CEOx  

CEO WISDOM EXCHANGE
Leadership Ideas Worth Sharing

Leadership Thought Leaders

Full Bios                                                                   go to: Brief Bios

Q2 – May 11, 2018 – The Power of Total Commitment

Frank Wagner

Frank Wagner

Internationally renowned Leadership Expert, Master Coach, and Partner/Practice Leader for Stakeholder Centered Coaching by Marshall Goldsmith, the world's #1 leadership thinker and #7 business thinker (by Harvard Business Review and Thinkers 50).

Frank has been a full-time consultant in the field of leadership since 1981. Frank's consulting career began when he joined the staff part time at The Center for Leadership Studies with Paul Hersey in the late 1970's.

He then became a partner and director at Keilty, Goldsmith & Boone. Besides co-founding Prism Ltd in 1986, Frank currently serves as a Director with GEO Strategic Services Inc., an organization focused on helping organizations with strategic action in FastTime. In leadership development Frank's training specialty is leadership behavior; with an emphasis on commitment, teamwork, influence across organizational boundaries, coaching, and faster strategic planning and execution. His training designs all revolve around a specific leadership model supported by exercises and tools to apply the concepts learned.

As a behavioral coach, Frank brings a broad base of experience working with individuals from mid-level management through C-level positions. First with the Alliance for Strategic Leadership (A4SL), then with Marshall Goldsmith Partners, Frank oversaw the training process in Marshall Goldsmith's method of behavioral coaching.

In this capacity, he co-developed and trained all coaches in the Marshall Goldsmith Partners network. Now Frank is a partner in The Marshall Goldsmith Group and co-founder of Stakeholder-Centered Coaching with Chris Coffey, Marshall Goldsmith and Willy Linssen after Marshall Goldsmith asked him to lead the coaching practice based on his methods. He also serves as a coach & facilitator for Global Leadership Associates.

Client companies include: Apple Computer, Citibank, Coca-Cola, Cisco, Darden, Dun & Bradstreet, the FBI, General Foods, Hawaiian Airlines, IDS Financial Services, IBM; Intel, KPMG, Lawrence Livermore, Sandia National Laboratories, Microsoft, National Semiconductor, NationsBank, Reebok International, Sequent Computer, Tektronix, Toyota Financial, Warner Lambert, Wells Fargo Bank and, the UCLA Technical Management Program, 3D Systems, Jive Software; Keen Footwear, Network Associates, Rhythm & Hues Studios, Rodan & Fields, The EastWest Institute, American Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross,Red Crescent Societies, UNDP Bureau of Conflict Prevention and Recovery, UNICEF, The Nature Conservancy, Volunteers of America, The US Army.

Frank has a Ph.D. and an MBA from The Anderson School of Management, UCLA where he also served as a Post Doctoral Scholar. His undergraduate degree is in Economics from Santa Clara University,

 
CEOx Talk (video): Comming soon

 

The Power of Total Commitment
The Power of Total Commitment: A Leader's Legacy

by Frank Wagner



Q1 – February 23, 2018 – The Art of Strategic Leadership – Preparing for the Future

Steven J. Stowell

Steven Stowell

Internationally renowned leadership expert, Dr. Steven J. Stowell is the Founder and President of the Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness, Inc. CMOE was created in 1978 for the purpose of helping chief executives and their teams maximize their effectiveness and create strategic competitiveness. Steve helps leaders and organizations transform into high-performance cultures that are focused on long-term, sustained growth.

Steve enjoys the challenges of:

• Helping functional organizations define, create, and execute strategy in order to differentiate the business.
• Developing and designing creative and innovative learning experiences, simulations, and keynote presentations.
• Helping functions across the organization be more effective and aligned in executing long-term plans.

The centerpiece of Steve’s consulting, learning, and executive coaching work is his advocacy of applied research and data collection. Steve is a highly effective presenter and facilitator and enjoys creating customized solutions, assisting senior teams, defining strategic direction from the individual level to the corporate and business-unit level, and improving teams that are faced with important challenges and issues.

His areas of expertise include: Off-site Strategic Retreat Facilitation, Management and Leadership Development, Curriculum Design and Development, Senior Leadership Team Development, One-on-One Executive Coaching, Organization research, Creative, Experiential Programs, Cultural Change Interventions, Organization Effectiveness Research, Organization Planning, and Productivity Improvement and Competitiveness.

His clients include: Abbott, Bank of Montreal, Boeing, BP, Cargill, ChevronTexaco, Delta Airlines, Ernst and Young, ExxonMobil, FBI & DOD, Fed Ex, FMC, Gulfstream Aerospace, Johnson Controls, Kaiser Permanente, Kellogg’s, L-3, Lennox, Lockheed Martin, McCormick, McKesson, NYPD, Pacific Gas & Electric, Pepsi Cola, Pfizer, Principal Financial Group, Procter & Gamble, Saudi Aramco, Sauer Danfoss, Schreiber, Toppan, Welch Allyn, Wells Fargo, and many other organizations.

 
CEOx Talk (video): The Art of Strategic Leadership

 

The Art of Strategic Leadership
The Art of Strategic Leadership: How Leaders at All Levels Prepare Themselves, Their Teams, and Organizations for the Future

by Steven J. Stowell



December 8, 2017 – How the Best Companies Continue to Keep their Brand Relevant

Allen Adamson

Allen Adamson

An internationally acclaimed expert in all disciplines of branding and marketing, Allen Adamson has led the creation of practical strategies that generated long-term business value and increased brand equity for many global companies including: Accenture, GE, Johnson & Johnson, FedEx, HBO, Marriott, MetLife, Verizon, Kraft, Mars, and Procter & Gamble, Lever Brothers and other iconic brands.

“Simple sticky ideas drive brand success”  —Allen Adamson


Allen Adamson is the founder and CEO of BrandSimple Consulting. Prior to this he was Chairman of Landor Associates, the world’s first and oldest global brand agency.

Allen is the author of the top-selling books: BrandSimple, BrandDigital, The Edge, and Shift Ahead (see below). He also writes a monthly column for Forbes.com about the impact of general business and cultural trends on branding and, specifically, how brands can break through in a world of communication overload.

Allen has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CNBC’s Squawk Box and Closing Bell, and Fox Business Network and is often quoted in publications including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, USA Today, the Washington Post, and Forbes.

He is a frequent guest lecturer at New York University’s Stern School of Business, the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, and the Harvard School of Continuing Education.

Allen received his BS from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

 
CEOx Talk (video): How the Best Companies Continue to Keep their Brand Relevant

 

Shift/Ahead
Shift Ahead: How the Best Companies Stay Relevant in a Fast-Changing World

by Allen Adamson



November 10, 2017 – Removing Obstacles to Growth and a Better Bottom Line

Dorriah Rogers

Dorriah Rogers

Dorriah Rogers, Ph.D., is the CEO of Autry Industrial, which recently developed a cooling process for industrial applications that consumes no water and requires no electrical input. Autry’s patent-pending technology allows our customers in the manufacturing, power, and data center sectors to significantly reduce operating costs, improve efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and improve plant safety.


As the CEO of Paradyne Consulting Works, Dorriah’s list of more than 50 clients includes the California Natural Resources Agency, Xcel Energy, Black & Veatch, ExxonMobil, Shell, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Defense, Lockheed Martin, Kiewit, etc.

Dorriah’s recently published book Decide to Profit: 9 Steps to a Better Bottom Line is based on her twelve-plus years as CEO and leadership consultant at Paradyne Consulting Works.

Prior to Paradyne, Dorriah ran an engineering/technology company where she patented and commercialized a catalytic converter for diesel applications. Dorriah has deep experience in experience in start-ups, investment, intellectual property, and technology commercialization.

Dorriah holds a Ph.D. from the Graduate Group in Ecology, Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis. She was appointed to the Ambassador’s Club for the Society of Automotive Engineers; She also served on the National Academy of Science Transportation Research Board. Dorriah has served as part-time faculty at California State University Channel Islands, where she taught Business Operations. She has been named “Entrepreneur of the Year” and has been nominated to “Women Making a Difference”.

 
CEOx Talk (video): Removing Obstacles to Growth and a Better Bottom Line

 

Decide to Profit
Decide to Profit: 9 Steps to a Better Bottom Line

by Dorriah Rogers



October 13, 2017 – Driving Business Results with High-Impact Storytelling

Esther Choy

Jan Rutherford

Esther Choy is the President, CEO, and Chief Story Facilitator of Leadership Story Lab, a training and consulting firm dedicated to teaching classical storytelling to modern leaders.

She also lectures in Kellogg’s Executive Education Programs at Northwestern University, and the University of Zurich’s Department of Quantitative Business Administration.

Since 2010, Esther has coached thousands of executives, motivating their teams, facilitating change and wining customers through storytelling. To-date her investment-firm clients have raised over $5 billion in new assets under management.

In addition to being a nationally acclaimed expert in business storytelling and an AMACOM business book author, Esther is a self-proclaimed expert in having fun while doing serious things.

