Level Up! Meeting People Where They Are: Reframing as a Tool for Effective Leadership

What if the most powerful thing a leader can do is not restructure a role, redesign an incentive, or deliver a performance review but help someone see their own work differently? This session makes the case that cognitive reframing is not a soft skill or a motivational parlor trick. It is one of the most evidence-backed, underutilized tools available to anyone who leads people.

The session is built around a central tension: most leaders try to motivate through the clarity of expectation or the weight of consequence. But research shows that neither mechanism explains why some people flourish in the same role where others languish. What does explain it consistently, across industries, job types, and cultural contexts is whether individuals can construct a meaningful frame around their work, and whether their leaders help or hinder that process. Participants will leave with a set of practical conversational tools grounded in motivational interviewing research, and a clear-eyed view of what it means to lead not from the top of an org chart, but from genuine curiosity about how the person across from you understands what they do and why it matters.

Track: Group Administration / Leadership Development   Format: Presentation with discussion   Duration: 60 minutes   Level: All experience levels; particularly relevant for leaders managing teams in complex or change-intensive environments.

Biography: Megan Smith-Branch is an organizationally grounded AI enablement and governance leader who serves as a trusted advisor to C-suite and senior technology leaders, translating values and risk appetite into concrete operating models, policies, and behaviors. Megan combines industrial-organizational psychology, operational execution, and hands-on AI risk management to help executives set direction, orchestrate execution, and manage stakeholder alignment across complex, regulated environments. Megan’s current work focuses on operationalizing AI strategies with a human centric approach focused on cultural and behavioral change. Recognized as one of 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™, Megan is the founder of Core Human AI and former Deputy Director for AI Governance at Booz Allen Hamilton, Chief Operating Officer at CertNexus and currently leads AI Engagement and Enablement for AI Operations at Leidos. She holds a bachelor’s in fine art from Alfred University and a master’s in industrial organizational psychology from George Mason University.

Topic: Level Up! Meeting People Where They Are: Reframing as a Tool for Effective Leadership
Time: May 6, 2026, 7 p.m., Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting here.
Meeting ID: 816 3934 1371
Passcode: 439466

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For more information, contact Rachel Kibler at rachelregion9@gmail.com.