Business Management
The Sweeney Agency will help you find the perfect Business Management Speaker for your event by providing you with all the information you need to make the right decision. We take into account your event objectives, audience dynamics and expected outcomes. We provide you with professional speaker bios, video clips, topic outlines, and independent perspectives on the best Business and Motivational speakers available. Working closely with the Business Speaker you choose, we will ensure he or she delivers a customized presentation that informs, inspires and entertains.
Dirk Ahlborn
About Dirk Ahlborn – Entrepreneur and Innovation Speaker, CEO of Hyperloop Technologies, Founder of JumpStarter
About
Dirk Ahlborn: Founder of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and JumpStarter | Entrepreneur | Speaker on Innovation, Collaboration and the Future of Work
Why Book Dirk Ahlborn?
His entrepreneurial background spans banking, alternative energy, product development and startup incubation. Dirk connects those experiences with practical questions leaders face: how to attract talent, build partnerships, organize expertise and keep moving when resources are limited. His presentations give audiences a concrete story to examine as they consider new ways to innovate.
Why Is Dirk Ahlborn Right for Your Audience?
Dirk is a strong fit for innovation conferences, leadership meetings, entrepreneurship events and industry gatherings exploring new business models. He is particularly relevant when an organization wants to challenge familiar assumptions about how companies develop ideas and bring people together.
Book Dirk when your audience needs to:
- Explore alternatives to traditional innovation models
- Bring outside expertise into business challenges
- Build commitment around an ambitious vision
- Rethink how teams and partnerships are organized
- Consider how AI could change everyday workflows
- Turn entrepreneurial thinking into practical action
Audience Takeaways
Depending on the program selected, attendees will leave:
- More open to unconventional approaches to innovation
- Clearer on the opportunities and limits of crowd collaboration
- Better able to connect a shared purpose with contributor commitment
- Equipped with questions for evaluating new ways of working
- Ready to identify a practical next step for their own organization
Keynote Programs
Building the Hyperloop
Dirk shares the partnerships, setbacks and decisions behind building HyperloopTT. Ideal for innovation, transportation, infrastructure and leadership audiences interested in what ambitious ventures teach about running a business.
Crowd-Powered Companies
Dirk explains the model that brought hundreds of contributors together to work for equity, including how to organize a distributed community and where the approach can encounter difficulties. Ideal for founders, talent leaders and audiences exploring new organizational models.
Working in the Age of AI
Dirk explores how AI changes the way companies are built and work gets done, with practical ideas for introducing AI agents into workflows. Ideal for executives, industry associations and company audiences considering their next steps with AI.
Is Dirk Ahlborn Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, the innovation challenges it faces and the ideas you want people to explore. We can help select Dirk’s most relevant program, discuss customization and format, and confirm his availability and fee.
Contact The Sweeney Agency 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected] for more information on this speaker.
About
David Allen: Creator of Getting Things Done® | Bestselling Author | Speaker on Productivity, Focus and Managing Commitments
Why Book David Allen?
His approach gives people a practical way to reduce mental clutter and make clearer decisions about what to do next. Drawing on decades of developing and teaching GTD®, David connects everyday habits with the space people need for focused work, creative thinking and a greater sense of control.
Why Is David Allen Right for Your Audience?
David is a strong fit for leadership meetings, professional development events, association conferences and company gatherings. He is particularly relevant when people are juggling multiple projects, responding to constant incoming requests or struggling to keep track of everything they have agreed to do.
Book David when your audience needs to:
- Manage competing commitments with greater clarity
- Turn vague tasks into specific next actions
- Build a reliable system for tracking work
- Reduce the distraction of unfinished obligations
- Review projects and priorities more consistently
- Create more room for focused and creative thinking
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Familiar with the five GTD® steps: capture, clarify, organize, reflect and engage
- Better able to define the next action on a project
- Ready to move reminders out of their heads and into a trusted system
- Clearer on why regular review supports effective decisions
- Equipped with practical habits they can begin applying at work and at home
Keynote Programs
Getting Things Done®
David introduces the principles behind his approach to productivity, explaining how people can organize commitments and choose their next actions with greater confidence. Ideal for audiences seeking practical ways to handle demanding workloads and maintain focus.
The presentation can provide a starting point for audiences new to GTD® or a deeper discussion of its principles for those familiar with the method. Tell us whether your priority is managing incoming work, clarifying projects or strengthening review habits so we can discuss the most relevant focus for your event.
