Mike Robbins | Former Professional Baseball Player, Expert in Teamwork, Leadership, and Emotional Intelligence

Mike Robbins

Former Professional Baseball Player, Expert in Teamwork, Leadership, and Emotional Intelligence

Fee Range
$25,000
Travels From
San Francisco , CA, US

Mike Robbins
Biography

In today’s fast-moving world of relentless change, hybrid work, and constant disruption, organizations don’t just need sharper strategies, they need cultures where people trust one another, collaborate effectively, and perform at their best.

For 25+ years, leadership, culture, and teamwork expert Mike Robbins, CSP, has helped some of the world’s most respected organizations build environments where people perform at their best because they feel safe, valued, connected, and inspired to contribute at their highest level.

He’s the author of five books, We’re All in This Together, Bring Your Whole Self to Work, Be Yourself Everyone Else Is Already Taken, Nothing Changes Until You Do, and Focus on the Good Stuff, which have been translated into fifteen languages.

He hosts the popular podcast, We're All in This Together, and has delivered three TEDx talks viewed more than 2.3 million times. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, ABC News, NPR, and other national media outlets.

Trusted for his expertise and partnership, Mike has delivered more than 2,000 keynote speeches and workshops around the world. His extensive client list includes organizations such as Google, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Walmart, and the NBA. More than 70% of his engagements are repeat business. His approach blends emotional intelligence with practical business insight, helping organizations strengthen human connection and turn values like trust, authenticity, appreciation, and connection into tangible business results.

A rare combination of data, story, and soul, Mike moves audiences from aha moments to next-day action, delivering real-world strategies they can use immediately. His warmth and authenticity invite genuine connection, whether he’s addressing a few dozen senior executives or thousands at a global conference. He has spoken in 17 countries across four continents and has earned the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation from the National Speakers Association (NSA), a distinction held by fewer than 10% of professional speakers worldwide.

Before starting his company in 2001, Mike was drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees but chose instead to play baseball at Stanford University, where he pitched in the College World Series. After Stanford, he played professionally in the Kansas City Royals organization. Although injuries ended his athletic career early, the lessons he learned about mindset, teamwork, resilience, and leadership continue to shape his work and philosophy today.

After his playing career, Mike worked in sales and business development for two internet startups before discovering his deeper passion: helping people and teams fulfill their potential.

Since then, Mike has combined those early lessons with decades of research, experience, and real-world business insight to help leaders and teams create cultures of trust, authenticity, appreciation, and belonging where people thrive and performance follows.

Mike holds a degree in American Studies from Stanford University, with a specialization in race and ethnicity, and has completed extensive professional and personal development training, including with the Coaches Training Institute.

Deeply committed to service and inclusion, Mike has served on the boards of Challenge Day, The Peace Alliance, and the Marin Waldorf School.

He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, Samantha, who is in college, and Rosie, who is in high school.
 

Mike Robbins
Featured Videos

Current: Mike Robbins Speaking Reel

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Mike Robbins
Featured Keynote Programs

We’re All in This Together
Create a Team Culture of High Performance, Trust, and Collaboration

High-performing teams need more than talent and strategy to thrive—they need trust, authenticity, and genuine connection. 

Drawing on 25 years partnering with leading organizations worldwide, as well as lessons from his pro baseball career, Mike Robbins reveals how to build a team culture where people feel safe to speak up, engage fully, and perform at their best. 

Through inspiring stories, practical tools, and real-world examples, this program helps leaders and teams break down silos, strengthen relationships, and unlock the collective potential that drives sustained success.

This Program Is Perfect for Leaders and Teams Who Are:
•    Striving to maintain strong connection and performance in the midst of uncertainty, change, or growth.
•    Experiencing silos, stress, or disconnection that limit collaboration and trust.
•    Looking to enhance collaboration and authenticity in their culture.
•    Ready to elevate team communication, accountability, and results.

