Accountability
Mike Abrashoff
Inspiring Story of Leadership from Former Commander of USS Benfold
About
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Real-life Leadership advice from the former captain of the best ship in the U.S. Navy—the U.S.S. Benfold
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First book, It’s Your Ship, has sold over 1.1 million copies to date
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Fresh ways to build trust, harness people’s passion and achieve extraordinary results; common-sense ideas to stay focused only on the things you can control/influence
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Past clients include: Cox Communications, Disney, Exxon Mobil, JP Morgan, Microsoft, Starwood Hotels, Toyota
Click Here to Watch Mike's Virtual Presentation
Mike Abrashoff was the most-junior officer in the Pacific Fleet when he took command of the near-worst performing ship. Twelve months later, the USS Benfold was the best ship in the entire Navy –using the same crew. The story of that stunning transformation has lessons for every organization: leadership matters –and culture is everything. Mike’s written three books –his first, It’s Your Ship, has sold over 1.3million copies. His Leadership Roadmap offers clear, battle-tested, and actionable steps. Mike shows people at every level of the organization how to engage and take incremental steps toward change that can make a dramatic difference at work. Mike is clear, “I didn’t turn the ship around –my crew did that. What I did was to create an environment where they feltsafe, empowered and supported. When you do that, anything is possible.”
In many ways, what Mike was able to do with the USS Benfold was an extreme example of the same problems facing many organizations today. That’s why dozens of publications including The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and Fast Company have cited Mike’s story as an inspiring lesson for business. Leaders especially identify with Mike’s being accountable for the results in an environment where he couldn’t make the rules.
“When my crew came to me with a problem, I’d say ‘It’s your ship –how would you fix it?’.” Mike focused on the one thing he could influence: his crew’s attitude, because culture is the ultimate competitive weapon for any organization.
Mike’s established a set of management principles that he calls The Leadership Roadmap. At the core of his leadership approach on Benfoldwas a process of replacing command and control with commitment and cohesion, and engaging the hearts, minds, and loyalties of workers with conviction and humility. “The most important thing that a captain can do is to see the ship through the eyes of the crew. The idea is to empower every individual to share the responsibility of achieving excellence.”
By every measure, these principles achieved breakthrough results: turnover decreased to an unprecedented 1%; the rate of promotions tripled; and the crew slashed operating expenses by 25%. Regarded as the finest ship in the Pacific Fleet, Benfoldwon the prestigious Spokane Trophy for havingthe highest degree of combat readiness. This remarkable turnaround was accomplished by the very same crew that had performed so poorly just months before.
Mike is author of three books. His first, It’s Your Ship, has a timeless message: don’t use outside forces that stand in your way as excuses –control the things you can influence and amazing results will happen. His next books, It’s Our Ship and Get Your Ship Together, showed how these principles have been put into action by business leaders in their own organizations.
A popular keynote speaker for audiences looking to ramp up organizational performance, Mike has spoken to every industry and kind of audience –from board retreats to front line personnel; from sales groups to universities; from Fortune 500s to startups. He inspires audiences to rethink their beliefs about leadership and organizational culture and tailors the message to focus on engagement, execution, change, safety, diversity, leadership, teamwork, innovation, accountability and more. Prior to commanding USS Benfold, Mike served as the Military Assistant to Secretary of Defense William J. Perry. He also helped draft the air defense plan for naval forces in the Persian Gulf in 1990, coinciding with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait; and served as the executive officer of the Cruiser Shiloh, where he deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of United Nations sanctions against Iraq.
Mike Abrashoff is the founder of Aegis Performance Group, a consulting firm which works with and supports leaders as they address leadership, talent and performance challenges within their organizations. Mike and his team prompt leaders at all levels to re-imagine their leadership thinking and create new ways to elevate individual,team and organizational performance.
Eric Boles
Consultant and Speaker on Leadership, Peak Performance, and Change Management
About
Eric Boles: Leadership & Performance Expert | President, The Game Changers, Inc. | Former NFL Player | Author of Moving to Great
Turn Potential Into Performance
Eric Boles helps leaders and teams close that gap.