Is David Allen Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, the demands on its attention and the working habits you want people to improve. We can help discuss the presentation’s focus and format, and confirm David’s availability and fee.
Contact The Sweeney Agency 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected] for more information on this speaker.
Scott Anthony
Author and speaker on growth and innovation, creativity and entrepreneurialism.
About
Scott Anthony: Innovation and Disruption Expert | Dartmouth Tuck Professor | Author of Epic Disruptions
Turn Disruption into a Path Forward
Scott Anthony helps organizations work through both. A clinical professor of strategy at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and a longtime advisor at Innosight, he brings research, business examples, and practical tools to the challenges of innovation, transformation, and growth. Tuck School of Business
Why Book Scott Anthony?
Scott gives leaders a way to act when the future is uncertain. He shows how to test assumptions, explore new opportunities, and make progress before every answer is known.
His keynotes are particularly useful for teams facing shifts in customer needs, technology, or competition. Scott connects innovation to strategic choices, leadership behaviour, and the systems needed to move ideas forward.
What Makes Scott Different?
- Experience spanning academic research and practical strategy work
- A clear view of how disruption unfolds
- Frameworks for strengthening today’s business while creating future growth
- Practical approaches to experimentation and innovation culture
- Insight relevant to executives making decisions under uncertainty
Why Is Scott Right for Your Audience?
Scott is a strong fit for executive conferences, board and leadership meetings, innovation events, and organizations planning a major transformation. He is especially valuable when leaders agree change is necessary but need a shared language and a more concrete path forward.
Book Scott when your audience needs to:
- Understand the forces reshaping its industry
- Make strategic decisions with incomplete information
- Strengthen the core business while exploring new growth
- Move promising ideas from discussion to testing
- Address the leadership and cultural side of transformation
- Build a more consistent approach to innovation
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Better able to recognize patterns of disruptive change
- Clearer on the assumptions behind their current strategy
- Equipped to discuss future opportunities without waiting for certainty
- Ready to use experimentation to learn what works
- More confident leading teams through ambiguity and change
Keynote Programs
Decoding the Epic Disruptions That Shaped Our Modern World
Drawing on Epic Disruptions, Scott uses stories from past innovations to show how major change unfolds and what those patterns can teach leaders facing disruption today. Ideal for strategy, innovation, and future-focused events.
Lead Through the Fog of Uncertainty with Optimism
Scott gives leaders practical ways to work through ambiguity, question old assumptions, and identify opportunity amid competing demands. Ideal for executive teams and organizations navigating transformation.
The Myths and Realities of Building a Culture of Innovation
Scott examines the systems and leadership habits that help innovation happen consistently. Audiences consider how to remove obstacles, support experimentation, and connect new ideas to results. Ideal for leadership and companywide innovation events. The Sweeney Agency
Why Contact The Sweeney Agency Now?
Tell us where growth is slowing, what is changing in your market, and what you want your audience to do differently. We’ll help you assess which of Scott’s topics fits your event, discuss customization, and check his availability and current fee.
Is Scott Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, its biggest strategic challenge, and the decisions the event should help move forward. We’ll help you assess Scott’s fit and plan the next step.
To check availability and fee of this speaker, call 1-866-727-7555 or email [email protected].
Dr. Jasmin Bergeron
International expert on the WOW Effect, Dr. Jasmin Bergeron delivered more than 2,000 keynote presentations on the WOW Effect in sales, leadership, teamwork and work-life balance.
About
Dr. Jasmin Bergeron: University Professor | Researcher | Speaker on the WOW Effect in Sales, Service and Leadership
Give People a Reason to Remember You
Dr. Jasmin Bergeron helps audiences create what he calls the WOW Effect: practical moments of value that strengthen relationships and leave a lasting impression. A university professor and researcher, he makes his findings useful through humor, interaction, and examples tailored to the people in the room.
Why Book Dr. Jasmin Bergeron?
Jasmin connects research with everyday decisions. He shows sales and service professionals how to manage expectations, increase perceived value, and build loyalty. For leaders and teams, he offers ways to improve recognition, participation, and collaboration.
He has delivered more than 2,000 presentations and workshops across industries. His programs can be customized for your organization and presented in English, French, or both.