Ms. Choy lives in Chicago with her husband and two children.

Her favorite questions for everyone are:
    1–What’s your story?  2–How will you tell it?  3–Who will listen?

 
CEOx Talk (video): Driving Business Results with High-Impact Storytelling

 

Let the Story Do the Work
Let the Story Do the Work:
The Art of Storytelling for Business Success

by Esther Choy



September 8, 2017 – Understanding & Preparing for a Future of Extreme Disruption

Bob Johansen

Bob Johansen


“Listening for the future is hard work. Leaders must learn how to listen through the noise of a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world. But leaders can make a better future. We need not and should not passively accept any future as a given. Disciplined use of foresight can help leaders make better decisions today. There is short-term value in long-term thinking.”
 

Bob Johansen has been helping organizations around the world prepare for and shape the future for more than thirty years. The New Leadership Literacies is Bob’s eleventh book. He is a frequent keynote speaker for large groups and leads a wide range of workshops with rising-star leaders.

As a distinguished fellow at IFTF, Bob draws on his training in the social sciences and his extensive experience at the edges of multiple disciplines as he interacts with top leaders of business, government, and nonprofit organizations to encourage thoughtful consideration of the long-term future. His most recent book, the second edition of Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain Age, has contributions from the Center for Creative Leadership. Connect Consulting Group named this book on change management and leadership as the best business book of 2012. Bob has done workshops based on his books at a wide range of corporations, including P&G, Kellogg’s, Disney, Intel, Walmart, Syngenta, Johnson & Johnson, UPS, McKinsey, General Mills, and McDonald’s. Major universities, nonprofits, and churches also use his books.

Born in Geneva, Illinois, Bob holds a BS from the University of Illinois, where he attended on a basketball scholarship and channeled his unrealistic desire to be a professional athlete. He received a PhD from Northwestern University, where he was introduced to the Internet (then called the ARPANet) as it was just coming to life. In addition, Bob has a divinity school degree from Crozer Theological Seminary, where he began his lifelong interest in world religions, ethics, and things spiritual. Bob was the president of the Institute for the Future for eight years and founded its program of research on emerging technology horizons.

Bob is married to Robin B. Johansen, an attorney practicing constitutional law. They have two children and three grandchildren.

 
CEOx Talk (video): Understanding & Preparing for a Future of Extreme Disruption

 

The New Leadership Literacies
The New Leadership Literacies: Thriving in a Future of Extreme
Disruption and Distributed Everything

by Bob Johansen




August 11, 2017 – Accelerating Team Performance – Lessons from Special Ops

Jan Rutherford

Jan Rutherford

Jan has over 25 years of business experience and has been a CEO and held executive roles in business development, marketing, sales, training, and product management.

Jan entered the U.S. Army at age 17 (weighing 114 pounds) where he spent six years in Special Forces as a medic and “A” team executive officer, and three years as a military intelligence officer.

In 2011, Jan founded Self-Reliant Leadership, LLC – a leadership development firm focused on helping leaders and teams develop self-reliance to create powerful results through executive workshops, custom programs, coaching, and wilderness expeditions. He is also cohost of The Leadership Podcast.

As a Senior Instructor at the University of Colorado Denver Business School for over a decade, Jan teaches ‘Leadership in New Ventures’ to MBA students and Doctor of Nursing Practice candidates. He also teaches ‘Leadership & Entrepreneurship in Ireland’ (delivered on-site in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) to business students.

As a professional speaker, Jan presents the self-reliant leadership principles contained in his book The Littlest Green Beret: On Self-Reliant Leadership to business leaders across the U.S. and Europe. Half the proceeds of Jan’s book are distributed to the Green Beret and Special Operations Warrior Foundations. Jan also serves as an advisor for various veteran organizations.

Jan holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix, where his research focused on the effects of long-distance learning on job performance. He earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of South Florida, and was a Distinguished Military Graduate.

Jan is a dual U.S. and Irish citizen with a special affinity for Ireland and the wilderness of the Western United States.

 
CEOx Talk (video): Accelerating Team Performance – Lessons from Special Ops

 

The Littlest Green Beret
The Littlest Green Beret: On Self-Reliant Leadership

by Jan Rutherford



June 9, 2017 – Maximizing Employee Engagement, Accountability & Retention

Jathan Janove

Janthan Janove

Jathan is the founder and CEO of Janove Organizations Solutions.

Having previously spent 25 years litigating employment relationships that had turned toxic, Jathan now works with employers as an organization development consultant, executive coach, and trainer to improve leadership, trust, accountability, retention and employee engagement.

Jathan is an internationally published author, his books include: “Managing to Stay Out of Court: How to Avoid the 8 Deadly Sins of Mismanagement” (which Dr. Stephen R. Covey described as “Marvelous! Every manager will benefit immensely”) and The Star Profile: A Management Tool To Unleash Employee Potential (a Gold Medal winner at Book Expo America 2009).

Jathan’s latest book is "Hard-Won Wisdom: True Stories from The Management Trenches." Marshall Goldsmith, world-renowned executive coach states, “Read this insightful book. It contains compelling stories with specific, actionable advice that will help anyone’s career.” Daniel H. Pink states, “By sharing many of his best stories and experiences, Jathan Janove creates a short-cut for us to the knowledge needed to become an empathetic, effective leader in the workplace.”

Jathan also writes the “Are Your Employees Engaged?” blog column for Business Management Daily, and blogs on his website. He is a longtime contributor to HR Magazine and other publications and is active on both LinkedIn and Twitter.

 
CEOx Talk (video): Maximizing Employee Engagement, Accountability & Retention

 

Hard-Won Wisdom
Hard-Won Wisdom: True Stories from the Management Trenches

by Jathan Janove



 

May 12, 2017 – Navigating the New Norm: Disruptive Marketing

Geoffrey Colon

Geoffrey Colon

Geoffrey Colon is the voice at the intersection of marketing, tech, and popular culture. Thinking is his commodity. DJ, data punk, podcaster and author, Geoffrey is a Communications Designer at Microsoft in Redmond, WA for Microsoft search advertising (Bing).

Geoffrey has written for or been quoted in various publications and media outlets including Fast Company, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Billboard Magazine, Advertising Age, Digiday, Branding Strategy Insider, Entrepreneur and The Los Angeles Times. He has also appeared on Cheddar TV, NASDAQ Live, WABC-AM New York, BOOKSTR Talks and Marketplace on NPR. He is an avid speaker on the global marketing conference circuit. Disruptive Marketing is his first book.

Geoffrey is producer/host of the video series "The Disruptive Marketer" and podcast "Disruptive FM." He blogs regularly on Branding Strategy Insider. He also contributes original thought leadership to LinkedIn, Medium and the Bing Ads blog.

Prior to joining Microsoft in 2013, Geoffrey was vice president of digital strategy at Ogilvy & Mather in New York City.

Geoffrey has spent 20 years in various marketing capacities working for and with several of the most influential brands including Red Bull, Spotify, Netflix, American Express, The Economist, Coca-Cola, IBM, WWE and Food Network. He spent a few years in the New York City tech startup world and several years in the music industry as DJ Geoffe where he released over a dozen commercially available house music compilations. He has also worked with several high profile musical artists including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, The White Stripes and Moby.

He is a 1994 graduate of Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. Geoffery's website is: GeoffreyColon.net

 
CEOx Talk (video): Navigating the New Norm: Disruptive Marketing

 

Disruptive Marketing
Disruptive Marketing: What Growth Hackers, Data Punks, and Other Hybrid Thinkers Can Teach Us About Navigating the New Normal

by Geoffrey Colon



 

April 14, 2017 – Creating High-Performance Companies

Paul J. Zak

Paul J. Zak

Paul Zak is a scientist, prolific author, and public speaker. He is the President of ZESTxLabs and the co-founder of Ofactor. ZESTxLabs quantifies ad impact and consumer experiences using four measures of brain activity. Ofactor helps companies create and sustain a high-trust culture; the Ofactor solution is based on field and lab-based neuroscience research.

Paul’s two decades of research have taken him from the Pentagon to Fortune 50 boardrooms to the rain forest of Papua New Guinea. All this in a quest to understand the neuroscience of human connection, human happiness, and effective teamwork. His academic lab and the companies he has started develop and deploy neuroscience technologies to solve real problems faced by real people.

His latest book, Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High Performance Companies, uses neuroscience to measure and manage organizational cultures to inspire teamwork and accelerate business outcomes. His 2012 bestselling book, The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity, recounted his unlikely discovery of the neurochemical oxytocin as the key driver of trust, love, and morality that distinguish our humanity. In another obsession, Paul’s group uses neuroscience to quantify the impact of movies, advertising, stories, and consumer experiences. Along the way, he has help start several transdisciplinary fields, including neuroeconomics, neuromanagement, and neuromarketing.

Paul is the founding Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies and Professor of Economics, Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. He has degrees in mathematics and economics from San Diego State University, a Ph.D. in economics from University of Pennsylvania, and post-doctoral training in neuroimaging from Harvard. Learn more about Paul at PaulJZak.com.

