Banner

Talks and workshops built on what an archive of 30,000+ executive assessments and 480 C-suite careers reveal about who rises, who gets left to navigate alone, and what leaders can do about it.

Reshaping How Organizations Harness Talent

Embed

<div id="sns-talks">
<style>
  @import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Playfair+Display:ital,wght@0,400;0,600;1,400&family=Source+Serif+4:ital,wght@0,300;0,400;0,500;0,600;1,400&display=swap');

  #sns-talks, #sns-talks * {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    box-sizing: border-box;
  }

  #sns-talks {
    font-family: 'Source Serif 4', Georgia, serif;
    color: #1A1A1A;
    background: #FFFFFF;
    line-height: 1.7;
    width: 100%;
    overflow-x: hidden;
  }

  #sns-talks .talks-inner {
    max-width: 780px;
    margin: 0 auto;
  }

  #sns-talks .talks-label {
    font-size: 0.78rem;
    font-weight: 600;
    letter-spacing: 0.15em;
    text-transform: uppercase;
    color: #A51C30;
    margin-bottom: 12px;
  }

  #sns-talks h2 {
    font-family: 'Playfair Display', Georgia, serif;
    font-size: 1.9rem;
    font-weight: 400;
    color: #1A1A1A;
    margin-bottom: 36px;
    line-height: 1.3;
  }

  /* TOPICS */
  #sns-talks .topics {
    padding: 64px 32px;
    background: #FFFFFF;
  }

  #sns-talks .topic {
    padding: 22px 0 22px 24px;
    border-left: 3px solid #E0E0E0;
    margin-bottom: 8px;
    transition: border-color 0.3s;
  }

  #sns-talks .topic:hover {
    border-left-color: #A51C30;
  }

  #sns-talks .topic h3 {
    font-family: 'Playfair Display', Georgia, serif;
    font-size: 1.2rem;
    font-weight: 400;
    color: #8B1525;
    margin-bottom: 6px;
    line-height: 1.3;
  }

  #sns-talks .topic p {
    font-size: 0.98rem;
    color: #3A3A38;
    line-height: 1.75;
  }


<div class="invited">
  <div class="talks-inner">
    <div class="talks-label">Invited Talks</div>
    <h2>Selected Engagements</h2>

    <div class="talk-item">
      <p><strong>Smith, Samantha N.</strong>, Hamid, Aaisha, and Levasseur, Dru (2026, October). Re-Imagining Culture Work. Chief Belonging Officer Roundtable co-hosted by HACE (Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement) and Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., Irvine, CA.</p>
    </div>
    <div class="talk-item">
      <p><strong>Smith, Samantha N.</strong> (2026, April). Influence Without a Blueprint: Standing Out, Moving Up, and Belonging at Work. Invited fireside chat at Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., Virtual.</p>
    </div>
    <div class="talk-item">
      <p><strong>Smith, Samantha N.</strong> (2026, April). Democratizing Access to Opportunity: How to Move from Intention to Infrastructure. Invited speaker at Amono+Lead, United Nations, New York City, NY.</p>
    </div>
    <div class="talk-item">
      <p>Brown, Ashley R. and <strong>Smith, Samantha N.</strong> (2026, March). Leading with Authenticity in Rooms that Matter. Invited presentation for ghSMART at Harvard Black Law Student Association Spring Conference 2026, Boston, MA.</p>
    </div>
    <div class="talk-item">
      <p>Smith, Heidi, Hellauer, Samantha, Paul, Reshmi, and <strong>Smith, Samantha N.</strong> (2026, January). Products and Measures for Identifying High Potential Talent. Invited presentation at ghSMART Team-Wide Meeting, Virtual.</p>
    </div>
    <div class="talk-item">
      <p><strong>Smith, Samantha N.</strong> (2025, July). The Data-Driven Workforce: Transforming Human Capital into Competitive Advantage. Moderated conversation with Matthew Breitfelder at Apollo Global Management, New York City, NY.</p>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

Quote/testimonial

Samantha N. Smith

I'm a people scientist.

I study traits of high potential talent—and why the path to the top may undermine your ability to lead once you're there.

At ghSMART, I've analyzed a subset of 30,000+ executive assessments to uncover the behavioral traits that predict who reaches the C-suite. At Harvard Business School, I found that competitive incentives (e.g. promotions, bonuses) drive top talent to isolate themselves, which may compound over a career into what I term a self-sufficiency trap: the independence that fuels their rise eventually undermines the relational demands of senior leadership.

I translate these insights into evidence-based frameworks that help organizations better develop and retain top talent.

My work has been published in Harvard Business Review, Harvard Case Collections, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Academy of Management Proceedings; I've been invited to share this work with audiences including the United Nations and Fortune 500 leadership teams.

Ph.D., Harvard Business School. A.B. in Psychology, Princeton University (minors in Neuroscience & Cognitive Science).

Samantha N. Smith, Ph.D.

Reshaping How Organizations Harness Talent

Trusted by Leading Institutions

Selected Engagements

Built for Leaders

Reshaping How Organizations Harness Talent

Trusted by Leading Institutions

Selected Engagements

Built for Leaders

Research-Driven. Action-Oriented.

Evidence-Based

Custom-Tailored