The Audience Will Leave With:
•    Practical tools to strengthen trust, psychological safety, and authentic connection.
•    Proven strategies to foster collaboration and high performance, even amid disruption.
•    Inspiration and confidence to communicate openly, embrace feedback, and support one another.
•    A renewed sense of purpose, unity, and commitment to winning—together.
 

Authentic Leadership
Inspire Trust, Foster Connection, and Lead with Courage

In today’s increasingly disconnected and uncertain world, authentic leadership is more essential than ever. People crave realness—leaders who are self-aware, emotionally intelligent, and courageous enough to be vulnerable. 

Drawing on over two decades of coaching and speaking with leaders at top organizations, Mike Robbins shares practical tools and insights to help leaders deepen trust, enhance engagement, and create an environment where people can truly thrive. This program invites leaders to embrace authenticity as a strategic advantage—one that builds credibility, connection, and lasting impact.

This Program Is Perfect for Leaders Who Are:
•    Seeking to strengthen trust, collaboration, and psychological safety with their teams.
•    Navigating change, uncertainty, or cultural transformation within their organization.
•    Eager to develop greater self-awareness, empathy, and emotional intelligence.
•    Wanting to inspire commitment and success.

The Audience Will Leave With:
•    A clear understanding of why authenticity drives engagement, collaboration, and performance.
•    Practical tools to enhance emotional intelligence and build deeper relationships.
•    Strategies for enhancing trust and communication.
•    Renewed confidence to lead with courage, purpose, and genuine connection.
 

From Uncertainty to Opportunity
Lead with Courage, Ownership, and Emotional Intelligence in Times of Change

Change is inevitable—our response doesn’t have to be. In today’s world of constant disruption, transformation, and complexity, operating with a growth mindset and choosing ownership are essential competitive advantages. 

In this engaging, practical program, Mike Robbins helps individuals, leaders, and teams shift from resistance to resilience by taking responsibility for what they can control and letting go of what they can’t. Drawing from decades of work with global organizations, years of research, and his own life experiences, Mike shares powerful insights and actionable tools for staying grounded, adaptable, and optimistic through uncertainty.

This Program Is Perfect for Leaders and Teams Who Are:
•    Navigating organizational change, transformation, or restructuring.
•    Feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or burned out by rapid shifts or uncertainty.
•    Looking to foster accountability, agility, and resilience across their teams.
•    Seeking practical tools to stay positive, adaptable, and focused amid disruption.

The Audience Will Leave With:
•    Tangible strategies to embrace change with confidence and ownership.
•    Tools to strengthen resilience, self-awareness, and emotional intelligence.
•    A mindset shift from fear and resistance to curiosity and opportunity.
•    Renewed energy and optimism for navigating the road ahead—together.
 

Prioritizing Human Connection in a Time of Massive Disruption
Strengthen Trust, Collaboration, and Resilience in an AI-Accelerating World

In an era defined by constant change, uncertainty, and the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, one thing remains constant: our need for human connection. Without it, employees become disengaged, trust declines, and cultures stagnate. Yet, it’s precisely this connection that’s most at risk. 

In this timely, inspiring program, Mike Robbins helps leaders and teams refocus on what matters most—the relationships, trust, and authenticity that fuel culture and performance. Blending powerful storytelling, practical insights, and actionable tools, Mike reminds audiences that while technology continues to evolve, our humanity will always be the ultimate competitive advantage.

This Program Is Perfect for Leaders and Teams Who Are:
•    Navigating disruption, transformation, or rapid technological change.
•    Struggling to maintain connection and trust in hybrid, remote, or AI-driven environments.
•    Seeking to reinforce empathy, authenticity, and appreciation across the organization.
•    Looking to strengthen resilience, collaboration, and engagement during uncertain times.

The Audience Will Leave With:
•    Tools to cultivate deeper human connection and trust amid change.
•    Strategies to balance technology and humanity so they can lead and collaborate more effectively.
•    A renewed understanding of how authenticity and appreciation drive performance.
•    Inspiration to lead with empathy and courage in an increasingly digital world.
 