President of The Game Changers, Inc. and a former NFL player, Eric combines powerful storytelling, high energy and practical strategies to help people strengthen accountability, embrace change and perform at a higher level.
Why Book Eric Boles?
Eric doesn't simply motivate people to do better. He challenges them to take greater ownership of how they think, lead and perform.
For more than two decades, Eric has worked with organizations including Starbucks, FedEx, Meta, Mayo Clinic, IBM, PwC, Alaska Airlines and the U.S. Air Force.
His message is straightforward: sustainable performance comes from clarity, accountability and consistent execution—not good intentions.
What Makes Eric Different?
- Former NFL player who understands high-performance environments
- More than two decades working with leaders and organizations
- Powerful combination of energy, humor and practical business insight
- Expertise in leadership, accountability, change and peak performance
- Challenges audiences without talking down to them
- Creates urgency around turning ideas into action
- Customizes his message around the organization's goals and challenges
Why Is Eric Right for Your Audience?
Eric is an excellent choice when an organization needs people to raise their game, embrace accountability and execute at a higher level.
He is particularly effective for sales kickoffs, leadership conferences, corporate meetings, team events and organizations navigating significant change.
Book Eric when your audience needs to:
- Take greater ownership of results
- Move from intention to execution
- Raise expectations for themselves and others
- Navigate change with greater confidence
- Break through complacency and self-imposed limitations
- Strengthen teamwork and accountability
- Perform effectively under pressure
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Motivated to take greater ownership of their performance
- Better equipped to turn good intentions into action
- Ready to challenge habits that may be limiting results
- More confident navigating change and uncertainty
- Clearer about the role accountability plays in high performance
- Energized to raise their personal and professional expectations
Keynote Programs
Performance Catalyst™ Align, Elevate and Accelerate Performance
Eric challenges audiences to examine the behaviors that separate potential from sustainable performance.
He helps leaders strengthen alignment, accountability and execution while creating greater urgency around the actions required to achieve organizational goals.
Ideal for leadership conferences, executive meetings, sales kickoffs and organizations focused on accelerating performance.
Moving to Great: Unleash Your Best More of the Time
What keeps talented people from consistently performing at their best?
Eric helps audiences recognize the fears, habits and self-imposed limitations that can hold them back—and provides practical strategies for moving beyond them.
The result is a highly motivational presentation with a strong business message about personal responsibility, growth and performance.
Ideal for sales meetings, corporate conferences, recognition events and organizations looking to re-energize their people.
Leading Through Change
Change creates uncertainty—but it also creates an opportunity for stronger leadership.
Eric helps leaders understand how their mindset, communication and behavior influence the way people respond to change. He challenges audiences to move beyond fear, have difficult conversations, make decisions and create positive momentum.
Ideal for organizations experiencing transformation, growth or significant disruption.
Why Contact The Sweeney Agency Now?
A high-energy keynote can create excitement. The right keynote can turn that excitement into action.
Contact us to:
- Confirm Eric's availability and current fee
- Determine which presentation best supports your objectives
- Discuss customization around your business challenges
- Explore keynote, breakout and leadership-development options
- Receive comparable recommendations if another speaker may be a stronger fit
Click Here to Watch Eric's Virtual Presentation
Walter Bond
Former NBA Athlete, Author and Speaker on Mentorship, Leadership, Teamwork & Motivation
About
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Speaker on Mentorship, Leadership, Teamwork & Motivation
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Talks about: No One Can Stop You & The Best Team Always Wins
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NBA shooting guard for the Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, and the Detroit Pistons & Host of Food Network’s Giving You the Business
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Past clients include: Accenture, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, The Dwyer Group, Allianz, Amway, GNC, Hilton, Medtronic, UPS Store, Radio Shack, Red Robin
Walter Bond, a transformative force dedicated to unlocking human potential. Walter is not merely a motivational speaker; he is a strategic partner for organizations and individuals committed to unlocking their highest capabilities. His mission is singularly focused: to empower leaders and teams to become the absolute best versions of themselves, a philosophy born from his own extraordinary journey.
