Chris Laping Speaker Biography
Prior to founding People Before Things, LLC, Chris served as SVP, Business Transformation and CIO at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers. In these roles, he was a highly contributing member of a management team that completed a successful turnaround, taking the company from an $8 stock price to $89 in just a few years. Chris has 25 years of technology and change leadership experience across multiple brands and industries and has been widely recognized for his innovative thought leadership. He was named a Top 5 Social Business Leader by The Economist, Social Business Technology Leader by InformationWeek and Premier 100 IT Leader by Computerworld. The work of the teams he led has been spotlighted in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company and CIO Magazine, among others.
Based on the notion that technology alone will never bring organizations the efficiencies they desire, Chris left his corporate role in early 2015 to start a human experience movement. The desired outcome: Project teams feel the joy of making an impact, team members feel nurtured and supported during disruptive change, and leaders feel empowered because they have the loyalty and engagement of their people.
PEOPLE BEFORE THINGS—ALWAYS!
Gallup reports that 70% of all change initiatives fail. Why do some organizations succeed at delivering change while others don’t? Quite simply, their leaders put people before things. Using concepts from his debut book, in this talk Chris helps audiences visualize how they can become CHANGE leaders. Intended for any executive, middle manager or grassroots influencer, this is a message for all levels of leadership!INSPIRING CRAZY LOYALTY
Unfortunately, we often hear stories and jokes that suggest IT is not seen as an equal to “the business.” The reality: IT has an opportunity to drive game-changing outcomes that inspire “crazy loyalty” in the communities they serve—which can result in a powerful brand for themselves as technology professionals. In this discussion, Chris will focus on the fundamental mind shift that IT leaders and engineers must make to evolve their role and become transformative change leaders.
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