Shawn Achor

The greatest predictor of future performance is the beliefs you hold about the world. Beliefs do more than shape the lens through which we see the world. They shape what happens next. In this high-impact, interactive, and humorous new talk, world-renowned researcher and New York Times bestselling author Shawn Achor illuminates how our beliefs change the math about what is possible and probable in our lives. And by changing the math, beliefs change our path.

Scientifically, beliefs don’t just reflect reality. Beliefs bend reality. Using stunning new research, Shawn reveals how our beliefs take the cap off our potential or hold us down, enrich or impoverish us, heal us or make us sicker. Moreover, Shawn reveals something incredible: as technology has become more powerful, our beliefs have become more predictive. Based on his work, Shawn has identified the seven most predictive beliefs that successful leaders and teams hold. By strengthening these seven core beliefs, individuals or teams have been able to increase revenue by up to 50% in 18 months, improve retention by 14%, raise productivity by 31%, live 7.5 years longer, increase SAT scores for our kids, and improve sales by 37%. Shawn reveals how:

• Belief changes what we perceive—including opportunities others miss
• Belief reduces change anxiety and increases trust, even under pressure
• Belief fuels resilience, especially during change or after rejection
• Belief amplifies social support, boosting performance the way the home-field advantage boosts elite athletes
• Belief causes us to beat the odds and to see how our behavior matters

Then, drawing on two decades of research, as well as his work with NASA, NFL and NBA teams, elite military units, and over a third of the Fortune 100 companies, Shawn outlines six practical strategies for undoing our limiting beliefs and strengthening these seven core beliefs together. By changing our lens and the lenses of those around us, we can significantly improve performance, strengthen resilience, and create a better life and society. Same world, different beliefs, different outcomes.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding how beliefs predict our future outcomes
• The seven core beliefs that the most successful people and teams hold
• Six strategies for how to rewire limiting beliefs and strengthen empowering ones
• How leaders can intentionally cultivate positive core beliefs to create cultures where people thrive

The greatest predictor of future sales performance is the beliefs you hold about the world. In this high-impact, humorous, and interactive keynote, Shawn Achor, New York Times bestselling author and world-renowned researcher on performance and mindset, reveals groundbreaking research showing that beliefs don’t just change motivation—they change the likelihood of success or failure. Beliefs change the math. By changing the math, beliefs change the path.

Drawing on cutting-edge studies from neuroscience, his work with NFL and NBA teams as well as elite military units, Shawn shows why top-performing salespeople consistently outperform others with the same territory, tools, and training—and how seven core beliefs predict high-performing leaders and organizations. Sales teams don’t lose deals because of effort alone. They lose them because of hidden beliefs: This prospect will never buy. My behavior won’t really move the needle. The market is too tight right now.

But by strengthening core beliefs, based on Shawn’s research, Fortune 100 companies have been able to increase sales revenue by up to 50% in 18 months, increase retention by 14%, raise productivity by 31%, and improve sales by 37%.

This keynote equips sales teams with a new lens that dramatically increases performance and reveals how to replace limiting beliefs with qualified, evidence-based beliefs that increase effort, resilience, and close rates. Same world, different belief, different outcome.

Key Takeaways Sales leaders and sellers will leave with:

• A science-backed understanding of how beliefs directly impact revenue
• Tools to identify and dismantle hidden beliefs that suppress performance
• Practical strategies to strengthen beliefs that increase persistence and confidence
• A renewed sense of agency: my behavior matters, I am not alone, this work is meaningful
• A mindset shift that helps teams perform better—even when the odds aren’t in their favor

The greatest predictor of future performance is the beliefs people hold about themselves, their teams, and what is possible. For leaders, the insight goes even further: beliefs are contagious. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, leaders shape the belief systems their teams operate within every day—for good or bad. But beliefs do more than shape how teams see the world. They shape what teams do next.