What Makes Jasmin Different?
- A university professor who translates research into practical actions
- More than 2,000 keynote presentations and workshops
- Experience across financial services, healthcare, education, hospitality, and other sectors
- Interactive presentations that use humor and audience participation
- Bilingual delivery and the ability to tailor or combine topics for your event
Why Is Jasmin Right for Your Audience?
Jasmin is a strong fit for sales conferences, customer experience events, leadership meetings, and association programs. He is especially valuable when an organization wants its people to turn a broad goal such as “better service” into behaviors they can use immediately.
Book Jasmin when your audience needs to:
- Make customer interactions more memorable
- Strengthen trust and long-term loyalty
- Sell on value rather than relying on price
- Handle expectations and complaints more effectively
- Help managers recognize and engage their teams
- Build greater participation and cooperation among colleagues
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Clearer on the behaviors that create a positive lasting impression
- Ready to improve how they manage expectations
- Equipped with practical ways to build stronger customer relationships
- Better able to connect service, sales, and teamwork to daily habits
- Motivated to create WOW moments in their own roles
Keynote Programs
The WOW Effect!
Jasmin explores what makes an experience memorable and gives audiences practical ways to create more positive moments for customers, colleagues, and other important relationships. Ideal for a broad conference audience.
The WOW Effect in Sales and Business Development
Jasmin shows sales professionals how to increase the value customers see, build credibility, strengthen loyalty, and approach closing without undue pressure. Ideal for sales kickoffs and client-facing teams.
The WOW Effect in Customer Service
This keynote focuses on the interpersonal skills and service habits that help customers feel valued. Jasmin addresses expectations, complaints, and the impressions that shape satisfaction and loyalty. Ideal for service and customer experience events.
The WOW Effect in Leadership
Jasmin gives leaders practical ways to build trust, recognize contributions, and engage employees through change. Ideal for managers who want stronger teams and more consistent collaboration.
The WOW Effect in Teamwork
Jasmin explores how colleagues can increase participation, use their different strengths, and create a more supportive team environment. Ideal for organization-wide gatherings and team meetings.
Why Contact The Sweeney Agency Now?
Tell us where your audience needs to create a stronger impression: sales, service, leadership, or teamwork. We can help select or combine the most relevant topics, discuss the presentation language and format, and confirm Jasmin’s availability and current fee.
Is Jasmin Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, the interactions you want to improve, and what you want attendees to do differently afterward. We’ll help you assess Jasmin’s fit and plan the next step.
To check availability and fee of this speaker, call 1-866-727-7555 or email [email protected].
Lisa Bodell
Global Leader on Simplification & Banishing Complexity, Innovation, Leadership, Change, Collaboration, and Transforming Culture
About
Lisa Bodell: Keynote Speaker on Simplification, Innovation & Leadership | Founder & CEO of FutureThink | Bestselling Author of Why Simple Wins
Simplify Work. Unlock Better Thinking. What could your people accomplish if they stopped wasting time on unnecessary work and focused their energy on what actually matters?
Lisa helps organizations eliminate the complexity, bureaucracy and low-value work that prevent people from thinking, leading and innovating at their best. Her message is provocative, practical and immediately actionable: stop adding more—and start removing what gets in the way.
Why Book Lisa Bodell?
Lisa doesn't just inspire people to work differently. She gives them practical tools to actually do it.
Her keynotes challenge one of the biggest problems facing organizations today: people are overwhelmed by meetings, processes, approvals and unnecessary complexity while leaders simultaneously ask them to innovate, move faster and accomplish more.
Lisa shows audiences how to create capacity by eliminating low-value work, simplifying decision-making and giving people more space to think.
The result is a keynote that can change not just how your audience thinks—but how they work the very next day.
What Makes Lisa Bodell Different?
- Founder & CEO of FutureThink — helping organizations simplify and innovate since 2003
- Bestselling author — author of Why Simple Wins and Kill the Company
- Simplification expert — helps organizations eliminate unnecessary complexity
- Innovation authority — teaches people how to challenge assumptions and think differently
- Highly interactive — incorporates audience participation and live exercises
- Immediately actionable — audiences leave with tools they can actually use
- Human-centered AI perspective — focuses on strengthening the capabilities technology can't replace
- Extensive corporate experience — has worked with leading organizations around the world
Why Is Lisa Right for Your Audience?