Walter's foundational understanding of peak performance was forged on the demanding courts of the NBA. As a former professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, and Detroit Pistons, he defied conventional wisdom, transforming himself from an undrafted underdog into a starting player through sheer will, relentless discipline, and an unwavering commitment to self-mastery. This firsthand experience of overcoming adversity and achieving improbable success laid the groundwork for his profound insights into human potential.
Today, Walter leverages this unique background to serve as an unparalleled authority on leadership, sales, and team dynamics. His methodology is deeply rooted in the principles of immersion, coaching, and strategic partnerships. He believes that true transformation occurs when individuals and teams are fully immersed in a culture of excellence, guided by expert coaching, and fortified by collaborative relationships.
Through his compelling keynotes and transformative programs, Walter delivers more than just inspiration; he provides a tangible roadmap. His acclaimed works, including "Swim!: How a Shark, a Suckerfish, and a Parasite Teach You Leadership, Mentoring, and Next Level Success," "Cultivate: The Six Non-Negotiable Traits of a Winning Team," and "Accelerate: A Champion's Playbook to Fast-Track Your Business Success," are not just books—they are blueprints for organizational and personal triumph.
Walter's signature programs, such as "The Shark Mindset," "Cultivate! The Six Non-Negotiable Traits of a Winning Team," and "No One Can Stop You but You!," are meticulously designed to:
- Ignite a culture of relentless forward momentum within teams.
- Instill the six non-negotiable traits that define championship-level performance.
- Transform managers into true coaches, fostering accountability and unleashing individual potential.
In 2025, Walter Bond continues to be the strategic choice for Fortune 500 companies, dynamic startups, and industry associations seeking to cultivate a workforce of peak performers. Partnering with his wife and business partner, Antoinette Bond, through The Bond Group and Peak Performers Huddle, Walter offers a comprehensive suite of coaching and development services. Together, they are building a legacy of excellence, empowering countless individuals and organizations to not just meet, but consistently exceed their goals.
About
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Talks about how great brands deliver excellence to nurture customer relationships
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Audiences learn how to achieve greater results by eliminating “ordinary" thinking and mastering the habit of excellence.
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Former marketing executive who built a little-known family business into the #1 franchise in their industry with annual revenues exceeding $2 billion.
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Past clients include: American Express, Delta Airlines, Nationwide, H&R Block, PayPal, New York Life, Million Dollar Round Table, Southwest Airlines, Merck, Atrium Health
Kevin Brown’s unconventional path to business and personal success has taught him that winning in business and in life requires anything but conventional thinking. He grew up in Muskegon, Michigan where his blue-collar roots taught him the value of hard work and determination. With a streetwise aptitude and a never quit attitude, he worked his way from the front lines in business to the executive boardroom.
Kevin understands what drives organizational excellence and customer loyalty. He knows first-hand how great brands think, feel and act. He is a branding and culture expert with a 30+ year career in franchise development. He spent the last 20 years of his corporate career as part of a leadership team that helped transform SERVPRO® from a little-known family business into the #1 franchise in their industry with annual revenues exceeding $2 billion dollars. Since 2016, he has traveled the world pursuing a mission to share The HERO Effect® message with as many people and organizations as possible.
The HERO Effect® is a simple philosophy that separates world-class organizations and high-performance people from everybody else. Kevin is passionate about helping people expand their vision, develop their potential, and grow their results. And, as the father of a child with autism he knows firsthand how the principles of true success reach beyond the boardroom and into the lives of real people facing the challenges of everyday life.
As a highly sought-after keynote speaker, Kevin has had the privilege of speaking to a wide variety of organizations including American Express, Delta Airlines, PayPal, ExxonMobil, Nationwide, H&R Block, Sprint, Ernst & Young, Million Dollar Round Table, Merck, Booz Allen Hamilton, and many more.
Kevin is the bestselling author of The Hero Effect® (2017/2019). In his second book, Unleashing Your Hero (Harper Collins Leadership/Nov 2021), Kevin shares how the heroes who transformed his life are people just like you. People who were willing to use their gifts and abilities to serve others at a high level. This book is a guide to help everyday people discover and unleash their hero at work and in life.
Kevin has received numerous honors, including being named one of the ‘Top 30 Motivational Speakers in the world for 2024 according to Global Gurus’. Kevin entertains, inspires, and challenges people to show up every day and make a positive difference at work and in life!
