efficiencies. As a Board Member, Kathi has helped to shape the educational program, the winner experience and the overall impact of the awards celebration. To read the press release and list of winners, click here.

Kathi Crawford Live on “7th Annual Workplace Flexibility Panel Discussion” powered by Tough Talk Radio Network.

Kathi served on the panel to discuss "Managing Performance for the Flexible Workplace". Kathi and the rest of the panel spoke on the Linda Ballesteros Live Broadcast.

Guest Speaker — Providing business services and strategic solutions based on a "people" focused approach. Flexible Workplace Initiative - Houston, September 26, 2012.

Guest Speaker, “Is Your Talent Pool Ready to Jump in the Water?,” ASTD Houston, July 24, 2012

Kathi Crawford Live on “Fearless Networking with Ken Marsh Show” on Talk 650 powered by CBS Radio.

Kathi discusses the services People Possibilities provides its clients as well as the value and best approach for networking. Listen to Kathi on the Ken Marsh Show, click here.

Guest Speaker, “Differentiate or Disintegrate: How to Use Your Personal B.R.A.N.D to Get Ahead,” Houston Financial Services Communicators Group, May 11, 2012

Guest Speaker, “Entrepreneurial Hopscotch,” Kent State University Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, March 10, 2011

Co-Facilitator, “Basic and Advanced Skills for Using LinkedIn to Conduct Your Job Search,” The Employment Assistance Ministry, December 2, 2010

Guest Panelist, “Accelerating Development of Gen Y for Critical Roles and as Emerging Managers,” 2010 Talent Management for Oil & Energy Conference, December 1, 2010

People Possibilities Newsletter “The Power of People”

As we turn the corner into a new decade, it's a good time to reflect on past events and consider the future. Who could have known that we would experience the worst U.S. economic threat since the Great Depression? And, what twists and turns will we take this year? And, how is it even possible to determine what's going to happen in 2025? We look to Futurists to guide us.

Futures Studies (we espouse more than one, so we reflect it as the plural "futures") is the science, art and practice of postulating possible futures. Modern practitioners stress the importance of alternative and plural futures, rather than one monolithic future. They also warn of the limitations of prediction and probability, versus the creation of possible and preferable futures. Futurists attempt to gain a holistic or systemic view based on insights from a range of different disciplines. They challenge and unpack the assumptions behind dominant and contending views of the future. Strategic Foresight focuses on a time horizon much longer than a "typical" five year planning process. This is where the distinction between a trend and an uncertainty come into play …

Guest Speaker, “Using Your Personal Power to Gain Stakeholder Commitment,” International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Houston Monthly Meeting, September 23, 2010

People Possiblities Writes Article for the International Association of Coaching

A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t fit today’s age-diverse work force, where the generation gap between the youngest and oldest workers can span more than 40 years. For the first time in history, there are four generations of workers. On one end of the spectrum, there are the 20-somethings, who are fresh out of graduate school or college; on the other end are employees nearing retirement.

It’s well-documented that each generation comes with its own set of values, needs and attitudes, and vastly different expectations on communication styles and work expectations. While this may be true, I constantly ask myself "isn’t this the way it’s always been?" We have always had an "age-diverse" workplace and it’s likely that we’ve had multiple generations...
Download the article here.

Facilitator, “Hiring Tips for Small Business Owners,” Houston Business Connection, July 9, 2010

Guest Panelist, “Your Career in the Post-Recession Workplace,” University of Houston EMPOWER Program Leadership Luncheon, June 8, 2010

Facilitator, “Get That Job Interview: Top Five Strategies,” University of Houston EMPOWER Program Leadership Webinars, March 10, 2010

Guest Panelist, "Strengthening your Business Through Leadership," Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance (WBEA) Educational Workshop, February 19, 2010

Co-Facilitator, “Changing Perceptions of the HR Profession,” HR Houston Staffing SIG, January 27, 2010

Facilitator, "The Value of Executive Coaching," American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) Houston Westside Lunch Bunch, October 21, 2009

Facilitator, “Differentiate or Disintegrate: How To Use Your Personal B.R.A.N.D. To Get Ahead,” Public Workshop, July 2009 – July 2010

Co-Facilitator, “How to Keep Your Leaders on the Fast Track,” HR Houston Gulf Coast Symposium on Human Resource Issues, May 20, 2009

Guest Expert, “Family Matters” with Tracey Serebin, Webtalkradio.net, May 26, 2009

Guest Speaker, "B.R.A.N.D. You: Is it Authentic and Relevant?"