 
CEOx Talk (video): Creating High Performance Companies

 

Trust Factor
Trust Factor: The Science of Creating High-Performance Companies

by Paul J. Zak



 

March 10, 2017 – Leading the Unleadable

Alan Willett

Alan Willett

Alan Willett is president of Oxseeker, a leadership development and organizational culture change consultancy whose clients include Oracle, Microsoft, NASA, Intuit, and others.

Alan is the author of Leading the Unleadable: How to Manage Mavericks, Cynics, Divas, and Other Difficult People. Alan describes himself as, “An expert consultant, an author, a speaker, a teacher, a husband, a father, a voracious writer, and reader, and enjoying the lifelong journey of adventure. “

Prior to Alan’s current activities, he has run across the country, was a member of the founding of “ecovillage at Ithaca,” worked as software engineer, lead various product development efforts and worked at the world-wide think-tank, the Software Engineering Institute. Alan’s Master of Science degree was designed around innovation in the fast-paced world of technology development.

Alan Willett is the master of the “friction points” where business needs meet reality. Alan transforms the heat of the friction points into innovative results. You can learn more by visiting his website at LeadTheUnleadable.com.

 
CEOx Talk (video): Leading the Unleadable

 

Leading the Unleadable
Leading the Unleadable: How to Manage Mavericks, Cynics, Divas, and Other Difficult People

by Alan Willett



 

February 10, 2017 – Winning the Innovation Race

Andrew & Gaia Grant

The Grants

Andrew Grant and Gaia Grant are the founders and directors of Tirian International Consultancy, and co-authors of the breakthrough new book The Innovation Race: How to change a culture to change the game, along with the international bestseller "Who Killed Creativity?... And How Can We Get it Back?: Seven essential strategies for making yourself, your team and your organization more innovative."

The Grants have helped to create a culture of innovation for top Fortune 500 businesses worldwide. They have facilitated workshops on sustainable solutions for emerging markets at Nestlé in Switzerland; prepared teams for the future of the hospitality industry at the Four Seasons Hotels in Canada and for selected properties around the globe; helped to introduce future-solutions thinking at Google’s headquarters in the US; and created compelling marketing ideas for Disney in HK.

Andrew and Gaia have featured in the Harvard Business Review, Wall St Journal, Fast Company, BBC, CCTV, Sky TV and ABC TV and are consistently top-rated feature keynote speakers at all the events they present at – including the World Innovation Conference (France), World Presidents Organization Global Edge Conference (Australia), Unwired (Singapore) and Salesforce.com Roadshow (Asia Pacific). Andrew is a featured TEDx HK speaker, and Gaia is a guest lecturer in the Business School at Sydney University where she is also conducting research into how to create a culture that supports innovation for a PhD. Gaia is also the author of A Patch of Paradise and The Rhythm of Life. Gaia has a BA, Dip Ed, BD (hons), Grad Dip Change Leadership, and MSc in Creative Thinking (International Centre for Studies in Creativity State University of NY).

Outside of their corporate work, Andrew & Gaia have also worked on breakthrough pro bono education projects across Asia, India and Latin America including designing an educational health curriculum that has reached over 25 million people worldwide. Their research on this topic has taken them round the world for over 30 years, from the large super cities and CEO offices to tribal leaders in remote villages.

 

The Innovation Race
The Innovation Race: How to change a culture to change the game

by Andrew Grant & Gaia Grant



 

December 9, 2016 – Connecting with the People who Power your Business

Ed Wallace

Ed Wallace

The foremost authority on business relationships
and their impact on performance

 

Ed founded The Relational Capital Group to bring his relationship-building principles to corporations and their professionals. As a critically acclaimed author, Ed speaks to companies and organizations around the world with a client list that is a Who's Who of the Fortune 500.

The Relational Capital Group provides professional development, technology applications and consulting services to help organizations and individuals develop the key relationships that most impact their business performance. Organizations adopting the Relationship Ladder process create key performance advantages leading to improved relationship effectiveness, profitability and sustainability in the global marketplace.

He has authored four books on relational capital – Fares to Friends, Creating Relational Capital, Business Relationships That Last, and The Relationship Engine. Ed has become critically acclaimed as the foremost authority on business relationships as he again illustrates his relationship-building principles through real-life stories, examples, and insights gathered from his experiences – demonstrating to his readers why establishing and advancing outstanding business relationships is the true secret to success.

Ed is an Executive Education faculty member of Drexel’s LeBow College of Business and Villanova University’s Human Resources Master’s program. He was a Teaching Fellow at Drexel University, where he earned his MBA, has a B.S. in Accounting (cum laude) from Villanova University, and a CPA designation in the State of Pennsylvania. He is currently on the advisory board of DeVry University.

 

The Relationship Engine
The Relationship Engine: Connecting with the People who Power your Business

by Ed Wallace



November 11, 2016 – Using Big Data to Leapfrog the Competition

Christopher Surdak

Christopher Surdak

 

 
A globally renowned expert in Big Data, collaboration and content management, information security, regulatory compliance, and Cloud computing with over 20 years of professional experience.

 
 
 

Christopher Surdak is President and CEO of Surdak & Company, a technology strategy consulting firm. He is an industry-recognized expert in Mobility, Social Media and Analytics, Big Data, Information Security, Regulatory Compliance, and Cloud Computing with over 20 years of experience.

Chris has held leadership roles with leading companies such as Accenture, Siemens, Dell and Citibank. Mr. Surdak began his career with Lockheed Martin Astrospace, where he was a spacecraft systems engineer and rocket scientist.

He is author of Data Crush: How the Information Tidal Wave is Driving New Business Opportunities, recipient of GetAbstract’s International Book of the Year Award, 2014. He is also contributing author to the book Big Data Combat” a 2016 best-seller in China, a recipient of the Information Governance Initiative’s Evangelist of the Year for 2015, and the WhartonDC Benjamin Franklin Innovator of the Year Award for 2015. His latest book is Jerk: Twelve Steps to Rule the World.

Chris is "Honored Consultant" to the FutureTrek Community of Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and a contributing editor and columnist for European Business Review, European Financial Review, China Business Review and HP Matter magazines.

Chris holds a Juris Doctor from Taft University, an Executive Masters In Technology Management and a Moore Fellowship from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s Certificate in Information Security from Villanova University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University.

 

Jerk
Jerk: Twelve Steps to Rule the World

by Christopher Surdak



October 14, 2016 – Unlock Creativity and Spark New Relevant Ideas

Bernhard Schroeder

Bernhard Schroeder

 
Using his CreativityWorks framework, Bernhard Schroeder shows us how to break out of our mental box, adopt a growth mindset, reignite natural curiosity, and move step by step through a set of exercises that help individuals and teams fuel creativity, create more relevant ideas, and radically improve existing products and services.

 

Bernhard Schroeder is the Entrepreneurship Center Director at the prestigious Lavin Entrepreneurship Center at San Diego State University. He oversees all of the undergraduate and graduate internship programs, the Lavin VentureStart Programs, Entrepreneur Day, LaunchIn, the SDSU LeanModel competition as well as the SDSU business plan competition teams. He teaches entrepreneurship and creativity and innovation courses.

Bernhard has over 20 years of marketing and entrepreneurial experience in the business world, both as a Senior Partner in a leading global marketing agency and as a former Chief Marketing Officer on the client side.

Prior to joining the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center, Bernhard was a Senior Partner in the worlds' largest integrated marketing communications agency, CKS Partners, which in 1998 had offices in over 30 countries, more than 10,000 employees and over $1 billion in revenue.

He has experience working with Fortune 100 firms like Apple, Nike, General Motors, American Express, Mercedes Benz, Kellogg's and others as well as start-up companies. He was involved in the initial branding and marketing launches for companies like Yahoo!, Amazon, Corbis, ESPN and Travelocity. Prior to CKS Partners, Bernhard worked with direct mail and database marketing agencies helping them grow significantly.

He is the author of the bestseller, Fail Fast or Win Big and Simply Brilliant.

 

Simply Brilliant
Simply Brilliant: Powerful Techniques to Unlock Your Creativity and Spark New Ideas

by Bernhard Schroeder



September 9, 2016 – Navigate Through Risk to Results

Eric Kaufmann

Eric Kaufmann

 
 
Eric Kaufmann is an internationally recognized expert in guiding leaders to make better decisions and achieve better results.

 
 

 
 

Eric Kaufmann is an author, facilitator and executive coach who guides leaders to go below the surface and beyond the obvious so they can think more clearly, make better decisions, and relate wholeheartedly. Eric is President of Sagatica, a leadership advisory firm for leaders and teams seeking to prevail in critical personal or organization transitions, whose clients include Sony, SunPower, Verizon, T-Mobile, Genentech, Union-Tribune, Union Bank, and BAE Systems. By applying tested processes and skills that blend Strategic Thinking with Zen Practices, Eric guides leaders to evolve and change, and upgrade their priorities, strategies, and skills.

