The Best Leadership Keynote Speakers by Fee Level: 12 Picks
Twelve leadership speakers sorted by budget, with fees, programs and the events each one suits.
Mike Abrashoff was 36 when he took command of USS Benfold, the most junior commanding officer in the Pacific fleet. He kept the same crew and changed how he led them. The ship went on to win the Spokane Trophy for the highest degree of combat readiness.
That is what a good leadership keynote carries: a specific change, made by a real person, with results your audience can hold up against their own. This guide sorts 12 such speakers into three fee levels, so you can start from your budget and then choose by audience. Each entry also gives the in-person fee and where the speaker is based, taken from our speaker database.
How to pick a leadership speaker for your budget
Settle five decisions first, and the field narrows quickly.
- Name the behavior you want to change. Trust, accountability, focus and hospitality each point to a different speaker on this list, so decide which one your teams need most.
- Decide who is in the room. Senior executives want frameworks they can apply across a company; new managers want habits they can use with one direct report.
- Pick the source of credibility. Some speakers led in the military, some built businesses and others study leaders as researchers. Match the source to what your audience respects.
- Plan for more than an hour. Several speakers here offer workshops, half-day sessions or fireside chats. Ask early if you want the keynote to carry into breakout work.
- Set the budget band first. In-person fees on this list start at $20,000 and reach $125,000. Virtual fees vary, so request one when you check availability.
Strong leadership keynotes under $30,000
These four bring deep expertise at fees that fit department meetings and regional events. Expect a retired general, a clinical psychologist, a leadership author and a management thinker.
Steve Farber: love as a business discipline
For more than 30 years, Steve Farber has worked on redefining leadership. He was Vice President of The Tom Peters Company before founding Extreme Leadership, Inc. in 2000, and The Radical Leap won a Fast Company Readers’ Choice Award. His clients have included Johns Hopkins, Intel, Cisco and Hyatt.
His Radical LEAP framework stands for Love, Energy, Audacity and Proof. “Love Is Just Damn Good Business,” built on his 2020 book of the same name, treats love as a business principle that produces measurable results. He also offers “Radical Accountability” and an interactive Extreme Leadership Jam Session.
Best for: Leadership conferences and manager development programs that want a values-based message with practical tools. Steve Farber’s speaking fee: $25K–$30K in person; $7.5K–$15K virtual. Travels from: Kansas City, MO. View Steve Farber’s profile and check availability.
Thomas Kolditz: leading when lives are at stake
Brigadier General (Ret.) Thomas Kolditz led West Point’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership for 12 years. He then spent seven years as founding executive director of the Ann and John Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University, and he holds the Distinguished Service Medal.
A social psychologist, he draws on life-and-death settings in “In Extremis Leadership: Leading As If Your Life Depended On It.” “Hope Is not a Method” gives eight techniques leaders can use right away, and “Leaders Developing Leaders” offers a framework for growing people and improving retention. He has published more than 75 books, chapters and articles.
Best for: Leadership development and HR audiences, plus companies whose people work in high-risk settings. Thomas Kolditz’s speaking fee: $20K–$30K in person. Travels from: St. Louis. View Thomas Kolditz’s profile and check availability.
Jody Carrington: reconnection as a leadership skill
Before she took the stage, Dr. Jody Carrington was a civilian member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, where she came to understand what trauma can do to organizations and families. A clinical psychologist, she founded Carrington & Company and has written three bestsellers, including Feeling Seen.
Her work treats reconnection as the base of healthy, productive teams. “Decoding Emotional Intelligence” helps leaders handle hard conversations and reduce burnout, and “Leadership: Taking the Wheel in Complex Times” covers the relationships that hold a workplace together. She has delivered more than 750 keynotes and hosts the podcast Unlonely with Dr. Jody Carrington.
Best for: People leaders in high-stress fields and teams showing early signs of burnout. Jody Carrington’s speaking fee: $25K–$30K in person. Travels from: AB, Canada. View Jody Carrington’s profile and check availability.
