Kate Vitasek – Crack The Code On Collaboration
Kate Vitasek is an internationally recognized expert and researcher, known for her award-winning research and the Vested® business model, which focuses on creating highly collaborative business relationships.
Praised by World Trade Magazine as one of the “Fabulous 50+1” most influential people in global commerce, she has been featured on CNN International, Bloomberg, NPR, Fox Business News, and Forbes.
Driven by her passion for helping organizations transform their business relationships, Kate Vitasek founded the University of Tennessee’s Certified Deal Architect program, ranked the #4 executive education program globally by the European Business Review. She is a sought-after global female speaker, known for her practical, research-based advice on fostering collaboration and building long-term, successful business relationships.
Kate Vitasek’s Lecture topics
- The Vested Way: Redefining Success in Business Relationships
Most business relationships operate with an outdated zero-sum mindset, where one party wins and the other loses. Despite terms like “strategic partnership” or “valued employee,” many organizations remain trapped in transactional processes that rarely lead to sustainable results.
In her keynote, The Vested Way®, Kate Vitasek reveals how companies can create true win-win relationships. She outlines five rules for transforming transactional relationships into strategic partnerships and shares real-world examples of organizations achieving success with these principles.
- Getting to We: Five Steps to Building a Collaborative Culture
Many business relationships are built on an “us vs. them” mindset: management vs. union, buyer vs. supplier, employer vs. employee. Despite terms like “valued employee” or “strategic partner,” policies and practices often create conflict rather than cooperation, fostering a culture of competition instead of collaboration.
In her keynote, Getting to We®, Kate outlines five proven steps to develop a collaborative corporate culture. Using inspiring examples, such as how Island Health turned toxic relationships into a trusting, innovative team environment, she provides practical tools to shift from a “What’s-in-it-for-me” to a “What’s-in-it-for-we” mindset.
- The Power of T: Choosing Transparency and Trust to Enable High-Performing Teams
In today’s interconnected world, organizational success relies on collaboration, transparency, and trust. However, a Gallup survey shows that only 21% of employees trust their leadership – often due to the misconception that trust must be earned.
Kate challenges conventional approaches by demonstrating how trust and transparency can be fostered from the outset. Her interactive keynote inspires leaders and teams to break old patterns and establish stronger, more collaborative relationships.
- Vested Outsourcing: Five Rules to Transform Outsourcing Relationships
Many outsourcing deals fail due to flawed transactional models that create conflicts between buyers and suppliers when business needs evolve.
In her keynote, Vested Outsourcing, female speaker Kate Vitasek explains how her award-winning model redefines outsourcing. Using five key rules, she shows how to align the interests of buyers and suppliers to create cooperative, win-win relationships. Drawing from real-world case studies, Kate inspires organizations to rethink outsourcing and achieve transformative results.
“We all want to be better collaborators.”
Kate Vitasek has a unique talent for bringing out the leader in everyone and fostering a sense of community and collaboration. Her keynotes and workshops open minds and hearts to shift perspectives and challenge the status quo in business.
She has authored seven books and over 400 articles in publications such as Harvard Business Review, Chief Executive Magazine, The Economist, FAST Company, Information Week, CIO Magazine, World Financial Review, and Supply Chain Management Review.
Kate Vitasek has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of both the Sourcing Industry Group and the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals. She is a Fellow of World Commerce and Contracting and was recognized as a “Power Influencer” by the World Financial Review.
Before joining the University of Tennessee, Vitasek held prominent roles at P&G, Microsoft, Accenture, Stream International, and Supply Chain Visions – a boutique consultancy she founded, which was named one of the “10 Coolest” boutique consulting firms by the ARC Advisory Group.