Eric’s book, 4 Virtues of a Leader: Navigating the Hero’s Journey Through Risk to Results, explores the four virtue’s shared by successful, passionate, and creative leaders and how they navigate through uncertainty and anxiety. Eric’s work is shaped from the crucible of his journey which includes 16 years of leadership consulting and coaching, management roles at Fortune 100 firms, degrees in business and psychology, a quarter century of Zen practice, living in Israel and South Africa, teaching as a Master Scuba Diving instructor, working as a certified hypnotherapist, and even from living in a year-long retreat in an isolated cabin he built in the mountains of New Mexico.

 

The Four Virtues of a Leader
The Four Virtues of a Leader: Navigating the Hero's Journey Through Risk to Results

by Eric Kaufmann



June 3, 2016 – Defusing the Stress of Executive Leadership while Boosting Productivity

Sharon Melnick

Sharon Melnick

As a business psychologist, Dr. Sharon Melnick is a leading authority helping business professionals move to the next level and have success under stress. Her methods are informed by 10 years of research at Harvard Medical School, sharpened by training in cutting edge stress resilience techniques, and field tested by over 7500 clients and training participants.

Dr. Melnick is the author of the top-selling book, Success Under Stress: Powerful Tools for Staying Calm, Confident, and Productive When the Pressure's On.

Dr. Melnick, CEO of Horizon Point Inc, is an internationally renowned speaker and trainer. Her trainings on Resilience in demanding times - delivered multiple times at organizations such as Procter and Gamble, Moodys, GE, Merck, and Coldwell Banker - receive rave reviews and repeat invites 100% of the time she speaks. Recently, popular topics among corporate audiences include Resilient Leadership in Demanding Times (Success under Stress), Effective Influencing, and Confident Leadership for Women. Popular topics for business audiences include from Action Blocker to Action Taker, from Overwhelmed to Optimized, and Success under Stress.

Dr. Melnick regularly contributes to Forbes.com, Fox News, AOL Stylelist, the Huffington Post, Southwest Spirit Magazine, CBS Radio, Natural Health Magazine, USAToday.com, Psychology Today, and others.

Dr. Melnick serves as an executive coach, with engagements at Deutsche Bank, Deloitte Consulting, Pitney Bowes, Visiting Nurse Service of NY, Merrill Lynch, Korn/Ferry International, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and many others. She has taught her effectiveness techniques at the School of Management at Boston College, and at Fortune 500 companies and non profit organizations. Her training is from Yale University, UC Berkeley, Harvard Medical School, and the Institute for Management Studies.

She also serves as a Global Ambassador for the UN Women and International Broadband Commission sponsored SmartWoman Project.

 

 

May 13, 2016 – The Reality (Not the Rhetoric) of Effective Leadership

Anthony F. Smith

Anthony F. Smith

Anthony (Tony) F. Smith is the Co-founder and Managing Director of LEADERSHIP RESEARCH INSTITUTE, a global management and leadership consulting firm. He has been an active consultant for over twenty-five years in the areas of organizational change, post-merger integration, organizational assessment, executive coaching and development, and leadership training and design. He has served clients in a variety of fields, including McKinsey and Company, Goldman Sachs, TPG, National Geographic, ESPN, the NFL, American Express, Lazard Asset Management LLC, and Spencer Stuart. He has also served in the not for profit space, serving clients such as Women’s World Banking, American Red Cross, The Nature Conservancy, and the Carnegie Institute.

Anthony has served on the teaching and research faculties of several universities, including Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, the University of California, and the European School of Management at Oxford University. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in the Behavioral Sciences where he received a scholarship to study humanistic psychology under the supervision of Dr. Carl Rogers, world renowned psychologist at the University of Bristol, UK. He earned his Doctorate from the School of Leadership and Educational Sciences at the University of San Diego. Following his Doctorate, Anthony was appointed as a Post-Doctoral Fellow of Social Anthropology at the University of California, where he studied Leadership and Organizational Culture under F. G. Bailey, world class scholar and author of Humbuggery and Manipulation, The Art of Leadership.

Anthony’s research and writings on leadership have appeared in several publications, including the European Journal of Management, the Journal of Leadership Studies, Businessweek, Investors Business Daily, The Economist, and the best-selling books, The Leader of the Future and The Organization of the Future, both published by the Drucker Foundation. Wired Magazine cited Dr. Smith as an “acclaimed visionary” for his insights and provocative views on leadership along with Charles Handy and Jay Galbraith. He is also author of the critically acclaimed book entitled Leadership Taboos: The Ten Secrets No One Will Tell You About Leaders and What They Really Think, (Jossey Bass, March 2007), and ESPN; The Story and Lessons Behind the Most Fanatical Brand in Sports, (Wiley and Sons, August 2009). His latest book, The Art of Leveraging Luck in Life and Leadership, is due out early 2016. Anthony serves on several boards, including the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

 

Apr. 8, 2016 – Racial, Religious & Gender Intelligence – Making Differences Work at Work

Michelle T. Johnson

Michelle T. Johnson

Michelle T. Johnson is a writer, public speaker, playwright, and diversity consultant/trainer. She is a former employment attorney for two Kansas City, Missouri law firms, including one of the largest in the city (Husch Blackwell Sanders LLC), representing companies and organizations in employment litigation, including Hallmark Cards, the Kansas City, Missouri School District, Deffenbaugh Industries, DST, Kansas City Power and Light and Interstate Brands Corporation (IBC).

As a certified mediator who has practiced law in the states of Missouri and Kansas, Michelle has performed mediations for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Kansas City, Missouri Human Relations Department and private mediations, and has served by appointment to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights as a member of its Kansas Advisory Committee.

She has a column in the business section of the Kansas City Star since 2008 called "Diversity Diva" and is the author of three books on diversity: "The Diversity Code: Unlock the Secrets to Making Differences Work in the Real World", "Working While Black: The Black Person's Guide to Success in the White Workplace" and "Black Out: The Black Person's Guide to Redefining a Career Path Outside of Corporate".

Michelle is also a former journalist who worked as a newspaper reporter at the Philadelphia Daily News, the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Austin American-Statesman.

In addition to being a regular commentator on National Public Radio ("NPR"), Ms. Johnson has spoken on diversity issues and conducted diversity workshops for several organizations, businesses and colleges across the country, including Wal-Mart, H&R Block, Hallmark, and several municipalities. Michelle's website is www.MichelleTJohnson.com.

Mar. 11, 2016 – The Five Competency Framework for a Customer-Driven Growth Engine

Jeanne Bliss

Jeanne Bliss

 
 
"If Jeanne Bliss hadn’t written her first book, I wouldn’t be in the role I have today. Now, ten years later, she continues to provide leading guidance for Chief Customer Officers."

—Jeb Dasteel, SVP & Chief Customer Officer, Oracle

 
 
Jeanne Bliss, the Founder and President of CustomerBliss, is listed as the World's Top 30 Customer Service Professionals for 2015 by GlobalGurus.org

Jeanne pioneered the role of the Chief Customer Officer, holding the first ever CCO role at Lands’ End, Microsoft, Coldwell Banker, and Allstate Corporations. Reporting to each company’s CEO, she moved the customer to the strategic agenda, redirecting priorities to create transformational changes to each brands’ customer experience. She has driven achievement of 95 percent loyalty rates, improving customer experiences across 50,000-person organizations.

Jeanne now leads CustomerBliss, an international consulting business where she coaches executive leadership teams and customer leadership executives on how to put customer profitability at the center of their business, by getting past lip service; to operationally relevant, operationally executable plans and processes. Her clients include Johnson & Johnson, TD Ameritrade, St. Jude's Children's Hospitals, Bombardier Aircraft and many others.

Jeanne is the author of the groundbreaking book, “Chief Customer Officer” (Jossey-Bass, 2006). The book was the first of its kind to address the role of the customer leadership executive. It quickly became a bestseller and has been translated into eight languages. Her second book, “I Love You More than My Dog: Five Decisions that Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad,” (Portfolio, 2001) was also a bestseller and translated into five languages. Her latest book, “Chief Customer Officer 2.0” (Wiley) was published on June 15, 2015.

Feb. 12, 2016 – The Key Practices of Leaders who Achieve Maximum Effectiveness

Jeff Wolf

Jeff Wolf

Named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders by the prestigious Leadership Excellence Magazine for his accomplishments in leadership development, managerial effectiveness and organizational productivity, Jeff Wolf is one of America’s foremost executive business coaches, speakers and management consultants. His strategic focus on solving corporate and human issues has garnered continuing raves from myriad global organizations.

Jeff has worked with some of the largest corporations in the world; his perspective is highly informed and business oriented, meshing firsthand expertise with a pragmatic, down-to-earth philosophy that dramatically boosts profitability and morale—even in the most complex and financially turbulent times.

