Mark C. Crowley
About
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Leadership Keynote Speaker
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Former Senior VP of Sales Leadership at WaMu Investment Services and Washington Mutual
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Regular leadership contributor to Fast Company Magazine, and published in the Seattle Times, The Huffington Post, Reuters, CEO Magazine Great Britain, USA Today
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Past clients include: AIG, Crowe, Fidelity Savings, Microsoft National Bank, Shaw Communications, Yahoo!
About Mark C. Crowley - Former Senior VP of Sales, Leadership Keynote Speaker on High Engagement and Performance:
For 25 years, Mark Crowley led nationwide teams to record-breaking success at one of America’s largest financial services companies—not through conventional management tactics, buy by tapping into the deepest source of human motivation there is: emotional connection. Entirely out of step with conventional management tactics—and with his peers—Mark proved when managers genuinely care about their employees, value them as individuals, and invest in their development, they inspire extraordinary commitment, loyalty and performance.
Recognizing that his leadership approach defied conventional wisdom, Mark set out to uncover the science that could validate it. His goal was to prove that the same profound results he experienced could be replicated by managers across industries and nations, confirming his philosophy was a measurable, repeatable driver of workplace excellence.
Mark spent two years on this quest, and the result was his groundbreaking book, Lead From The Heart: Transformational Leadership For The 21st Century—one that’s since been taught in 11 American universities.
When first published in 2011, many workplace managers were skeptical about bringing “heart” into leadership. They feared it was soft and weak. Now, in 2025, the science Mark introduced has been widely embraced by organizations worldwide. The cutting-edge discoveries that feelings and emotions drive up to 95% of human behavior—and that the human heart and brain work in tandem to shape motivation, behavior and productivity—challenges us to fundamentally rethink how we manage people.
What Mark proved is that no matter the industry, generation or education level, workers consistently excel; when they feel valued, safe, trusted and supported. Simply put. when leaders demonstrate to employees that they matter, they unlock levels of motivation and excellence common leadership methods will always struggle to achieve.
At its core, this approach has transformed the way leaders inspire performance. And, as the world of work continues to evolve—shaped by new expectations, remote collaboration, and shifting cultural priorities—the need for managers to adopt this approach has never been more urgent.
In September, 2025, Mark’s new book, The Power of Employee Well-Being: Move Beyond Commitment To Build Flourishing Teams, will advance this wisdom even further. It not only reinforces his core conclusions but unveils new and disruptive research that proves employee well-being isn’t a nice-to-have, it is a direct, consistent and powerful force for team and organizational success. Research from Oxford University and others proves that leaders who prioritize well-being create environments where employees not only thrive but outperform.
Topics and Audience Takeaways
What Mark C. Crowley Talks About:
Lead From The Heart
Mark Crowley outlines the research that proves the secret to employee engagement requires a modern-day reinvention of traditional leadership practices. In spite of our common belief that humans are purely rational beings, that most important decisions we make (including whether or not to be engaged) are almost always driven by emotions. Understanding why “emotional currency|” how employees are made to feel by their bosses and organizations, has become far more important to motivating employee performance than pay.
Mark will highlight the many important ways that the world of work has profoundly and permanently changed and why meeting employee expectations for fulfilling work, opportunities for growth and a caring boss is the surest way of not just attracting great employees but retaining them. Leaders today need to understand that recognition is a powerful driver of employee performance, and that it is crucial to make sure it is sincere and happens on a regular basis.
Recent Publications
Your presentation was both credible with supporting data to support the premises in your book and also informative and interesting... you inspired a large number of our students as attested to by their engagement with you after your presentation and by feedback that the university has received from students, faculty and colleagues who attended.
Connie Johnson Ed.D, Chief Academic Officer & Provost, Colorado Technical University