In this high-impact, interactive, and humorous keynote, world-renowned researcher and New York Times bestselling author Shawn Achor reveals how the beliefs embedded in a team’s culture can either lift performance ceilings or quietly cap potential. Based on his research and work with NASA, elite military units, NFL and NBA teams, and over one-third of the Fortune 100, Shawn has identified the seven core power beliefs that the most successful leaders and teams share. Scientifically, beliefs don’t just reflect reality—they bend it, changing the likelihood of success. When leaders deliberately build these beliefs into how teams communicate, recognize effort, and respond to failure, organizations have achieved measurable outcomes, including: revenue growth of up to 50% in 18 months, 31% increases in productivity, 14% improvements in retention, 37% gains in sales performance, a 23% drop in burnout, as well as stronger resilience, trust, and sustained engagement during change.

In this talk, Shawn shows leaders how to actively embed positive beliefs into culture by:

• Signaling what matters through language, attention, and modeling
• Shaping perception, helping teams see opportunities others miss
• Reducing change anxiety by reinforcing trust and shared purpose
• Building resilience by strengthening belief after setbacks and rejection
• Amplifying social connection, creating a “home-field advantage” for teams
• Reinforcing the belief that individual behavior matters and compounds

Shawn provides six practical strategies leaders can use immediately to defuse limiting beliefs and replace them with empowering ones—across teams, departments, and organizations. Culture is not what leaders say—it is what teams believe. And when leaders change belief, they change the future. Same world. Different beliefs. Different outcome.

Key Takeaways for Leaders:

• Why belief is one of the most powerful—and overlooked—drivers of team performance
• The seven core power beliefs shared by the highest-performing teams
• Six evidence-based strategies for embedding empowering beliefs into team culture
• How leaders can intentionally design environments where belief fuels resilience, trust, and sustained success

In this engaging and humorous keynote, Shawn Achor reveals a surprising scientific truth: as technology has become more powerful, belief has become more predictive. Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience, behavioral economics, and real-world case studies, Shawn shows that while AI can calculate probabilities, it cannot believe you will beat them. It cannot “believe” that a struggling employee will grow, that a team can beat the odds and win, that a patient will beat cancer, or that our work matters. Those beliefs are human—and they are now one of the greatest performance multipliers inside AI-enabled organizations.

While some organizations focus only on speed, scale, and efficiency, the most successful organizations are also asking an additional question: How do we stay human and grounded in the midst of all this change? In this talk, you will learn how our beliefs determine whether AI leads to innovation or anxiety, velocity or paralysis, trust or disengagement. You will also learn why belief is quietly shaping everything from decision-making and risk tolerance to creativity, collaboration, and ethical judgment. Strengthening our collective core beliefs helps individuals and teams respond intentionally rather than reactively—reinspiring us about what technology can never replace: meaning, connection, and purpose.

Key Takeaways:

• Why beliefs increasingly outperform data alone in predicting performance in AI-driven environments
• How AI exposes—not erases—what is uniquely human at work
• The seven core beliefs that determine whether teams thrive or struggle during technological disruption
• How leaders and parents can strengthen belief systems that fuel adaptability, trust, and innovation
• Practical strategies to increase motivation, resilience, and purpose in the midst of change

Until now, we’ve been taught that to be successful, we must better ourselves and rise above others. The pursuit of fulfilling our potential has been individual and isolated.  Research now clearly shows that this self-focused approach to achievement puts a cap on our happiness and success. It is only by pursuing potential in an interconnected way that we are able to achieve the heights of our potential in business and education. Only by making others better as we grow, can we see what we are truly capable of.  Based on Shawn’s research, new findings using Big Data revealing the ripple effect of our actions, and his work in 50 countries, he outlines a five stage strategy for achieving interconnected success and how to apply them to your work and home life for greater energy, productivity, and success.

Most companies and schools follow this formula: if you work harder, you will be more successful, and then you will be happy. This formula is scientifically backward. A decade of research shows that training your brain to be positive at work first actually fuels greater success second. In fact, 75% of our job success is predicted not by intelligence, but by your optimism, social support network and the ability to manage energy and stress in a positive way. By researching top performers at Harvard, the world’s largest banks, and Fortune 500 companies, Shawn discovered patterns which create a happiness advantage for positive outliers—the highest performers at the company. Based on his new book, The Happiness Advantage (September 2010 from Random House), Shawn explains what positive psychology is, how much we can change, and practical applications for reaping the Happiness Advantage in the midst of change and challenge.