Featured on NBC, CBS, CNBC and Fox, Jeff understands what today’s leaders demand: business acumen, leadership skills and common sense, all of which produce extraordinary growth. Whether he’s working with world-class organizations or small businesses, Jeff’s clients—including Sony, AT&T, Samsung, Abbott Labs, CVS/Caremark, URS, Ace Hardware, Hyatt, Baxter International, Cummins, Pfizer, Tupperware International, Thomson Reuters, Monsanto, General Mills and hundreds of others—know where to come when they want to hire the best. As founder and president of Wolf Management Consultants, he has built a valued practice that addresses the critical problems confronting businesses today.

Jeff brings a wealth of practical, real-life expertise and presence to every consulting, coaching and speaking relationship. As the former CEO of one of the country’s largest healthcare-receivables management companies, he put his fundamental philosophy into action on a daily basis: “You improve the bottom line by focusing on the people side of business.” Revenues grew dramatically: a remarkable thousand-fold in 7 years.

Jeff's first book, Roadmap to Success, with management gurus Ken Blanchard and Stephen Covey, is now in its second printing. His latest book, Seven Disciplines of a Leader, was released in November 2014.

 

Jan. 8, 2016 – How the Most Effective CEOs Manage the Board that Manages Them

Beverly Behan

Beverly Behan

 
Named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Governance and the Boardroom, Beverly has worked with more than 140 Boards of Directors in the US and around the world—from Fortune 500 corporations to closely-held family businesses to recent IPOs. She writes "The Boardroom" column for Bloomberg BusinessWeek and is often quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Business 2.0 and other publications.

Beverly Behan, President of Board Advisor, began working with Boards of Directors in 1996 with Mercer Consulting in Canada. Her first major client was the Board of a major Canadian bank, which was internationally recognized for the work that Beverly did with their board.

In 2000, Beverly was transferred to New York and became a partner in the Governance Practice of Mercer Delta Consulting. During that time, she served as an expert advisor to the NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Board Leadership and co-authored "Building Better Boards: A Blueprint for Effective Governance" (Jossey-Bass, 20015).

In 2006, she became Managing Director of the Board Effectiveness Practice of the Hay Group, which enabled her to expand her work internationally. She also became a regular columnist on board issues for BusinessWeek.com (The Boardroom). She left Hay in 2009 to found her own practice, Board Advisor, LLC, based in New York.

Beverly is also the author of the highly praised book: "Great Companies Deserve Great Boards: A CEO's Guide to the Boardroom."

 

Dec. 11, 2015 – How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life

Mark Goulston

Mark Goulston
"Mark is an articulate intuitive. He knows that what people at every level of a company or organization don’t say often determines their behavior more than what they do say. More importantly, he directly addresses this elephant in the room in a non-threatening way that opens the road to change, growth and breakthrough results."

—Warren Bennis, Chairman of The Leadership Institute at USC

 
Dr. Mark Goulston is a nationally renowned psychiatrist, FBI and police hostage negotiation trainer, crisis psychiatrist for 30 years, UCLA professor of psychiatry for 25 years, and "One of America’s Top Psychiatrists" 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011 selected by the Consumers’ Research Council of America.

He is the author of seven books including “Just Listen” which has become the top book on listening in the world and “Get Out of Your Own Way” which has been in the top five self-help books at Amazon for past five years. His latest book is: “Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life”.

Mark is a frequent guest expert in the media including: CNN, Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC, and BBC News, Oprah, Today, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily, Los Angeles Times Co-Host of an all-black weekly radio show.

His C-Suite executive consulting clients' companies include: GE, IBM, Merrill Lynch, British Airways, Xerox, Disney, Cisco, FedEx, Mattel, State Farm, Goldman Sachs, Accenture, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Hyatt, Coca-Cola, Kaiser Permanente, AARP, E&Y, HCA, Costco, Northwest Mutual, USC, UCLA, University of Alabama, ESPN, Conference Board, Los Angeles DA, Superior Court Judges of Santa Clara County, ABA and the FBI.

 

Nov. 13, 2015 – How Leaders Can Craft Meaning that Increases Engagement & Productivity

Scott Mautz

Scott Mautz

 

Scott Mautz is the author of the highly praised book “Make It Matter: How Managers Can Motivate by Creating Meaning.” He is a 20 year veteran of Procter & Gamble with expertise in achieving results through inspiring the best in others, creating fulfilling work environments, and personal leadership. He currently runs a 3 billion dollar business at P&G.

 

Scott has worked in every sector at P&G and some of his favorite moments include launching the company’s biggest new brand launch in its history (Prilosec OTC), working in England and Switzerland with a leadership team composed of ten different nationalities, motivating a team to take a brand over the one billion mark in sales (Gain), and running several multi-billion dollar businesses while creating great work environments where everyone could thrive, not just survive (in the Dish Care and Family Care business units). Along the way he has had a consistent track record of transforming organizations, as evidenced by organizational health survey scores in his business units and by the results that his business units consistently post.

Scott is also a top rated thought leader and speaker, delivering over 20 keynote addresses per year speaking to thousands of people at P&G and other companies and universities such as the University of Cincinnati, Indiana University, the University of Wisconsin, and the Ohio State University. Scott speaks on a variety of performance and workplace fulfillment topics including “Meaning-Making Leadership”, “The Power of Legacy at Work”, “The Difference Between Good and Great Performance”, “Finding Your Leadership Voice”, “Servant Leadership”, “Inspirational Leadership”, “Authentic Leadership”, and “The Art & Science of Coaching”.

Scott was born in New York and has an undergraduate degree from Binghamton University (1991) and an MBA from Indiana University (1994). He lives in Cincinnati with his wife and daughter.

 

Oct. 9, 2015 – What Organizations Must Do to Make Sure New Leaders Succeed

David Dotlich

David Dotlich

 

Dr. David Dotlich is the president of Pivot, a strategic leadership boutique that develops corporate strategy and executive development programs for Fortune 500 companies such as Walmart, Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Nike, Microsoft, KKR, Aetna, Best Buy, DPDHL, AbbVie, Ericsson, and many others.

 
 

David is a successful entrepreneur who has founded and run two large independent companies, he advises CEOs and boards on issues of talent, leadership, and strategy.

Named one of the Top 50 Coaches in the United States, Dr. Dotlich is former executive vice president of Honeywell International, founder and former president of CDR International and Delta Executive Learning Center, and former president of Mercer Delta Consulting.

Dr. Dotlich is the co-author of 11 best-selling books, including his latest, Transitions at the Top: What Organizations Must Do to Make Sure New Leaders Succeed; The Unfinished Leader: Balancing Contradictory Answers to Unsolvable Problems; Head, Heart, and Guts: How the World’s Best Companies Develop Complete Leaders; Why CEOs Fail; Action Coaching; Unnatural Leadership; Action Learning: How the World’s Top Companies Are Re-Creating Their Leaders and Themselves; Leadership Passages: The Personal and Professional Transitions That Make or Break a Leader; and Leading in Times of Crisis: How to Navigate Complexity, Diversity, and Uncertainty to Save Your Company, which has been translated into ten languages. He is the co-editor of the Pfeiffer Leadership Development Annual, a yearly compilation of the research findings and practices of the foremost thinkers and practitioners in the field of leadership development throughout the world.

A certified psychologist in career development, life planning, and numerous psychological inventories, Dr. Dotlich was a founding partner of CDR International, which was acquired by Marsh McLennan. Previously he was an executive vice president of Groupe Bull S.A., a global computer manufacturer headquartered in Paris with 45,000 employees worldwide.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Dotlich was a professor at the University of Minnesota, teaching at the business school and in the Speech Communication Department. Additionally, he was the executive director of the Michigan Business School Human Resource Partnership.

David’s interest in people development began early, with a position as a social worker in the Cincinnati inner city through an Edmund James Fellowship from the University of Illinois. He pursued this interest while working on his MA degree in race relations at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. There, he conducted survey research on racial attitudes in the African townships and began an overland tour company, driving throughout Africa between Johannesburg and London and back. He completed his MA and PhD at the University of Minnesota, where he was selected Outstanding Graduate Student of the University. He has also completed the INSEAD Executive Program.

He has served on the Board of Directors for Schmitt Industries, a public company, and the Boards of Directors for Voyageurs Outward Bound and the Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis.

 

Sept. 11, 2015 – Identifying and Developing the Hidden Leaders in Your Organization

Scott Edinger

Scott Edinger

 
Scott K. Edinger is a recognized expert in helping organizations achieve measurable business results. He is a consultant, author, speaker and executive coach who has worked with some of the most prominent organizations in the world including AT&T, Harvard Business Publishing, Bank of America, Lenovo, Gannett and The Los Angeles Times.

 

Scott is a co-author of The Inspiring Leader: Unlocking the Secrets of How Extraordinary Leaders Motivate (McGraw-Hill 2009), and the Harvard Business Review article Making Yourself Indispensable, called by HBR a “classic in the making.” Scott has authored or co-authored dozens of other articles and white papers, has been a contributing author for The American Society for Training and Development Leadership Handbook, and is a blogger for the Harvard Business Review and Forbes. In addition, he is an affiliate faculty member for the University of North Carolina, Keenan-Flagler School of Business.

