Christopher Samsa

Chris is a Positive Psychologist and Senior Consultant with the NeuroLeadership Group.

He works with organisations in the area of behavioural change, combining a positive approach with the latest findings from neuroscience to help improve the quality of thinking to achieve sustainable results in record time.

Chris has worked internationally for over ten years. He’s a visiting lecturer on the Masters in Applied Positive Psychology at UEL and a guest lecturer at UCL and Goldsmiths. He is also a guest lecturer in NeuroLeadership at Witten Herdecke University in Germany and has trained over 1000 individuals in coaching skills both on public programmes and in the workplace using the Results Coaching Systems methodology.

An experienced keynote speaker and conference host, Chris is a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation (ICF) and he has served on the board of Directors of the UK ICF. His style is energetic, inspirational and interactive with a particular ability to take complex ideas and research and make them accessible and engaging to all audiences.

Chris has worked at CEO and senior management level for blue chip organisations both in the UK and internationally. Having worked in both the private and public sectors, clients include Ernst & Young, BBC, Nokia Siemens Networks, NHS, VISA, O2, Dunhill and Ericsson and many more.

Do you have a USP and what is it?

Helping people to flourish!

How can you knowledge and skills help people?

We need to help people refocus and see their lives through a different lens so instead of concentrating on what isn’t right, looking at what’s going well, how to do more of it and what can they change for a more positive and happy life.

You find your profession interesting exciting – why?

Did you know that approximately 50% of your happiness is genetic? 40% we have some control over. The 5 social domains of the brain (status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, fairness) are as important to our survival as Maslow’s Primary Needs (food, safety etc).

What are thing you dislike about your profession and the people in it?

In positive psychology, it’s the “yogurt knitters”, the slightly wishy washy Gaurdian reader types. I like direct influence, facts and fun! In neuroscience, it’s the academics who are too academic. Many of the new findings about the brain are really easy to understand and apply so let’s make it easy and accessible and not science for just a few.

What is the most important skill you need to be successful in your profession?

Confidence. For people to be able to trust you, go with new ideas, accept new knowledge is that it needs to be delivered with confidence and back up with research or academic rigour.