Start with Wow - How to Leverage the Groundbreaking Science of Awe and Wonder to Innovate and Win in Leadership and in Life

Simon says, “Start with Why,” but there’s an important step getting skipped by countless leaders and it’s costing them. In this highly-acclaimed keynote, Harris makes the case that we should actually “Start with Wow,” and lays the groundwork for how leading with “wow” leads to game-changing thinking, culture and innovation.

Based on the latest research and neuroscience as showcased in his bestselling book, The Wonder Switch, Harris will take your audience on an unforgettable journey back to a state where truly anything is possible–the state of child-like wonder. In a culture of rapid and unprecedented change, he'll help your audience understand how worry is a misuse of their imagination, and how every member of every team has the capacity to create, innovate, and solve big problems by starting with “wow” instead of “how.”

This is more than just another talk by just another speaker—it’s a transformative experience of magic, storytelling, insights, and ideas that will capture both the minds and hearts of your audience, all while offering a new, narrative-shifting paradigm that leaves them never seeing themselves, or their work, the same again.

What do innovative organizations like Apple, Google, Disney, Amazon, Meta, Nike, NASA and more have in common? They send their leaders and teams to Harris to learn how to leverage the power of awe and wonder to shift narratives and create the future.

Inquire now, and discover why hundreds of event planners have called Harris, “The best speaker we’ve ever had.”

Wow-Level Leadership

Managers are responsible for the present. Leaders are responsible for the future. Sadly, there’s a leadership crisis happening across America and around the world, and it’s directly connected to a crisis of curiosity and creativity.

The old economy may have been built on information and knowledge, but the new economy is build on wisdom and wonder. As we move from the information age to an imagination age, most organizations are ill-equipped with the curious and creative leadership being demanded by this time in human history.

We don’t just need slightly better leaders. We need extraordinary leaders––Wow-Level Leaders––who choose wonder over worry, curiosity over cynicism, and learn to recognize the reality that “creative” isn’t just something all leaders are, but that “create” is the essence of what all leaders do.

Through the research-backed Wow-Level Leadership model, Harris will take your often jaded and cynical audience on an awe-inspiring journey into a new and refreshing leadership paradigm, beginning with the reality that great leadership begins with self-leadership, and self-leadership “starts with wow.”

Building upon new and actionable insights on self-leadership, Harris offers a unique and much-needed perspective on outdated models of team leadership, offering tangible examples of how team leadership starts with wow, and what you can do to lead every team member to unlock their greatest potential and deliver their best, most creative work.

Pulling from Harris’s experience working with leaders from some of the most successful organizations in the world like Apple, Google, Nike, NASA, Amazon, and more, you’ll be well positioned to not only lead in your market, but unlock the third component of the Wow-Level Leadership model, going on to influence and shape the culture around us, all while doing what great leaders do: create a better future for ourselves, our organizations and the world.

The Wow-Level Life

When was the last time you experienced magic?

Not a card trick, or cutting a lady in half, or the kind of illusion a magician might perform on stage, but actual, real magic. The experience of the kind of magic that stopped you in your tracks and left you in awe and wonder, with not much to say other than the whisper of “wow” under your breath?

When we were kids, that wow came easily. But then we grew up. Our wonder got wounded, the magic began to fade, and sadly, far too few of us ever find that magic again.

We may have come into the world wide-eyed and awake to the wonder all around us, and sometimes, we even end our stories in wonder, like the late Steve Jobs in his final, passing breath when he famously uttered, ”Oh wow…wow.”

But what about the in-between? The chapters of our lives between the beginning and the end? What if we could return to the wonder of our childhood, and leverage it to live a wow-level life today?

Sound impossible? Harris doesn’t just believe it’s possible, he’s a living breathing example that “impossible” is just an opinion.

After experiencing an abusive childhood, Harris went on to live his dream as a teenager by touring the world as a master illusionist. He made a million dollars by 21, but went bankrupt by 22, which kickstarted a decade-long journey to try and understand the stories we tell ourselves, and how they drive all of our thoughts, beliefs and behavior.

Now Harris is on a mission to help others heal their wonder wounds and kickstart a journey of self-discovery to help you find the clarity you need to get unstuck and live a wow-level life that is brimming with wisdom and wonder.

"The Wow-Level Life" is more than just an unforgettable keynote experience; it's a movement towards living a life that's not just good, but extraordinary. To be clear, it’s not about a life void of pain or failure. Every wow-level life has some of that.

It’s about a life of meaning and purpose and the kind of wonder that enables you to find joy despite the moments of hardship or circumstances that are beyond our control. It’s about developing the ability to find beauty in the brokenness, and learning to see the magic, even in the seemingly mundane.

Building upon the ground-breaking neuroscience and leading psychological research on mental and emotional health as outlined in his #1 bestselling book, The Wonder Switch, which Seth Godin called “An unforgettable book about our ability to care and lead,” this keynote experience will increase employee engagement and retention, reduce stress, burnout and anxiety, and reignite the sense of “wow” that gives birth to the kind of “why” that helps teams thrive and organizations win both in leadership and in life.

Every Problem is a Storytelling Problem

With narrative as the operating system of your brain, everything you and your team experience, from innovation and creativity, to hustle and burnout, is shaped by a story. A narrative subscribed to, and influenced by, everything. And with constant influencing, it’s up to you to start with “Wow”, so you can finally experience the desired outcomes you're looking for.

The latest neuroscience shows that simply changing your narrative doesn’t happen easily – it requires what researches refer to as a positive awe state. Change isn't just assisted by awe and wonder, it requires it. Only a state of wonder releases your brain from the paralyzing fear of the unknown, and empowers a willingness to embrace a new story.

The StoryOS Upgrade

We are storytelling creatures. We think in story. We feel in story. We walk around all day long telling ourselves stories to make sense of our pain, find meaning in our experiences, and to not just survive, but belong.

In short, story is the operating system of the human mind. The stories we’re told and the stories we tell ourselves form powerful narratives, and those narratives drive all human behavior.

Perhaps this is why Steve Jobs said, “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller,” or why Plato said that “He who tells stories rules society.” Stories are powerful, and those who know how to wield that power have not only influence, but great responsibility.

After he began building a global community of the most successful storytellers in the world, aptly known as “STORY,” Harris III began drawing the attention of creative leaders and storytellers from the biggest brands on the planet, from Fortune 10 companies like Apple, Google, Disney and Amazon, to the world’s leading non-profits, universities, and even government organizations, including NASA.

In just under a decade, Harris’s leadership and influence in story spaces and creative industries led to being named “one of America’s most influential young leaders.” Now, he’s on a mission to help you learn to leverage the storyOS in your own life and leadership.

Offered both as a main stage keynote or as an actionable workshop or breakout option, The storyOS Upgrade is a deep dive in the overarching power of story, and a masterclass in boosting narrative intelligence and the influence that comes with it.

Armed with new storytelling wisdom, you and your audience can learn to wield story skills wisely to spark or navigate change, communicate complex visions or ideas with simplicity, and shift the narratives that are driving the choices, beliefs and behavior of those you wish to lead.