Prior to starting his firm Edinger Consulting Group, Scott worked with some of the most respected thought leaders in the performance consulting business including Neil Rackham on sales effectiveness, Jack Zenger on leadership and teams, and Joe Folkman on employee engagement. Scott adapts his experience working with those mentors to develop innovative solutions that generate dramatic and sustainable results for his clients.

Having worked at one of the “Big Four” professional services firms, as well as various prominent training and consulting firms, Scott has always produced great results. As the Executive Vice President for Zenger Folkman, he helped the organization achieve unprecedented growth during the worst recession since the Great Depression– the firm nearly doubled in size during his tenure. As Senior Vice President of Sales at Huthwaite, he led the company to record levels of growth and success.

Scott attended Florida State University where he received a BS in Rhetoric and Communication. Reflecting his desire to give back to the FSU community, Scott serves on alumni committees including the Board of the College of Communication and Information and Seminole Torchbearers. He also serves on the Board of Directors for The Florida Health Choices Corporation.

He was featured in the Gulf Coast Business Journal as one of the “40 under 40” Leaders to watch in the Tampa Bay Area. Although he cannot read music and is not a Mormon, he has performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Scott and his family live in Tampa, Florida.

 

August 14, 2015 – How the Best Leaders Transform Uncertainty and Anxiety into Results

Eric Kaufmann

Eric Kaufmann

 
Eric Kaufmann’s book, “Leadership as a Hero’s Journey,” explores the four virtues of successful, passionate and forward looking leaders. The book describes how these leaders navigate through uncertainty and manage anxiety in order to improve the lives and livelihoods of those around them.

 
 

Eric Kaufmann is an internationally recognized expert in guiding leaders to make better decisions and achieve better results.

As the CEO of Sagatica, a consulting, training, and leadership coaching firm, Eric's work brings executives and their teams to clarify their strategy, goals and vision; assess and enhance management teams; and identify and eliminate obstacles to collaboration, trust, and productivity. His roles as executive coach, management consultant, and keynote speaker are shaped by real-world business experience, as well as varied life experiences and perspectives.

Kaufmann is a native of Israel, who lived in South Africa, before gaining two decades of experience in sales and management at companies such as Lanier/3M and Corning Clinical Laboratories. In 1999 he launched a leadership consulting firm that guides and instructs individuals and teams in senior management of established and growing companies such as Sony, T-Mobile, Verizon, Novartis, Genentech, and SunPower, Union Bank, and Alcon.

Eric is also clinical hypnotherapist, master scuba diving instructor, and lifelong practitioner of Zen meditation. He once spent a year in silent meditation, living in a cabin he built himself in a remote area of New Mexico. His quest for clarifying his lenses of perception, deepening his insight, and widening his capacity to care, influences and deepens his coaching and consulting work.

His professional affiliations include serving on several community boards, teaching at San Diego State University and Cal State San Marcos, and active membership in the Institute of Management Consultants and National Speakers Association.

 

July 10, 2015 – The CEOs Role in Creating a Talent Development Playbook That Really Works

Jeannie Coyle

Jeannie Coyle

 
Jeannie Coyle is a C-suite executive coach, talent development consultant, speaker, and author of “Make Talent Your Business.”

Prior to founding her nationally acclaimed coaching and consulting business, Jeannie was the Senior Vice President of HR at American Express working with Lou Gerstner and then the Vice President of Leadership and Management at Bank of America.

 
Jeannie is also serves as a Chief Executives Guild Director, CEO MasterMind Chair and MasterMind Coach.

See Jeannie's full bio.

 

June 5, 2015 – Too Busy to Win? 3 Factors that Contribute to CEO Success or Derailment

Nicole Lipkin

Nicole Lipkin

 
 
Combining the science of human behavior with practical approaches to business and leadership, Dr. Lipkin has helped major companies transform their leadership approach and transform their cultures.

 
 
Dr. Nicole Lipkin is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and the author of the two popular business books What Keeps Leaders Up At Night: Recognizing and Resolving Your Most Troubling Management Issues and Y In the Workplace: Managing the “Me First” Generation. As a business psychologist, her goal is to help companies develop resonant, motivational and powerful leaders.

Dr. Lipkin doesn’t just talk the talk of leadership, she walks the walk. After years in corporate America developing and implementing leadership programming and training, Dr. Lipkin founded Equilibria Leadership Consulting in 2007. This is an international firm based in the US focused on helping companies, leaders and teams improve management and leadership skills, strengthen the leadership pipeline and develop behaviors and practices that help increase organizational resilience and sustainability. She also founded Equilibria Psychological and Consultation Services in 2004, a mid-sized group psychology practice located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Nicole is a regular contributor to the broadcast community and has been featured on NPR, NBC, CBS, Fox Business News, Forbes.com, Entreprenuer.com, BusinessInsider.com, New York Times Magazine and numerous other media outlets both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Lipkin has a doctoral in clinical psychology (Psy.D.), Master of Business Administration (MBA), and Master of Criminal Justice (MACJ). She is an adjunct faculty member at the industry-leading Center for Creative Leadership and is also a board certified executive coach. Nicole was a board member of the Independence Arts Studio and is currently an Advisory Council Member of City Security and Resilience Networks (CSARN) in England and a board member of Fearless Athletics.

 

May 8, 2015 – Driving Growth & Profits by Teaching Employees the “Rules” of Business

Steve Baker

Steve Baker

 
BusinessWeek call SRC Holdings Corporation a
“Management Mecca” for their innovative business practices. You can still visit SRC today and see Open-Book Management first-hand. You’ll find a growing, living laboratory of 1,200 engaged employee owners who continue to practice The Great Game of Business (open-book management) and improve the formula every day.

 
Steve Baker is Vice President of The Great Game of Business, Inc., a division of SRC Holdings Corporation. Steve co-wrote the 20th Anniversary update of Jack Stack's best-selling book, The Great Game of Business and is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker & coach on topics of Open-Book Management, Strategy & Execution, Leadership and Employee Engagement.

Inc. Magazine calls Jack Stack, CEO of SRC Holdings Corporation (SRC), the ‘Father of Open-Book Management’. The concept was born in 1983 when Stack was battling to turn around a dying division of International Harvester and save 119 jobs. He shared the company financials with his employees, but needed a way to help them understand how they could affect those financials. Stack’s open-book approach to managing the company grew from simply sharing financials to actually teaching his employees the “rules” of business. Stack’s approach to managing the company became known as The Great Game of Business.

Steve continues to share the work and legacy of his mentor Jack Stack with thousands of business leaders around the world, showing them why Open-Book Management is often "The Only Sensible Way to Run a Company."

 

April 10, 2015 – Creating an Culture that Works for both Millennials and Management

Lee McEnany Caraher

Lee Caraher

 
”Under Lee’s leadership, our team of Millennials, Boomers and Xers work across generations. Boomers listen to Millennials and vice versa. Xers don’t get squeezed out of the mix. We collaborate, share, get a boatload of work done everyday and laugh a lot.”
                            — Employees of Double Forte

 
 
Lee Caraher is a CEO and acclaimed communication strategist known for her practical solutions to big problems. She started Double Forte as a new kind of communications firm designed to work with good people, doing good work for good companies by providing the best results and service in the business. So far so good. This is not her first rodeo, and she’s learned a lot along the way that she shares with others in the hopes that everyone can reduce drama and conflict in the workplace and create careers that matter.

Lee has a reputation for building cohesive, high producing teams who get a lot done well and have fun at the same time. A sought-after coach and confidant to her clients, Lee regularly helps organizations navigate complex, sensitive and critical situations. She is a straight talker who doesn’t hold too many punches, although she does her best to pleasant about it. An experience speaker and facilitator, Lee blends immediately applicable insights with inspiration and humor for engaging and entertaining sessions for audiences large and small.

Her first book “Millennials & Management: The Essential Guide To Making It Work At Work” was published by Bibliomotion in October 2014. The book is based on her own work building a successful intergenerational workplace, as well as the insight from more than 250 managers, leaders and employees of all ages in different industries across the country. For Millennials, management, and senior leaders, the book is a practical and entertaining guide to breaking down the misconceptions between Gen Y, GenX and the Baby Boomer generations, and details how to build a constructive, productive work environment that builds business, loyalty and strategic advantage.

Having founded Red Whistle, an IPG-owned integrated communications company, and served as Sega of America’s youngest US vice president, she brings big company, foreign-owned company, publicly traded company and small company experience to bear for her readers and clients. Before joining Sega, Lee worked in Los Angeles and Boston at leading communications companies.

Lee is active in her San Francisco Bay Area community. Currently she serves on the boards of KQED Public Media and San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral in key leadership positions. Lee is also a member of Entrepreneurs Only (EO). She holds a BA from Carleton College in Medieval History, which she finds useful every day. She lives on the San Francisco Peninsula with her husband and two sons.