Polly LaBarre: redesigning how work gets done
Polly LaBarre joined the original team at Fast Company after graduating from Yale. She co-wrote Mavericks at Work, which The Economist named Book of the Year, and co-founded Management Lab, a firm that helps organizations speed up change.
Her keynotes come from more than ten years of experiments in what she calls hacking management. “Leading in the New Work Order” offers new ideas for how work is designed, and “The Human Edge” shows how to build a culture where everyone takes ownership. She was also CNN’s business and innovation correspondent, and her writing has appeared in Harvard Business Review and The Wall Street Journal.
Best for: Executive offsites and culture or HR conferences planning changes to how teams are organized. Polly LaBarre’s speaking fee: $20K–$30K in person; $20K–$25K virtual. Travels from: New York, NY. View Polly LaBarre’s profile and check availability.
Mid-range picks from $30,000 to $60,000
This middle band offers the widest choice. Two speakers learned leadership as naval officers, one coaches senior executives and one studies how teams work.
Mike Abrashoff: trust and ownership at sea
Turnover on USS Benfold fell to 1% under Mike Abrashoff, promotions tripled and operating expenses dropped 25%. Before that command he was Military Assistant to Secretary of Defense William J. Perry. His book It’s Your Ship has sold more than 1.4 million copies.
“It’s Your Ship” explains how he changed his own style and built the trust that let his crew take ownership. “The Virtual Leader’s Roadmap” applies the same ideas to remote teams, measuring results instead of activity. Half-day and full-day programs built on The Leadership Roadmap can follow the keynote.
Best for: Leadership summits and companies working on culture, retention or remote management, especially where turnover is a cost. Mike Abrashoff’s speaking fee: $35K–$40K in person; $25K–$30K virtual. Travels from: Washington, DC. View Mike Abrashoff’s profile and check availability.
Carey Lohrenz: performance under pressure from the cockpit
Carey Lohrenz was one of the first fully qualified female naval aviators to fly the F-14 Tomcat. A former U.S. Navy lieutenant, she later worked as a corporate executive and consultant and wrote two bestsellers, Fearless Leadership and Span of Control. Fast Company, Forbes and Inc. have all featured her.
“Lessons In Leadership” uses the fundamentals that helped her win in the cockpit at Mach 2 to cover teamwork, tenacity and resilience. “Lessons In Partnership” focuses on alliances and collaboration, and “Striking a Balance” uses a pre-flight check to address work-life balance.
Best for: Leadership conferences, partner summits and women’s leadership events that want lessons on performing under pressure. Carey Lohrenz’s speaking fee: $45K–$50K in person; $30K–$35K virtual. Travels from: Minneapolis, MN. View Carey Lohrenz’s profile and check availability.
Peter Bregman: helping leaders change other people
Peter Bregman started out teaching leadership on wilderness and mountaineering expeditions. He has spent the last 30 years coaching senior leaders and their teams, and as founder and CEO of Bregman Partners he counts Citi, Mars and Electronic Arts among his clients. His work has appeared in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and the Financial Times.
His keynote “You CAN Change Other People,” drawn from his book with the same title, gives a four-step process for helping colleagues improve. “Leading with Emotional Courage” and “18 Minutes: Find Your Focus” round out a set of programs for managers who need others to act differently.
Best for: Executive teams and people managers who lead through feedback and coaching. Peter Bregman’s speaking fee: $43.5K–$50K in person; $30K–$35K virtual. Travels from: New York, NY. View Peter Bregman’s profile and check availability.
David Burkus: the science of better teams
Why some teams click while others collapse is the question David Burkus studies. A former business school professor with a doctorate in strategic leadership, he has written five bestselling books, including Best Team Ever, and advised PepsiCo, Microsoft, Google, Adobe and NASA.
“Best Team Ever” argues that culture and habits, more than star hires, drive high performance. “Click” shows how clarity and empathy help teams collaborate fast. “The Trust Loop” lays out a cycle for building and repairing trust, and “Innovation Is a Team Sport” offers a research-based approach to creative work.
