Jenny Wood

Former Google Executive, Wild Courage Author and Inspirer
  • Former Google Executive and founder of one of the largest career programs in Google’s history
  • Author of Wild Courage: Go After What You Want and Get It
  • Helps audiences feel empowered, motivated and successful during times of change
  • Delivers engaging, custom keynotes with fresh, counterintuitive tools that inspire action

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Jenny Wood  is an unstoppable confidence booster dedicated to helping people make their impossible dreams likely. A former Google leader who grew from entry-level employee to executive in her 18-year tenure, she held COO roles across various divisions of Google and led global teams that spanned Americas, Asia, and Europe. In her most recent role, Jenny ran an Operations team at Google that sat between Sales and Engineering and helped drive billions in annual revenue. Having spent over a decade in Google’s sales organization, Jenny has also partnered with some of Google’s largest clients on their marketing and analytics strategies. 

Despite Jenny never holding an official HR or People Operations role at Google, she founded what became one of the company's largest career programs in its 26-year history: Own Your Career. Jenny has coached tens of thousands of Google employees and executives in almost 100 countries on leadership, influence, stakeholder management, change management, and employee engagement.  

Jenny is the author of the upcoming book, WILD COURAGE: Go After What You Want and Get It, which Penguin Random House has slated as one of their biggest professional development releases of 2025. In the book and in her talks, Jenny shatters conventional wisdom about achieving your goals. She gives you permission to ditch your fear and chase after what you want, unapologetically.   

Jenny’s writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, CNBC, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, Inc., and Forbes. She has spoken at numerous Fortune 500 companies, including Google, YouTube, Capital One, Royal Caribbean, Indeed, L.L. Bean, State Farm, CVS, Johnson & Johnson, TurboTax, and QuickBooks. 

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Speaker Video

Leadership: The WILD COURAGE to Steer Others to Success

Two of the most powerful statements a leader can make are: “I don’t know” and “I was wrong.” Great leadership does not mean always being right; it means always being real. Having high emotional intelligence and a willingness to help, effective leaders know how to hold themselves accountable. From setting the stage so employees feel comfortable to ask questions to encouraging teams to contribute ideas at any level, good leaders double down on the generosity that got them where they are. They are also Weird, Selfish, Shameless, Obsessed, Nosy, Manipulative, Brutal, Reckless and Bossy. And that takes courage. Wild amounts of it.

In this high-energy and interactive keynote, you will learn:

  • How to use curiosity and empathy to build trusting relationships in the workplace.
  • Why every one-on-one meeting with a direct report should end with, “How can I support you this week?”
  • How to give feedback fast and fair.
  • Actionable tools for improving workplace morale, ensuring managers have the right tools, and staying engaged across organizational charts.

You will leave with practical strategies (no fluff here) to influence stakeholders, land mentors and sponsors, and treat failure as data.

 

Resilience: THE WILD COURAGE to Thrive in Change

AI, a hybrid workforce, and the hangover of a global pandemic have changed the way we work. As connection wanes, anxiety thrives. You start to feel uncertain about your future. But a success mindset comes before success itself. With the right thought patterns and a set of practical tools, Wood explains that success is found in tiny decisions: emails that can be more poignant, conversations that can be more purposeful, and moments that can be more impactful. You need to have Wild Courage in the throes of uncertainty. To be resilient, you need to be Weird, Selfish, Shameless, Obsessed, Nosy, Manipulative, Brutal, Reckless, and Bossy. And that takes courage. Wild amounts of it.

In this high-energy and interactive keynote, you will learn:

  • How to build resilience to take more control over your career – and your life.
  • Shifting the demotivating into motivating—with practical tools to reframe obstacles.
  • 5-step guide to overcoming the unexpected, like company reorganizations or bouncing back from an embarrassing mistake.
  • Accepting, and even leaning into, failure.

 

Sustainable Success: The WILD COURAGE to Protect Your Time and Avoid Burnout

Do you own your calendar or does your calendar own you? Do you say “maybe” when you wish you had the courage to say “no”? People-pleasing pleases no one and keeps you small. Brutality is cleaner, more effective, and far kinder. Cut through the bull and spare everyone’s time, energy, and attention. And tap into your Wild Courage as you do it. After all, to be successful, you need to be Weird, Selfish, Shameless, Nosy, Obsessed, Manipulative, Brutal, Reckless, and Bossy. And that takes courage. Wild amounts of it.

In this high-energy and interactive keynote, you will learn:

  • To say “yes” to the big and “no” to the small.
  • Why multitasking is a lie and what to do about it.
  • How to communicate with conviction in meetings and over email in a way that saves everyone time.
  • How to curb your desire to people-please and stand up for yourself.
  • Why failure is just data.

 

Aspire Higher: Chase the Career You Want With WILD COURAGE

Wood tells a generation tired of corporate platitudes the truth about what it takes to get what you want because the world is full of rules serving no function beyond deterring the deterrable. The more you wait for permission, the more you are almost ensuring it’ll never come. You get what you want by chasing it.

This keynote with Jenny Wood is a rebellion against conventional career wisdom. To be successful, you need to be Weird, Selfish, Shameless, Obsessed, Nosy, Manipulative, Brutal, Reckless, and Bossy. And that takes courage. Wild amounts of it.

As you aspire to get seen, get heard, and get ahead, this talk teaches you how to:

  • Self-promote with tactics that don’t feel awkward.
  • Communicate with conviction to wow your boss’s boss.
  • Influence people to win customers, colleagues, and allies.
  • Say “no” without feeling like a jerk.

 

WILD COURAGE for Women: A Rebellion Against Conventional Career Wisdom

For centuries, brilliant women have stayed stuck following outdated advice like, “Don't rock the boat,” “Your work will speak for itself,” and “Wait your turn.” Wood used to believe those things too. But what if the traits you need to get ahead are the exact opposite of what you've always been told? To be successful, you need to be Weird, Selfish, Shameless, Obsessed, Nosy, Manipulative, Brutal, Reckless, and Bossy. And that takes courage. Wild amounts of it.

As you aspire to get seen, get heard, and get ahead, this talk teaches you how to:

  • Self-promote with tactics that don’t feel awkward even if you're the only woman in the room.
  • Communicate with conviction to wow your boss’s boss.
  • Influence people to win customers, colleagues, and allies.
  • Say “no” without feeling like a jerk and curb your desire people-please.

You will leave with practical strategies (no fluff here) to influence stakeholders, land mentors and sponsors, and treat failure as data.

Continue Reading »

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booksLatest Books

Cover of the book "Wild Courage" by Jenny Wood. The cover features bold black text that says "Wild Courage" at the top, with yellow splashes in the background. Below the title, the subtitle reads "Go After What You Want and Get It" in bold yellow text. The author's name, Jenny Wood, appears at the bottom in black. A small blurb credits Kim Scott, a New York Times bestselling author, saying, "Your candid career coach for unstoppable growth.

Wild Courage: Go After What You Want and Get It