March 13, 2015 – The Strategic Implications of Social Media Trends in Business

 

 

Mark Babbitt

Mark Babbitt

 
”In the Social Age, companies unwilling to change will play the role of dinosaurs: destined for extinction. Mark Babbitt and Ted Coine’s recently published book, “A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive” gives you the keys to avoid this pated—and lead your organization into this exciting business climate.”

 
 
Mark is the CEO and Founder of YouTern, named by Mashable as a “Top 5 Online Community for Starting Your Career” and by Forbes in both 2012 and 2013 as a "Top Website for Your Career".

Mark is also the President of SwitchandShift.com, a leadership blog that enables organizations and leaders transition successfully from the Industrial Age to the Social Age, and co-Founder of ForwardHeroes.org, a non-profit that positions our military veterans for success in the civilian workforce.

A serial mentor, author, keynote speaker and blogger, Mark has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Mashable, Forbes and Bloomberg News regarding social media's impact on business, leadership in the Social Age, career development, and higher education’s role in preparing emerging talent for the workforce. Recently, he was named to: The Inc. list of "100 Great Leadership Speakers for Your Next Conference", Business News Daily's "15 Twitter Accounts Every Entrepreneur Should Follow in 2015", and Genjuice's list of "100 Most Desirable Mentors"

Mark’s articles have been published in Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post, IBM's Social Business Insights, SwitchandShift.com, The Muse, Alltop and many other websites.

 

February 6, 2015 – How Successful Leaders Identify & Overcome Blindspots & Weaknesses

Victoria Trabosh

Victoria Trabosh

 
Vicky is a Chief Executives Guild Director, CEO MasterMind Chair and Coach. She is also a professional speaker, author and certified executive coach who has worked with many of Portland’s top business leaders during the past eleven years. Formerly the Managing Director of US Bank’s Private Client Group, Vicky is also the president of the international nonprofit, Itafari Foundation.
See Vicky's full bio.

 

January 8, 2015 – Triggering the Passion & Energy that Supercharges Performance

Jackie Barretta

Jackie Barretta

 
Jackie Barretta has a 25-year history as a successful Fortune 500 C-level executive and as a Big Four consultant in the Information Technology industry.

As the top executive of a Fortune 500 company's Portland operations, she has led hundreds of employees through challenging times and major transformations.

 
Jackie is a Founding Partner of Nura Group, a consulting firm dedicated to enhancing team innovation and performance. She specializes in defining the super-energy of elite teams and helping organizations create it in their own teams.

She is the author of the newly published book Primal Teams: Harnessing the Power of Emotions to Fuel Extraordinary Performance, and many articles in Information Week and CIO magazine. Her work with primal emotions in teams has won her widespread recognition and dozens of prestigious awards, including ComputerWorld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders, Information Week’s Innovator of the Year, and CIO Magazine’s Enterprise Value Award.

Jackie has served on the advisory boards of Hewlett Packard, Teradata, and the CIO Executive Council.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a master’s degree in organizational communication from Marylhurst University.

December 11, 2014 – Big Data: The Strategic Implications and Competitive Opportunities

Christopher Surdak

Christopher Surdak

 

 
Christopher Surdak is a globally renowned expert in Big Data, collaboration and content management, information security, regulatory compliance, and Cloud computing with over 20 years of professional experience.

 

 
Christopher is author of the newly published book Data Crush: How the Information Tidal Wave is Driving New Business Opportunities and the Global Subject Matter Expert for Big Data, Information Governance and eDiscovery for Hewlett-Packard. He has held similar roles with other leading companies such as Accenture, Siemens, Dell and Citibank.

Christopher began his career with Lockheed Martin Astrospace, where he was a spacecraft systems engineer and rocket scientist.

He holds an Executive Masters in Technology Management, a Moore Fellowship from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He also holds a CISSP Master's Certificate from Villanova University and is presently earning his Juris Doctor from Taft University.

November 13, 2014 – The CEO's Effective Alternative to Being Overworked and Overwhelmed

Scott Eblin

Scott Eblin

 
“Scott Eblin’s must-read book gives you the tools to balance life with work, satisfaction with success, and mindfulness with purpose. Overworked and Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative will fundamentally change how you live each day.”

—Marshall Goldsmith

 
 
Scott Eblin is the co-founder and president of The Eblin Group, a professional development firm committed to helping executives and managers improve their leadership presence by being fully present. As an executive coach, speaker and author, Scott works with senior and rising leaders in some of the world’s best known and regarded organizations.

Scott is the author of two books. Business Book Review described his first book, The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success as a “fascinating read” that “is full of potentially career-saving advice.”

As a former Fortune 500 executive himself, Scott knows the demanding expectations and challenges his clients face. He coaches busy, successful leaders in what he calls the “school of real life” to help them identify the strengths they can build on along with the vital few opportunities that will help them be even better. Scott is an innovator in the field of coaching who has worked with hundreds of clients in individual and group engagements that yield measurable and significant improvements in leadership effectiveness.

Scott is an honors graduate of Davidson College, holds a masters degree from Harvard and has earned a Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University where he is also on the program faculty. He is also a Registered Yoga Teacher.

 

 

October 9, 2014 – Executive Intelligence: the Unique Priorities of Top Performing CEOs

Justin Menkes

Justin Menkes

 
A world renowned expert in the field of C-suite talent evaluation, Justin Menkes is the author of the internationally best selling book "Executive Intelligence: What All Great Leaders Have" and "Better Under Pressure: How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in Themselves and Others."

 
 
Justin Menkes is a member of Spencer Stuart’s Board, Industrial and Private Equity practices, applying his deep understanding of leadership performance to his C-level and Board work with clients across a number of industrial sectors.

Studying under the late Peter Drucker, his research led him to the discovery of Executive Intelligence and the creation of a methodology to measure it. Justin is a founder of the Executive Intelligence Group, which was integrated into Spencer Stuart in 2007. He applies his deep under-standing of C-suite leadership performance to his work with Fortune 500 clients.

Menkes has received international recognition for his expertise, authoring the best seller Executive Intelligence, and articles in Harvard Business Review, Chief Executive magazine, and Directorship magazine and has chaired master tutorials to train other industrial and organizational psychologists in best practice assessment techniques, and was inducted into the Sigma Xi Psychological Honors Society in recognition of his research contributions to the field of psychology.

Justin graduated with honors from Haverford College and received his M.A. in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Justin holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from Claremont Graduate University.

 

 

September 11, 2014 – Creating High-Performance Teams that Deliver Results

Paul Gustavson

Paul Gustavson

Paul Gustavson is the founder and CEO of Organization Planning & Design, Inc. (OPD). He is an author, board member, advisor, speaker and consultant.

Paul was a walk-on letterman under College Hall of Fame coach LaVell Edwards at BYU. In the early 70's, he began an in-depth study of high performance teams and the systemic design of high commitment work systems.

Paul is co-author of A Team of Leaders: Empowering every member to take Ownership, Demonstrate Initiative, and Deliver Results which was voted "One of the Top 30 Business Books for 2014" by Soundview Executive Book Summaries.

In 2012, he co-authored with Alyson Von Feldt a popular book "Running into the Wind, Bronco Mendenhall, Five Strategies for Building Successful Teams" and in 2013, he co-authored with Tom Ward "The Power of Living by Design."

Paul's professional career has been devoted to helping create great places for people to work. He believes that whatever happens at work goes home with most folks. He believes that organizations are perfectly designed to get the results that they get. His writing focuses on strategies, processes and designs to create better workplaces, homes and communities.

He has served for over 20 years as a member of the Marriott School of Management's OB/HR Advisory Board and as a past chair for 8 years. In April 1999, he received the Marriott School of Management's William G. Dyer Distinguished Alumni Award for his contribution to the field of organizational behavior, leadership and strategy. In 2004 he received the Herrmann International Big Thinker Award for his contribution to the field of whole brain thinking.

 

August 14, 2014 – Tough CEO Conversations: How to Get Through and Gain Buy-In

Mark Goulston

Mark Goulston

Dr. Mark Goulston, M.D., psychiatrist, former FBI hostage-negotiator, Fortune 500 leadership consultant, CEO coach, best-selling author and syndicated columnist.

 

Have you ever looked out at the world and thought,
"There's got to be a better way?"

 

Mark Goulston, M.D. is the Co-Founder of Heartfelt Leadership whose Mission is Daring to Care.

He is the best selling author of six books including the #1 international best seller, Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone and his recent co-authored book, Real Influence: Persuade Without Pushing and Gain Without Giving In.

Dr. Goulston writes The Leading Edge column/blog for Fast Company, the weekly Tribune syndicated career advice column: Solve Anything with Dr. Mark, and contributes columns to Harvard Business online. In 2004-2005 and again in 2009 and 2010 he was selected as one of America's Top Psychiatrists by the Washington, D.C. based Consumers Research Council of America.