Lisa is an outstanding choice when your people are overwhelmed, moving too slowly or spending too much time on work that doesn't create enough value.
She is particularly effective for leadership conferences, executive meetings, innovation summits, transformation initiatives and organizations navigating AI-driven change.
Book Lisa when your audience needs to:
- Eliminate unnecessary complexity
- Create more time for meaningful work
- Make decisions faster
- Reduce bureaucracy and low-value processes
- Give leaders more capacity to actually lead
- Challenge outdated assumptions
- Strengthen innovation and creative problem-solving
- Determine where humans add the greatest value in an AI-enabled workplace
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Identifying unnecessary work they can stop doing
- Better equipped to simplify meetings, processes and decision-making
- Understanding how complexity can undermine innovation
- More willing to challenge outdated rules and assumptions
- Equipped with practical tools they can apply immediately
- Better prepared to create space for higher-value work
- Thinking differently about leadership in an AI-enabled workplace
- Ready to simplify how work gets done
Lisa Bodell Keynote Programs
Unleash the Power of Simple. What if the fastest way to improve performance isn't adding something new—but eliminating what no longer matters?
Drawing from her bestselling book Why Simple Wins, Lisa shows audiences how unnecessary complexity steals time, energy and attention from the work that creates the most value.
Through practical tools, interactive exercises and real-world examples, she helps people identify what they can eliminate, simplify or change so they can spend more time on meaningful work.
Ideal for: Leadership conferences, corporate meetings, transformation initiatives and organizations struggling with complexity.
Let Leaders Lead. How much time do your leaders actually spend leading?
Too often, managers become trapped in meetings, approvals, processes and administrative work that leave too little time for coaching, decision-making and developing their people.
Lisa challenges organizations to remove the bureaucracy preventing leaders from doing what they were hired to do: lead.
She gives managers practical ways to simplify work, remove barriers and create more capacity for the leadership activities that drive performance.
Ideal for: Executive meetings, leadership development, management conferences and organizations focused on improving leadership effectiveness.
Unleashing Innovation: AI-Enabled, Human-Led. As AI becomes more capable, what becomes more important for humans to do exceptionally well?
Lisa reframes the AI conversation around a critical opportunity: using technology to amplify human capability rather than simply replace human activity.
She explores how organizations can use AI to remove lower-value work while strengthening the distinctly human capabilities that drive innovation—including judgment, curiosity, creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving.
The goal isn't humans versus AI. It's creating organizations where AI handles more of the work while people do more of the thinking that matters.
Ideal for: AI conferences, leadership events, innovation summits and organizations navigating the future of work.
Why Book Lisa Bodell Through The Sweeney Agency?
Lisa Bodell combines provocative thinking with practical tools audiences can use immediately—but the real value comes from identifying where complexity is getting in the way of your organization's performance.
The Sweeney Agency can help you:
- Confirm Lisa Bodell's availability and current speaking fee
- Determine which Lisa Bodell keynote best fits your audience
- Discuss customization around your organization's challenges
- Coordinate format, timing and event logistics
- Compare Lisa with other leading innovation, change and leadership speakers
Is Lisa Bodell Right for Your Event?
Tell us what's slowing your people down—and what you want them spending more time doing instead.
We'll help you determine whether Lisa is the right fit, confirm availability and fees, and make the booking process simple.
Planning a leadership conference, innovation summit or corporate event? Contact The Sweeney Agency today [email protected] to discuss booking Lisa Bodell as your keynote speaker.
Book Your Next Great Speaker in 5 Easy Steps
5 Tips to Book your Next Great Speaker
About
Did last year's speaker knock your socks off? Not sure where to go next? Let our team of experienced professionals help you find your next great speaker.
Here's a quick guide to help you get started:
Find A Theme
Decide on a theme or topic for your event.
Going through a period of transition? Looking to shake up your creative? Building trust within your teams? We have great speakers on all of those topics.
Having trouble? Check out our IDEA GENERATOR for inspiration.
Get in Touch
Get in touch with your Event Date & Theme.
We will ask you some key questions to find the perfect speaker for your live or virtual event.
We pride ourselves on our personal touch. We are small team of dedicated professionals with over 20 years experience. When you call us, you speak to us directly... and quickly.
Shortlist
By now, we have a great idea of what you are looking for and will send you a shortlist of exceptional speakers.