About
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CEO and founder of Student Maid, a cleaning company that has employed thousands of millennials and is known for building the next generation of leaders
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Kristen talks about how to build a culture of belonging with multiple generations in the workplace, and how to deliver and receive criticism as a leader.
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First TED Talk has received more than two million hits on YouTube
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Past clients include: Apple, Burger King, jetBlue, Ohio State University, PGA Tour, Re/MAX
Kristen Hadeed believes that authentic, human leadership can change the world.
At 19, with hardly any leadership experience, Kristen started a cleaning business called Student Maid. She never expected it to be her career; it was simply a way to earn money while she was in college. But before she graduated, her company received a contract to clean hundreds of apartments—and it changed her path forever. Kristen hired a team of 60 people help her, and within days, 75% of that team quit. That’s when Kristen’s obsession with learning how to be a leader began.
Over the next 14 years, Kristen learned a lot by screwing up. But most importantly, she learned how to lead from her heart. Doing so helped her take Student Maid from a small cleaning company to a business known on a global scale for its culture of belonging, its focus on people, and its purpose of building leaders.
Today, Kristen spends her time helping leaders, teams, and organizations around the world embrace their humanity. She’s worked with just about every industry with one purpose behind it all: To build a better world through courageous, compassionate leadership.
Kristen’s work has been featured in news outlets including PBS, FOX, Inc., NBC, TIME, and Forbes. Kristen’s book, Permission To Screw Up, has sold more than 40,000 copies worldwide. Her first TED Talk has more than three million views on YouTube
About
Colonel Mike Mullane was born September 10, 1945 in Wichita Falls, Texas but spent much of his youth in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he currently resides. Upon his graduation from West Point in 1967, he was commissioned in the United States Air Force. As a Weapon Systems Operator aboard RF-4C Phantom aircraft, he completed 134 combat missions in Vietnam. He holds a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and is also a graduate of the Air Force Flight Test Engineer School at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Mullane was selected as a Mission Specialist in 1978 in the first group of Space Shuttle Astronauts. He completed three space missions aboard the Shuttles Discovery (STS-41D) and Atlantis (STS-27 & 36) before retiring from NASA and the Air Force in 1990.
Mullane has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and is the recipient of many awards, including the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit and the NASA Space Flight Medal.
Since his retirement from NASA, Colonel Mullane has written an award-winning children's book, Liftoff! An Astronaut's Dream, and a popular space-fact book, Do Your Ears Pop In Space? His memoir, Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut, has been reviewed in the New York Times and on the Jon Stewart Daily Show. It has also been featured on Barnes and Noble’s 2010 recommended summer reading list.
Mullane has held a lifelong passion for hiking and summited Africa’s highest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro, on July 23, 2010.
Colonel Mullane has established himself as an acclaimed professional speaker on the topics of teamwork, leadership and safety. He has educated, entertained, inspired and thrilled tens of thousands of people from every walk of business and government with his incredibly unique programs.
Sam Silverstein
Leadership Keynote Speaker on Accountability, Best Selling Author
About
Accountability Keynote Speaker Sam Silverstein’s mission is to empower people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and to thrive at extraordinary levels. Ultimately Sam teaches and inspires leaders to design a sustainable high-performance culture to build stronger businesses, communities, and people.
By challenging leaders to shift priorities, cultivate an organizational culture based on accountability, and inspire both individuals and teams to take ownership in fresh and results-producing ways – he is helping companies dramatically increase productivity, profitability, and growth. Sam believes that accountability is the highest form of leadership.
As a former executive and owner, Sam’s manufacturing and distribution companies sold over $100 million in products and services. He successfully sold one of his businesses to a Fortune 500 company. Today, Sam is the author of 15 books on the subjects of accountability, leadership, and workplace culture. He writes, speaks, and consults with organizations around the globe to think differently, work with renewed purpose, and achieve record-breaking results. As a keynote speaker, Sam challenges audiences to discover and reach their best selves. He helps leaders build accountability throughout their organization. Sam works with entrepreneurs, multi-national companies, corporations, and government agencies to drive increased engagement and productivity.