Phillip Van Hooser | Leadership Expert and Turnaround Specialist

Phillip Van Hooser

Leadership Expert and Turnaround Specialist

Phillip Van Hooser
Featured Keynote Programs

We Need to Talk
Building Trust When Communicating Gets Critical


This commonsense keynote equips the audience with six unique communication strategies for building trust when relationships and results are riding on the words they say and the way they say them. This program is perfect for executive, established, and emerging leaders:

  • Needing to communicate difficult decisions about downsizing, layoffs, or restructuring due to rapid or unexpected business changes
  • Experiencing distrust, disloyalty, and declining engagement due to changing values of the workforce or changing workplace demands
  • Tasked with creating a cohesive culture following mergers and acquisitions, leadership shifts, or market changes

Keynote Takeaways

  • Tried-and-true strategies for communicating difficult, unpleasant messages in a way that strengthens relationships rather than damages them
  • Strategic approaches to rebuilding the believability quotient when truthfulness hasn’t always been practiced
  • Active listening and communication methods that build rapport, empathy, and trust with employees and customers

Choose to Lead
Steps Leaders Take to Intentionally Create Positive Impact


This culture-shifting keynote inspires the audience to take responsibility for their leadership impact and empowers them with the mindset and methods for making decisions that create stronger teams, better communication, and a more significant impact. This program is perfect for executive, established, and emerging leaders:

  • Stressed by their lack of skills and confidence or afraid of making the wrong decisions when leading multi-generational employees with diverse backgrounds and attitudes toward work
  • Challenged to rapidly equip, prepare and retain high potential employees for transition into management/leadership roles as the labor market tightens and their current leaders exit
  • Needing to build a cohesive culture of trust as they navigate mergers, acquisitions, and rapid change 

Keynote Takeaways

  • A fresh outlook on the critical role that intentionally choosing to lead plays in elevating individual and organizational leadership effectiveness
  • A powerful model for improving the quality and appropriateness of organizational decisions made
  • The 5 bases of decision-making and actionable methods for making decisions that deliver better results.

Moving Up, Moving On
Succession Planning for Continuity and Long-Term Growth

Succession planning is vital to an organization’s long-term success, but the why, what, who, and how of planning for a transition can be difficult to navigate. This inspiring keynote offers a practical perspective on the challenges and opportunities surrounding succession planning while leaving a legacy of impact and assuring a future for continued excellence. This program is perfect for executive, established, and emerging leaders: 

  • Struggling to adopt the “letting go and letting others” mindset needed for effective succession planning
  • Burned out from carrying the load themselves but unsure how to identify, trust, train, and ultimately transition a competent successor
  • Wanting practical insights into successfully navigating the human element of the succession planning process.

Keynote Takeaways

  • A practical 6-step process for successfully empowering employees for top-level management and leadership
  • Actionable insights on identifying and leveraging opportunities to strengthen their professional relationships through intentional communication
  • A fresh, multi-demographic approach to succession planning and developing the next generation of capable, equipped leaders

Too Busy for Details
Strategies to Solidify Leadership Connection


The strategies presented in this engaging keynote equip audience members to evaluate their effectiveness at building authentic employee relationships and elevate the way they listen, communicate, and engage with their people.This program is perfect for executive, established, and emerging leaders: 

  • Dealing with broken trust, disengagement, conflict, or low productivity due to changing workplace demands or a disjointed organizational culture
  • Preparing for management transitions brought on by reorganization or demographic, market, or culture shifts
  • Anticipating rapid growth that will require high levels of teamwork, collaboration, and empowerment

Keynote Takeaways

  • A better understanding of why employees want authentic connections, how these connections affect engagement and performance, and how to establish those connections
  • Steps to improve active listening and open communication and build greater respect, trust, and authenticity
  • Engaging examples of what to do and what not to do to solidify trusting, cohesive relationships that improve employee performance and retention

It’s Your Call
Tools & Rules for Big League Decision Making

[Decision Making]
Business professionals don’t generally intend to make poor decisions. However, entrepreneurs, business owners, leaders, and managers do struggle with decision making for one primary reason – they’ve never be taught a solid process for smart decision making.
It’s Your Call: Tools & Rules for Big League Decision Making will reveal how to take the lead in making smart decisions. Drawn from Phil’s training at Wendelstedt’s Professional Umpire School, you will:

• Discover the necessary – but seldom taught — tools for decision making
• Get tips for avoiding “heat of the moment,” disastrous decisions
• Assess your understanding of the written — and unwritten — rules for smart decisions
• Learn a step-by-step process for making better decisions
• Understand the factors affecting how and when to make “the call”

This keynote is a good fit for:
• Business owners, entrepreneurs, and business professionals at all organizational levels
• New managers, emerging leaders, and high potentials transitioning into leadership roles
• Leaders and managers in safety or security roles
• Decision makers at all organizational levels

Don’t Hold Your Breath
Keys to Lead Change & Transition

[Change, Transition, Transformation]
We know it — change is inevitable and never-ending, an all-encompassing reality that doesn’t go away. For those leading the charge, future success rides on a sound approach to embrace the changes, guide the transition, and energize the team.
This is a realistic look at successfully managing change. It is drawn from Phil’s professional experiences spanning four decades of work with hundreds of organizations, large and small. And thousands of business owners, leaders, and managers – some prepared, some struggling – during extended periods of change, transition and transformation – including his own!
Discover the real world lessons for successful change, transition, and transformation including:

• The characteristics of change you can count on
• 4 truths impacting change for you and your people
• The relationship between change and transition
• Key steps to successfully lead change

This keynote is a good fit for:
• Leaders, managers, or anyone charged with guiding people through change
• All staff levels facing change and transition

Lay Your Hand on It
Choices to Prove You’re a Pro

[Service & Professionalism]

Everyday we make choices in our professional lives which say one of two things about us. Our choices either prove, “I am a professional,” or “I think I’m good enough to get by.”
The “good enough” mentality is expensive to individuals and organizations. It can deplete money and market share. But the potential damage a careless mindset inflicts on professional reputation can be disastrous. And once damaged, influence and image are hard to restore.
When business owners, entrepreneurs, leaders, and team members apply these solid commitments and service practices in their work life, they will discover:

• Habits to consistently look exceptional
• Choices which get you a second look
• Decisions which build integrity, trust, and loyalty
• Attitudes for solving problems and overcoming setbacks

This keynote is a good fit for:
• Business owners, entrepreneurs, leaders, and team members
• New managers, emerging leaders, and high potentials transitioning to leadership
• Sales or customer service teams

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Phillip Van Hooser

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