Each speaker will be vetted with YOUR event in mind, along with our personal thoughts on how that speaker can inspire your attendees.
Let's talk
From the shortlist, you've narrowed it down to two great speakers. Let's discuss your needs to help make the final decision.
With over 20 years experience, you can trust us to provide all of the information you need to choose the right speaker.
We work with you to find the best format for your presentation, including live streams, Q&A sessions and even follow up programs to ensure maximum engagement for your key stakeholders.
The Details
We will facilitate a call with your leadership team & our speaker to do a deep dive into your business to make sure their presentation really hits home.
As trusted experts, you can rest easy knowing our experience will guide you every step of the way.
get in touch
Get in touch to book your next great speaker.
Marcus Buckingham
Global Expert in Leadership, Management, Strengths-based Talent Development & Reinventing an Organization
About
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Marcus talks about how managers can create environments in which individuals thrive, discover their talents and use their best selves daily.
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Audiences learn the four key demands a manager must fulfill in order to provide the kind of environment that enables people to achieve peak performance on a regular basis.
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Marcus Buckingham is the author of more than 10 books and is the author of two of the best-selling business books of all time. He is the co-creator of the StrengthsFinder tool, and CEO and found of The Marcus Buckingham Company.
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Past clients include: Toyota, Facebook, lululemon, Coca-Cola, Box, Master Foods, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, and Disney.
Marcus Buckingham has dedicated his career to addressing the complex issue of a workplace ruled by efficiency and competency - and where personal strengths fit in. Using his nearly two decades of experience as a Senior Researcher at Gallup Organization, he has challenged entrenched preconceptions about achievement to get to the core of what drives success. As a speaker, Buckingham offers important insights into maximizing strengths, understanding the crucial differences between leadership and management, and fulfilling the quest for long-lasting personal satisfaction in work and in life.
The definitive treatment of strengths in the workplace can be found in Buckingham's best-selling books: First, Break All the Rules (co-authored with Curt Coffman); Now, Discover Your Strengths (co-authored with Donald O. Clifton); The One Thing You Need to Know; Go Put Your Strengths to Work; The Truth about You and Find Your Strongest Life. His latest book Nine Lies about Work: A Freethinking Leader's Guide to the Real World (co-authored with Ashley Goodall) speaks about how the time has come for a manifesto for truth and change at work - and reveals the unimpeachable data about how humans actually work.
A recent project and best-seller listed on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, StandOut, is a book and strengths assessment combination that uses new research methodology to reveal your top two strength roles
- your areas of comparative advantage. StandOut goes beyond description to give people practical innovations that fit their strengths and provide managers with quick insights on how to get the best from each of their team members.
The goal is to move companies toward greater success and productivity by creating a workplace culture in which employees spend more than 75% of each day on the job using their strongest skills and engaged in their favorite tasks, basically doing exactly what they want to do. Companies that focus on cultivating employees' strengths rather than simply improving their weaknesses stand to dramatically increase efficiency while allowing for maximum personal growth. If such a theory sounds revolutionary, that's because it is. Buckingham calls it the strengths revolution
- and he founded The Marcus Buckingham Company (TMBC) in 2005 to help jump-start a worldwide conversation about how to get people focused on their strengths.
As he addresses more than 250,000 people around the globe each year, Buckingham touts this strengths revolution as the key to finding the most effective route to personal achievement and the missing link to the efficiency, competence, and high performance for which companies constantly strive. He challenges conventional wisdom and shows the correlation between engaged employees and business fundamentals such as turnover rates, customer satisfaction, profits and productivity.
In his role as an author, independent consultant and speaker, Marcus Buckingham has been the subject of in-depth profiles in The New York Times, Fortune, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. He has appeared on numerous television programs, including The Today Show
and The Oprah Winfrey Show,
and is routinely lauded by such corporations as Toyota, Coca-Cola, Master Foods, Wells Fargo, Microsoft and Disney - as an invaluable resource in informing, challenging, mentoring and inspiring people to find their strengths and sustain long-lasting personal success.
Marcus Buckingham graduated from Cambridge University in 1987 with a master's degree in social and political science.
About
A dynamic and insightful speaker, Jeff Bush is known for his unique ability to translate difficult and confusing tax and fiscal information coming out of Washington into winning growth strategies for business owners, executives, and high net worth investors. Jeff is a colleague of Andy Friedman and an integral part of The Washington Update, the non-partisan experts on all things Washington D.C.
