THE FUTURE OF LEADERSHIP IS HOW
Julie Williamson, PhD
Best-Selling Author & Keynote Speaker
CEO & Managing Partner at Karrikins Group
Julie Williamson, Ph.D., believes that HOW you lead together matters as much as what you do and why you do it. Her passion makes her a dynamic and energizing speaker who brings real-world leadership experience together with academic credentials in social science to create an inspiring call to action in her signature talk, Make HOW Matter.
If your leaders need to come together to deliver on ambitious goals, are in the midst of a multi-year transformation that feels overwhelming, or are growing fast and their leadership capabilities need to keep up with the pace of change, Julie will provide a clear framework for HOW. Companies like Abbott, Zebra, Veolia, and others have benefitted from her work with their leaders.
Through her relatable, humorous, and grounded stories, she brings the methodologies and tools to life for audiences in all industries and stages, creating an impact on participants that lasts far beyond the event. She’s had people reach out to her years after seeing her speak to let her know how they implemented the ideas she shared!
Julie is recognized as a leading voice on how aligned leadership unlocks enterprise-wide success. She works directly with leadership teams around the world to turn strategy into impact by closing the gap between agreement and alignment. Her work blends business acumen, social science, and practical facilitation to help leaders shift how they lead together in pursuit of their most ambitious goals, and she brings this to the stage to help her audiences connect what they do with the approach she shares.
Julie is the author of the best-selling and award-winning book Make HOW Matter, and a frequent contributor to Forbes Business Council and CEO Magazine, where she brings a clear, human, and pragmatic perspective to the challenges senior teams face today. On her podcast, The Failure Gap, she hosts leaders from around the world and discusses the challenges of navigating the space between agreement and alignment.
Every Stage. Every Experience. It All Comes Down to HOW.
Booking Julie can include copies of her book for your audience and the option of a guest slot on the podcast for one of your executives.
Make HOW Matter
In her latest book, Make HOW Matter, Julie Williamson, PhD, explores the powerful role of alignment in building teams that successfully deliver on their most ambitious goals and aspirational visions.
The Failure Gap Podcast
Even when leaders agree on what matters most, execution often falls short. In The Failure Gap, Julie sits down with leaders across industries to explore why alignment is so hard—and how to close the distance between intention and impact.
It All Comes Down to One Powerful Word: HOW
Julie is here to help your audience to engage, participate, and have some fun while getting great ideas for leveling up their leadership that they can use right away. All of her programs are energetic, engaging, and practical – participants will walk away with tools, resources, and ideas they can take back to their teams and into their lives.
Make HOW Matter
The missing piece for most leadership teams is defining HOW they want to lead together to deliver on their most ambitious goals. A high-energy walk through the challenging, humorous, and delightful discoveries that come from getting aligned as a leadership team. Your audience will walk away with real tools to work with to build alignment across their teams.
HOW Ordinary People Can Do Extraordinary Things
Ironman is one of the toughest endurance events a person can take on, and yet incredibly ordinary people find ways to get it done every year, including Julie. Like an Ironman, big transformations, ambitious strategies, and other tough challenges require clarity, connection, commitment, and courage. Your audience will walk away with fresh insights about how to fuel their energy around transformation, and a couple of them might even be inspired to sign up for an Ironman event!
HOW to Lead with Grounded Optimism
The jolt of positive energy your audience needs to reconnect with an optimistic view of the opportunities and challenges they face.
By grounding optimism in the intersection of pragmatism and future focus, Julie helps people embrace the power of leader energy to propel a team forward even when things are hard.
Some of Julie’s Noteworthy Contributions
Media & Publications
- Forbes Business Council Member and contributor
- CEO Magazine contributor
- Featured by News10, FOX 2 News, Northeast News Channel, and FOX 59
- Interviewed by Doug Noll of Authority Magazine
Speaker Bureaus
Awards & Recognition
- Stevie Awards Silver Award Recipient: Female Executive of the Year – Business Services – 10 employees or less
- Recognized as a Fulbright Specialist: Supporting global leadership challenges
- Forbes Business Council Member & Contributor
- Non-Fiction Book Awards Silver Award Recipient: Author ofMake HOW Matter – Business genre
- Thinkers360 Thought Leader of the Year Finalist & Honorable Mention
Julie’s Background and Experience
Over her career, Julie has partnered with many of the world’s most influential organizations to design and deliver strategy, transformation, and integration efforts powered by aligned leadership. She has also worked closely with fast-growing companies and local organizations across sectors, helping them scale their impact through stronger ways of working together.
Julie’s expertise is shaped by her fascination with how executive teams form, un-form, and ultimately “click.” Her work draws on a deep understanding of behavioral science, organizational dynamics, and technology, enabling her to help leaders push past entrenched patterns, navigate trade-offs, and make the invisible drivers of team performance visible.
In addition to her consulting work, Julie has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in strategy, organizational behavior, and change, bridging theory and real-world practice. She is a podcast host and lifelong learner who believes that leadership is becoming ever more human, even as the world becomes more digital. More than anything, Julie loves the work she does and the leaders she gets to do it with.
- PhD in Organizational Communication from University of Colorado at Boulder
- MBA in Finance and Marketing from University of Denver
- BA in Information Systems and English from James Madison University
- Founding Member of the International Business Circle
- Adjunct Professor at University of Colorado Denver Business School
- Vice President at The North Highland Company
- Senior Principal at CGI-AMS
Request Julie’s Availability
Fill out the form and we will get back to you to discuss your session goals and the impact you are looking to create with your leaders.