Best for: Team offsites, manager programs and all-hands meetings for groups that need better collaboration, trust and creative problem-solving. David Burkus’s speaking fee: $30K–$35K in person. Travels from: Tulsa, OK. View David Burkus’s profile and check availability.
Headliners at $60,000 and above
Book from this tier when the keynote anchors a major conference and a recognized name helps attendance. Each of these four brings a bestselling book and a large public platform.
Molly Fletcher: negotiating and leading like an agent
CNN called Molly Fletcher the female Jerry Maguire. As one of the first female sports agents, she negotiated more than $500 million in contracts and represented clients such as John Smoltz, Matt Kuchar and Erin Andrews. She later founded The Edge, a leadership accelerator for senior women leaders.
“Fearless at Work” shows how fearlessness can be built, using stories from elite athletes. “Secrets of a Champion Mindset,” also the title of her TEDx talk, asks people to compete against themselves, and “Women Winning in Business…and Beyond” covers building a career without giving up personal goals. She also wrote The Energy Clock.
Best for: Sales meetings, client events and women’s leadership conferences. Molly Fletcher’s speaking fee: $65K–$70K in person; $30K–$35K virtual. Travels from: Atlanta, GA. View Molly Fletcher’s profile and check availability.
Susan Cain: quiet strengths on the team
Two of Susan Cain’s books, Quiet and Bittersweet, became New York Times bestsellers, and her TED Talks have passed 50 million views. She holds a law degree from Harvard and has spoken at Google, Pixar, the U.S. Treasury and West Point.
Her main program, “Quiet Leadership,” shows how to draw on the strengths of introverts in how teams work, lead and innovate. Sub-topics include choosing leaders wisely when charisma tends to win, balancing solitude with teamwork and running meetings that hear every voice. Another uses the fear of public speaking to show how to overcome any fear.
Best for: Leadership and innovation conferences, plus HR teams rethinking how they pick and develop leaders. Susan Cain’s speaking fee: $65K–$70K in person; $40K–$45K virtual. Travels from: New York, NY. View Susan Cain’s profile and check availability.
Will Guidara: hospitality as a leadership skill
Will Guidara was general manager and co-owner of Eleven Madison Park, which earned three Michelin stars and James Beard Awards for Outstanding Wine Service and Outstanding Service. A Cornell hospitality graduate, he wrote the national bestseller Unreasonable Hospitality. He also hosts the Welcome Conference, an annual hospitality symposium.
His signature keynote explains how the restaurant put human connection at the center of service with a “one size fits one” approach. Other programs argue that hospitality belongs in every leader’s toolkit and that giving more, rather than less, is a better answer to hard problems.
Best for: Service, retail and hospitality brands, plus leadership meetings about culture and customer experience. His fee starts highest on this list. Will Guidara’s speaking fee: $100K–$125K in person. View Will Guidara’s profile and check availability.
Vanessa Van Edwards: people skills backed by research
Vanessa Van Edwards founded Science of People, a behavior lab that decodes how humans connect. She has taught at MIT and Harvard, and her book Captivate has been translated into 18 languages. Cues followed in 2022.
In “Charismatic Communication,” she applies behavioral psychology to presence, confidence and trust. “The Three Levels of Connection” gives a framework for building rapport, and “The Surprising Secrets of High Performers” includes how to communicate well when working with AI tools. She has worked with Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Dove, and has been featured by CNN and NPR.
Best for: Leadership conferences, client-facing teams and new-manager programs. Less suited to audiences wanting a strategy talk. Vanessa Van Edwards’s speaking fee: $65K–$70K in person. Travels from: Los Angeles, CA. View Vanessa Van Edwards’s profile and check availability.
Twelve names only scratch the surface. Browse our full list of leadership speakers to compare fees and home cities.
Where leadership speaker fees fall
Leadership speakers on our roster start near $7,500 and top out at $300,000, and half of them begin at $32,500 or less.