Mike Robbins
Featured Books

Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciationby Mike Robbins

Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation

by Mike Robbins

Written by a former professional baseball player whose career was ended with an injury to his pitching arm in the middle of his third season, Focus on the Good Stuff is filled with passion, authenticity, and humor. Author Mike Robbins offers a step-by-step program with exercises for overcoming negative influence and obstacles, creating a truly grateful approach to life, and establishing an environment that can support success and peace of mind.

Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken: Transform Your Life with the Power of Authenticityby Mike Robbins

Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken: Transform Your Life with the Power of Authenticity

by Mike Robbins

Praise for Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken

"Mike's book is a wonderful expression of authenticity in action―clear, honest, instructive, and a passionate call to be your true Divine Self."
―Cheryl Richardson, New York Times best-selling author, Take Time for Your Life

"Mike Robbins provides a clear guide for intelligently and compassionately coming face-to-face with yourself and loving the person you meet. His five principles of authenticity teach us how to embrace and celebrate all aspects of who we are and what it means to be a spiritual being having a human incarnation."
―Michael Bernard Beckwith, author, Spiritual Liberation

"Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken is an empowering and refreshing book about how to be successful, real, and fulfilled in life. I highly recommend it."
―Gay Hendricks, New York Times best-selling author, Five Wishes

"Mike Robbins has written a powerful, down-to-earth, and insightful book on one of the most important aspects of happiness and fulfillment in life―authenticity. Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Already Taken will give you tools and techniques to enhance your life and relationships in a profound way."
―Marci Shimoff, New York Times best-selling author, Happy for No Reason

"Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Already Taken reminds us that God created each one of us for a unique purpose.?We live in a world where the lines between fake and real have blurred. This powerful book teaches you how to access and express the realness you crave in your work, your relationships, and yourself."
―Jon Gordon, author, The Energy Bus

Nothing Changes Until You Do: A Guide to Self-Compassion and Getting Out of Your Own Wayby Mike Robbins

Nothing Changes Until You Do: A Guide to Self-Compassion and Getting Out of Your Own Way

by Mike Robbins

 After three years of living his dream as a professional baseball pitcher, Mike Robbins had an arm injury that benched him for good, and when this happened, everything changed. He had to figure out who he was without the identity of “baseball player”—a process fraught with emotional highs and lows—and he quickly realized that the self-criticism and self-doubt he was feeling are in fact epidemic in our culture. Too often we base our value on our external world—our jobs, finances, appearance, or various other factors. Even the most successful people struggle with their relationship with themselves. In Nothing Changes Until You Do, Mike looks at this delicate relationship and brings to light a new way to look at life, opening your eyes to your innate value.     These 40 inspiring essays, which are real tales from Mike’s own life and the lives of his clients, boil down some of the most important lessons Mike has learned on his own personal journey—and as he’s traveled throughout the country for over a decade speaking to groups of all kinds. With themes spanning from the importance of trusting yourself to the benefits of vulnerability to the strength inherent in embracing change, this book shows you how to get out of your own way and make peace with yourself. With humor, authenticity, and ease, Mike illustrates that with a little self-compassion and a healthy dose of self-acceptance, anyone can turn away from the negatives that manifest because of a critical self-perception—things like unkindness, insecurity, addictions, sabotaged relationships, unnecessary drama, and more.     Making peace with yourself is fundamental to happiness and success. So join Mike and learn to have more compassion, more acceptance, and more love for yourself—thus giving you access to more compassion, more acceptance, and more love for the people (and everything else) in your life.

We're All in This Together: Creating a Team Culture of High Performance, Trust, and Belongingby Mike Robbins

We're All in This Together: Creating a Team Culture of High Performance, Trust, and Belonging

by Mike Robbins

What makes a great team? Author, leadership expert, and corporate consultant looks at how businesses can build trust and achieve high performance.