Mark has trained FBI/police hostage negotiators, been a UCLA professor of psychiatry for more than twenty five years, practiced as a clinical psychiatrist before transferring his skills to the business and non-profit world as an executive coach, leadership advisor and team building expert.

For more information on building a Heartfelt Organization or joining the Heartfelt Leadership movement visit: Heartfelt Leadership or contact him at: mark.goulston(at)hfleader.com.

July 15, 2014 – How the Most Successful CEOs Leverage the Collective Wisdom of Their Peers

Robert Fiske

Robert Fiske

 
Robert is the founder and CEO of the Chief Executives Guild. He is also the former CEO of a software technology company. Since 1995 when he created the World Business Leader Forum for Fortune 500 CEOs, he has been creating CEO forums and MasterMind groups where chief executives share wisdom and engage in candid dialogue with their peers and acclaimed leadership experts and visionaries. See Robert's full bio.

 
 

June 12, 2014 – Creating a Culture of Innovation that Drives Success

Phil McKinney

Phil McKinney   Vanity Fair named Phil the “The Innovation Guru"

  MSNBC and FOX Business both call him “The Gadget Guy”

  Phil's uncanny ability to predict what’s coming next caused
  him to be dubbed as the “chief seer” by The San Jose
  Mercury News.

  Phil was also named as one of the “25 Most Influential
  People in Mobile Tech” by LAPTOP Magazine.

Phil McKinney is President and CEO of CableLabs. In this capacity he heads the research and development organization responsible for charting the cable industry’s technology and innovation roadmap.

Prior to joining CableLabs, he was the vice president and chief technology officer of the $40 billion (FY12) Personal Systems Group at HP. He was responsible for long-range strategic planning, research and development (R&D) and product roadmaps for the company’s PC product lines, including mobile devices, notebooks, desktops and workstations. In addition, McKinney was founder and leader of HP’s Innovation Program Office (IPO). The IPO was chartered to identify, incubate and launch adjacent and fundamentally new technologies, products and services that would become the future growth engines for HP.

Phil released his first book on innovation and personal creativity titled Beyond The Obvious, published by Hyperion in February 2012. The book is now available in Russian, Chinese, Portuguese (Brazil), Korean and Japanese.

McKinney serves on the Advisory Board for Hacking Autism and Board of Directors for The Computer History Museum.

 

May 8, 2014 – The 7 Habits of Highly Successful CEOs

Sue Dathe-Douglass

Sue Dathe-Douglass

Sue Dathe-Douglass serves as Global Vice President of Leadership at FranklinCovey.

Drawing on thirty plus years of organizational and leadership experience Sue is a catalyst for high performance and engagement at all levels of the organization. Sue create conditions where her clients and her team members can learn, grow, contribute, and make the difference they are uniquely capable of making.

Sue joined FranklinCovey fifteen years ago as a Leadership Consultant responsible for designing, developing, and delivering leadership engagement solutions that met the unique needs of her many clients. Her work has impacted thousands of individuals, leaders, and organizations in over 140 countries.

Sue served as a subject matter expert in Leadership: Great Leaders, Great Teams, Great Results; 7 Habits for Managers; and Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times content and solutions.

Prior to joining FranklinCovey, Sue spent 20 years with McDonald’s Corporation as an organizational consultant. She was responsible for strategic planning, operational integration, and quality management in the Atlanta Region. She was also instrumental in helping McDonald’s with their ongoing cultural and organizational transformation efforts.

Sue’s clients appreciate her commitment to their performance improvement, her real-world examples, her energy, and her sense of fun! Clients “return to reality” armed with new thinking and processes that produce long-term results.

 

April 10, 2014 – How the CEOs of Exceptional Companies Think

Michael Raynor

Michael Raynor
 
  "Case studies of past results are a weak foundation
  for predicting future outcomes. And the increasingly
  popular 'fail fast to learn soon' approach to inno-
  vation can work, but is also unnecessarily wasteful."
 

 

Michael E. Raynor is coauthor of The Three Rules: How Exceptional Companies Think. Raynor is a Director at Deloitte Services LP and the Innovation Theme Leader in the firm’s Eminence function. In addition, Raynor is an advisor to senior executives in many of the world's leading corporations across a wide range of industries. His client projects and research focus on questions of strategy and innovation.

On the topic of innovation, Raynor was coauthor with Professor Clayton M. Christensen of The Innovator's Solution, which was on The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times bestseller lists, and sole author of The Innovator's Manifesto, released in 2011, when the Financial Times called Raynor "one of the most articulate and interesting” thought leaders in the field.

Raynor’s The Strategy Paradox (2007) was named by Strategy + Business as one of its top five picks in strategy, and BusinessWeek named it one of the year’s 10 Best Business Books. He has also published extensively in a wide variety of journals including The Harvard Business Review, the Strategic Management Journal, Strategy + Leadership, and is a regular columnist for The Conference Board Review.

Michael has taught in the MBA and Executive Education programs at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada and at the IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. He has a doctorate from the Harvard Business School, a master's degree in business administration from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, and an undergraduate degree in philosophy from Harvard University. He lives in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

 

March 13, 2014 – How highly successful companies attract, engage and retain top talent

Tom Agnew

Tom Agnew
  Tom Agnew is a Principal within Hay Group Insight
  (Hay Group’s Employee Research Division).
 
  He helps clients attract and retain talent, foster
  innovation, manage change more effectively, and enhance
  customer satisfaction and business performance.

 

Tom is Nationally renowned for his team’s breakthrough research on understanding the work environment factors that most impact employee attraction, engagement, performance and retention, Tom will share his eye-opening findings and strategies based on studying hundreds of companies and thousands of employees.

His client consulting work focuses on helping organizations structure work environments both to increase employee engagement and to translate high levels of employee motivation into improved results.

Tom specializes in linking survey data to key business performance measures and using survey results to guide organizational change initiatives at both the organizational and workgroup levels.

He is co-author of the book The Enemy of Engagement: Put an End to Workplace Frustration–and Get the Most from Your Employees.

Tom holds Ph.D. in Management and Organizational Culture from Vanderbilt University and an MBA and BC in finance from the University of Saskatchewan.

 

February 6, 2014 – The 6 Personal Dimensions that Fuel & Refuel the World's Top Leaders

Bob Rosen

Bob Rosen
  “Great leadership is the most difficult and worthy challenge of
  our times. Bob Rosen, backed by a wealth of experience
  working with CEOs, knows that leadership is fundamentally
  personal – and that the ability to drive change begins inside.
  I recommend that every leader take his advice.”

—Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, CEO, The Lego Group
 

Bob Rosen—trusted global CEO advisor, organizational psychologist, and bestselling author—he has long been on a mission to transform the world of business, one leader at a time.

Before launching Healthy Companies International over 20 years ago, Bob was awarded a multi-year grant from the MacArthur Foundation for an in-depth study of leadership. Bob has personally interviewed over 400 CEOs—in 50 countries—including Ford, Motorola, Johnson & Johnson, Singapore Airlines, Brinks, Northrop Grumman, Toyota, Lego, Booz Allen Hamilton, Citigroup, PepsiCo, ING, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He has become an advisor to many of these companies.

Bob has distilled his most critical findings into the Healthy Leadership Model, which shows leaders at every level how to further develop six specific dimensions of themselves for greater impact. Clients include Global 2000 corporations, government and non-governmental organizations around the world.

Bob is a bestselling author. His books including The Healthy Company, Leading People, Just Enough Anxiety, Global Literacies, The Catalyst and his latest, NY Times Bestseller Grounded. He is also in demand as a global keynote speaker and frequently quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Financial Times, Time, Chief Executive Magazine, etc.,

Bob graduated from the University of Virginia. He subsequently earned a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. Bob teaches in executive education programs around the world, and has been a longtime faculty member in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at George Washington University’s School of Medicine.

 

Welcome

Ranked #1 by 2nd-gen CEOs of family owned businesses

Resources for CEOs

 
 
Chief Executives Guild
–Home Page–

 
 
CEO Wisdom Exchange
Leadership Talks
–YouTube Channel–

 
 

 

—Sponsors of the Chief Executive Guild's CEO Wisdom Exchange—

Bank of America   ♦   Deloitte LLP   ♦   Lithtex Printing Solutions

 

The biggest, best, largest, top CEO peer groups, CEO peer advisor groups, CEO MasterMind groups in the US may include: Alliance of Chief Executives, American Small Business Coalition, C-12, CEO Clubs, CEO Connection, CEO Global Network, CEO Guild, CEO Peer Groups, CEO Roundtable, Chief Executive Boards, Chief Executive Network, Chief Executives Club of Boston, Chief Executives Club of RI, Chief Executives Guild, Entrepreneurs' Organization, EO, Excell Oregon, Executive Networks, Inner Circle, Maverick Business Adventures, Peer Advisory Board, President's Resource Organization, Renaissance Executive Forums, TAB, TEC, T.E.C., The Alternate Board, The Board Forum, The Conference Board, Vistage, Women Presidents' Organization, World Presidents Organization, WPO, and Young Presidents Organization, YPO