- Under $25,000: Thomas Kolditz and Polly LaBarre both start in this band.
- $25,000 to $39,999: where most leadership fees begin; Steve Farber, Mike Abrashoff and David Burkus all start in this range.
- $40,000 to $59,999: Carey Lohrenz and Peter Bregman sit here, between mid-market and headline fees.
- $60,000 to $99,999: Molly Fletcher, Susan Cain and Vanessa Van Edwards start at this level.
- $100,000 and up: the headliners, with Will Guidara the name from this guide.
Your confirmed fee will reflect the date, location, format and how much the speaker tailors the talk. For in-person events, travel is usually billed on top.
Fees from the Mollie Plotkin Group speaker database as of October 21, 2026.
Which leadership speaker suits your event
- Executive offsite: Polly LaBarre and Peter Bregman work directly with senior leaders on how work and behavior change.
- Annual leadership conference: Susan Cain or Will Guidara can headline a main stage with a well-known book behind the talk.
- New-manager program: David Burkus gives first-time leaders a research-based model for team habits and trust.
- Culture or retention push: Mike Abrashoff’s Benfold results speak directly to turnover and ownership.
- High-risk workforce: Thomas Kolditz brings lessons from leading where lives are on the line.
- Burnout and wellbeing session: Jody Carrington pairs a psychologist’s training with plain talk about reconnection.
- Women’s leadership event: Molly Fletcher and Carey Lohrenz were each among the first women in their field.
- Client or customer event: Vanessa Van Edwards and Steve Farber both focus on how people connect and why it pays off.
How these 12 leaders made the cut
We started from MPG’s leadership roster and kept people whose programs focus on leading others, who have a current fee on file and whose profiles show command, research or business experience behind the advice. We then sorted them into three fee levels, since budget is often the first filter a planner applies, and kept a mix of backgrounds inside each level.
What planners ask about leadership keynotes
What do leadership keynote speakers charge?
Most leadership speakers on our roster start below $40,000 in person. The complete spread is wider, from roughly $7,500 to $300,000. Within that range, the date, location, format and amount of customization all move the final number. For in-person events, plan on travel costs on top of the speaking fee, and confirm what is included before you sign.
What does a leadership keynote usually cover?
Most cover a few core ideas: building trust, holding people accountable, leading through change and developing the next generation of leaders. The best ones tie those ideas to a real story, such as a ship, a restaurant or a cockpit, and finish with habits your audience can try right away. Tell your agent which of those themes matters most to you.
Should we book a researcher or a former commander?
Think about what your audience trusts. Operational teams often respond to someone who led under pressure, while managers in knowledge work may prefer research and clear frameworks. Mixed rooms can work with either if the speaker uses plain language. Share your audience profile when you check availability, and your agent can suggest speakers who fit both.
Can a leadership speaker run a workshop after the keynote?
Many can. Some speakers on this list offer half-day or full-day sessions that build on the keynote, and others run interactive formats such as jam sessions or fireside chats. A follow-on session gives managers time to practice what they heard before they go back to their teams. Ask about workshop options and pricing at the same time as the keynote fee.
Can leadership keynotes be delivered virtually?
Yes. Many speakers can present online, and virtual programs often cost less than in-person ones. Inquire about the virtual fee when you check availability. If your leaders work remotely, a speaker such as Mike Abrashoff, whose program covers leading virtual teams, can make the format part of the message. Keep the session short and leave room for live questions.
Turning a budget into a booked speaker
A good leadership keynote changes one behavior across a room, and the right speaker for that rarely depends on fame alone. Start from your budget band, choose the background your audience will trust and narrow the list to two or three names.
Next, open each speaker’s profile and click Check Availability to share your date, city and audience. Your MPG agent will confirm availability, the final fee and any travel costs. Leadership often sits beside other themes on an agenda, and our change management speakers, corporate culture speakers, team building speakers and ceo speakers pick up where this list stops.