Have you ever been on a team where the talent was strong, but the team wasn't very good? On the flip side, have you ever been on a team where not every single member was a rock star, but something about the team just worked?
We've all had these types of experiences. And yet, it can be difficult to understand what makes one team successful and another one not.
In this book, Mike Robbins dives deep into the ways great businesses build trust, collaborate, and operate at their peak level. As an expert in teamwork, leadership, and emotional intelligence, Mike draws on more than 20 years of experience working with top companies like Google and Microsoft, as well as his baseball career with the Kansas City Royals. And, while each team and organization have their own unique challenges, goals, and dynamics, there are some universal qualities that allow teams to truly come together and thrive.
The book's core principles include fostering an environment of psychological safety, fostering inclusion and belonging, addressing and navigating conflict, and maintaining a healthy balance of high expectations and empathy. Throughout, Mike shares powerful exercises and tools he's successfully utilized in the keynote speeches, group sessions and corporate retreats that he delivers, so that you and your team can communicate more authentically, give and receive feedback with skill, and create deeper connections.
We're All in This Together also features personal stories and interviews with high-level business leaders and thought leaders to provide insights into an ever-changing workplace culture.
***
"For us to do our best work, have the kind of impact we truly want to have, and unlock our full potential, we can't do it alone; we must to do it together. If you and your team are willing to do what it takes, you can build and sustain an incredibly strong culture of trust and performance, and accomplish remarkable things." -Mike Robbins

Bring Your Whole Self to Work: How Vulnerability Unlocks Creativity, Connection, and Performanceby Mike Robbins

Bring Your Whole Self to Work: How Vulnerability Unlocks Creativity, Connection, and Performance

by Mike Robbins

In today’s work environment, the lines between our professional and personal lives are blurred more than ever before. Whatever is happening to us outside of our workplace—whether stressful, painful, or joyful—follows us into work as well. We may think we have to keep these realities under wraps and act as if we "have it all together." But as Mike Robbins explains, we can work better, lead better, and be more engaged and fulfilled if—instead of trying to hide who we are—we show up fully and authentically.Mike, a sought-after motivational speaker and business consultant, has spent more than 15 years researching, writing, and speaking about essential human experiences and high performance in the workplace. His clients have ranged from Google to Citibank, from the U.S. Department of Labor to the San Francisco Giants. From small start-ups in Silicon Valley to family-owned businesses in the Midwest. From what he’s seen and studied over the years, Mike believes that for us to thrive professionally, we must be willing to bring our whole selves to the work that we do.Bringing our whole selves to work means acknowledging that we’re all vulnerable, imperfect human beings doing the best we can. It means having the courage to take risks, speak up, have compassion, ask for help, connect with others in a genuine way, and allow ourselves to be truly seen. In this book, Mike outlines five principles we can use to approach our own work in this spirit of openness and humanity, and to help the people we work with feel safe enough to do the same, so that the teams and organizations we’re a part of can truly succeed."This book will offer you insights, ideas, and tools to inspire you to bring all of who you are to the work that you do—regardless of where you work, what kind of work you do, and with whom you do it. And, if you’re an owner, leader, or just someone who wants to have influence on those around you—this book will also give you specific techniques for how to build or enhance your team’s culture in such a way that encourages others to bring all of who they are to work."

Mike Robbins
Featured Reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to some of the most common questions about booking Mike Robbins for your event.

How do I book Mike Robbins for my event?

Booking Mike Robbins with Premiere Speakers Bureau is a streamlined 4-step process:
  • Availability Check: Contact us with your event date and budget to verify if your desired speaker is available.
  • Hold Date: We place a temporary "hold" on the speaker's calendar while you finalize internal approval.
  • Contracting: We issue a contract outlining the fee, cancellation policy, and event expectations.
  • Logistics: Once signed, our event management team handles all travel booking, itinerary, and AV requirements.

Why should I partner with Premiere Speakers Bureau rather than contacting speakers directly?

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What makes Premiere Speakers Bureau unique compared to other agencies?

Premiere Speakers Bureau distinguishes itself by having over 30 years of experience while partnering with more than 35,000 events. PSB has also built a streamlined, fully online process that makes booking a speaker, handling travel and payments extremely easy for anyone looking to plan a speaker led event.

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A speaker's fee typically covers the keynote presentation, a pre-event planning call, and standard customization. Travel expenses are usually billed separately.

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