How happiness increases collaboration and communication on incredible teams

Teams today are feeling more disengaged, decentralized, and lonelier than they ever have before. Depression is up 20% in the last five years, stress is at an all-time high, people are burned out and scrambling for time, and turnover continues to increase.

While most people think that the solution is more PTO, longer breaks, and less to do, the truth is that we need to have a more connected, collaborative, and engaged team. And to do that, we must understand that happiness is the glue that holds everything together, and achieving and unlocking it is the key to a brighter future, and a stronger, more resilient, and engaged team that simply performs better because they want to, not because they feel like they have to.

How happiness attracts and builds high-performing teams

With the world moving faster than it ever has before and the talent shortage being more severe than it has been in the past 50 years, organizations are struggling not just to attract top people but to keep the greatest people that they have. Leaders are grappling with recruiting, engaging and retaining employees - all while striving to foster a culture that is resilient, inclusive and vibrant.

Why is it so difficult to keep our best people? Why is it so difficult to attract the best talent and more importantly what do we do? It turns out after studying hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals, workplace culture expert Jessica Weiss has discovered that the solution no one is seeing to the problem that everyone recognizes they have - is happiness. And to understand that happiness is the basis for collaboration, for trust, for effective leadership and the ability to navigate uncertainty and change.

How happiness can prevent burnout from ever occurring

Following years of increased unpredictability and rapid change, people from all walks of life are experiencing fatigue, overwhelm, and demotivation. Reports of burnout are sky high and only getting worse. We are looking for a more effective way than merely surviving - we want to thrive and to flourish without the relentless grind.

Happiness, as unassuming as it may be, is the answer. The real problem with burnout is that we've been spending too much time trying to deal with it after it happens, much like we try to take off the 10 pounds after we've gained them. What if we could prevent burnout from happening in the first place.

Creating Trust-Driven Teams That Deliver Exceptional Results

Teams today are facing unprecedented pressure to perform, innovate, and adapt to rapid change. While many organizations focus on strategy and skill development, the highest-performing teams share a crucial foundation that's often overlooked: psychological safety and deep trust. Research shows that when team members feel safe to express their thoughts, take risks without fear, and be vulnerable with each other, performance metrics skyrocket across every measurable dimension.

In this dynamic, research-backed presentation, workplace performance expert Jessica Weiss reveals how organizations like Four Seasons, Ford, and Pixar have systematically built cultures of trust that directly translate to market-leading performance. Drawing on both groundbreaking case studies and practical experience, Jessica demonstrates that trust isn't just a cultural "nice-to-have" - it's the competitive advantage that separates high-performing teams from average ones.

Attendees will discover the Four Pillars of Psychological Safety framework that transforms team dynamics and performance outcomes. Jessica walks leaders through a proven system for identifying trust breakdowns early and provides concrete tools for rebuilding it before performance suffers. Through engaging storytelling and actionable frameworks, participants learn how to create environments where innovation flourishes, collaboration accelerates, and teams consistently outperform expectations.

This presentation equips leaders with immediately applicable strategies for nurturing the trust that enables breakthrough performance - whether teams are in-person, remote, or hybrid. Attendees will leave with a practical toolkit for turning trust from an abstract concept into a tangible performance driver that delivers measurable results.