Facilitator, Houston Business Connection Meeting, March 27, 2009  - Differentiate or Disintegrate: How to Use Your Personal B.R.A.N.D. to Get Ahead

Facilitator, Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) – Houston Chapter, March 20, 2009 - Differentiate or Disintegrate: How to Use Your Personal B.R.A.N.D. to Get Ahead

Facilitator, Execunet Meeting – Houston Chapter, February 17, 2009 - Differentiate or Disintegrate: How to Use Your Personal B.R.A.N.D. to Get Ahead

Guest Speaker, “The 2009 Top 10 HR Trends”

Facilitator, Houston Business Connection Meeting, January 16, 2009 - Top 10 HR Trends for Small Business in 2009

Facilitator, Houston Human Resources Leaders for Non-Profits, January 7, 2009 - Top 10 HR Trends for Non-Profits in 2009

Facilitator, “Talent Management: Training, OD and HR at a Crossroads,” ASTD Houston Lunch Bunch, October 15, 2008

Guest Expert, “Family Matters” with Tracey Serebin, Webtalkradio.net, July 16, 2008

For Immediate Release: The Eagle is on TV!

Since the launch of her company, People Possibilities, Kathi Crawford, SPHR has been flying with her vision for helping individuals and groups explore the possibilities and accelerate meaningful change. Many opportunities have come her way and she is blessed to know many who support her wings.

Just this week a new opportunity came her way thanks to Mattison Grey (www.greystoneguides.com).It was an opportunity to be on Great Day Houston as a guest expert! Kathi wanted to do it because she is so passionate about the topic – helping moms with ways they can have it all – a career and a family! But then she realized she was going to be on TV!! This was her first time yet her experience prepared her for this moment – she went for it and did not turn back!

Oh, and she called in the expert – Sarah Shah, Image Artist and Media Coach (www.sarahshah.com).Sarah helped Kathi make sure that all she had to do was to focus on the topic and Sarah would take care of everything else – and she did!! And, keep on watching what Kathi’s up to! Click here for sound bites.

Kathi Crawford Appearance on Great Day Houston with Debra Duncan Find the Perfect Work Balance Kathi Crawford, SPHR, IAC-CC People Possibilities LLC

Guest Expert, “Working Moms and Stay at Home Moms,” Great Day Houston KHOU TV Show, June 5, 2008

Guest Speaker, “Career Development: Exploring the Possibilities,” UT MD Anderson Education Week, 2008

Guest Speaker, “Marketing 101: Branding Yourself for Career Success,” University of Houston, 2008

Kathi Crawford People Possibilities

APRIL 2008 Featured As Expert On Worker Diversity Kathi Crawford, SPHR is interviewed by Marcia Passos Duffy on how to better meet worker’s needs. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t fit today’s age-diverse work force: The generation gap between the youngest and oldest workers in some workplaces can span more than 40 years. On one end of the spectrum, there’s the 20-something who is fresh out of graduate school or college and is seeking flexible schedules or work-from-home options; on the other end are the employees nearing retirement.

“A company might have four generations of workers at one time,” says Kathi Crawford, SPHR, and Vice President of Human Resources for Talent Tree, a staffing company based in Houston. “Each generation comes with its own set of values, needs and attitudes, and vastly different expectations on communication styles and work expectations.”

Smart Business spoke with Crawford about how managers can best understand and meet the needs and priorities of each generation — from the younger Generation X and Y to the middle-aged baby boomers to the older Silent Generation.

Houston Business Journal - People On the Move

The American Society for Training & Development Houston Chapter (www.tdhouston.org)has elected the following new officers for 2008: Kathi Crawford, president; Alise Isbell, president-elect; Bonnie Crowder, vice president of communications; Susan Ashley, vice president of finance; Jay Clancy, vice president of marketing; Sarah Hurst, vice president of member services; Ron Chlebo, vice president of professional development; Peggy Krohn, vice president of programs; Kate Hawkins, vice president of special interest groups; Vicky Esse, vice president of conference; Mark Prasatik, vice president of technology; and Kent Nuttall, past president.

HR Houston Certification Study Group, “Workforce Planning & Employment,” Guest Instructor, 2007

Co-Facilitator, “Business of HR: Calculating Your Department’s Influence on Company Revenue,” HR Houston Gulf Coast Symposium on Human Resource Issues, April 2007

Panelist, “Research in Organizations: HRD Professionals Speak Out!,” University of Houston, Industrial and Organizational Psychology program, September 2006

UH-Downtown, Principles of HR Management, “Behavioral Interviewing,” Guest Instructor, 2004 

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