Jeff does more than 200 presentations yearly in the US and abroad to a client base that includes a who’s who list of fortune 500 firms from Wall Street to Main Street and everywhere in between. Jeff has been featured in Investment News and has been an analyst on POTUS Sirius/XM radio. While best known as a keynote speaker, Jeff has shared the stage with many notables including former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr., Consuelo Mack, host of Wealth Track, Morgan Stanley, Chief Investment Officer, Jeffrey Applegate, Ron Insana, reporter for Market Score Board and former CNBC Senior Analyst.
Jeff is a 28-year veteran of the financial industry. During a 10-year career at Merrill Lynch he was responsible for providing, through 7500 financial advisers, creative investment strategies and effective risk mitigation approaches to private and corporate clients across the US. By the end of his career on Wall Street, he was managing a $50+ billion business. Before that, Jeff was the youngest managing partner in the 150-year history of The New England Financial, an investment and tax risk consulting firm. He began his career at Principal Financial Group, where he handled complex underwriting issues before moving into the areas of research and development.
Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management with emphasis in accounting and philosophy from William Jewell College. Jeff’s dedication, forward thinking, and strategic abilities have resulted in performance records, industry awards, and leadership accolades.
Susan Cain
Co-founder of Quiet Revolution, New York Times Best-selling Author and Speaker on Leadership
About
Susan Cain is the author of the best-sellers Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, which has been translated into 40 languages, is in its seventh year on the New York Times best- seller list, and was named the #1 best book of the year by Fast Company magazine, which also named Cain one of its Most Creative People in Business. LinkedIn named her the 6th Top Influencer in the world.
Susan has partnered with Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant and Dan Pink to launch the Next Big Idea Book Club; they donate all their proceeds to children’s literacy programs.
Her writing has appeared in the The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Her record-smashing TED talk has been viewed over 30 million times on TED.com and YouTube combined, and was named by Bill Gates one of his all-time favorite talks.
Cain has also spoken at Microsoft, Google, the U.S. Treasury, the S.E.C., Harvard, Yale, West Point and the US Naval Academy.
She received Harvard Law School’s Celebration Award for Thought Leadership, the Toastmasters International Golden Gavel Award for Communication and Leadership, and was named one of the world’s top 50 Leadership and Management Experts by Inc. Magazine. She is an honours graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School.
She lives in the Hudson River Valley with her husband and two sons.
About
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Ram talks about execution as a function that links people, strategy and operations led by deeply and passionately engaged leaders.
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Audiences are fascinated by breakthrough ideas on the tools to develop the discipline of execution based on thinking about business in an integrated way.
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Ram Charan is a world-renowned business advisor, author and speaker who has spent the past 40 years working with many top companies, CEOs, and boards of our time.
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Past clients include: Toyota, Bank of America, Key Bank, ICICI Bank, Aditya Birla Group, Novartis, Max Group, Yildiz Holdings, UST Global, Fast Retailing (Uniqlo), Humana, Matrix, and Longfor.
Ram Charan is a world-renowned business advisor, author and speaker who has spent the past 40 years working with many top companies, CEOs, and boards of our time. In his work with companies including Toyota, Bank of America, Key Bank, ICICI Bank, Aditya Birla Group, Novartis, Max Group, Yildiz Holdings, UST Global, Fast Retailing (Uniqlo), Humana, Matrix, Longfor and two of the four largest digital companies in China, he is known for cutting through the complexity of running a business in today’s fast changing environment to uncover the core business problem. His real-world solutions, shared with millions through his books and articles in top business publications, have been praised for being practical, relevant and highly actionable — the kind of advice you can use Monday morning.
Ram’s introduction to business came early while working in the family shoe shop in a small town in northern India, where he was raised. He earned an engineering degree in India and soon after took a job in Australia. When his talent for business was discovered, Ram was encouraged to develop it. He earned MBA and doctorate degrees from Harvard Business School, where he graduated with high distinction and was a Baker Scholar, then served on the faculties of Harvard Business School and Northwestern University before pursuing consulting full-time.
Ram’s work takes him around the globe non-stop and gives him an unparalleled, up-to-date insider view of how economies and leading companies operate. Through keen observation and analysis, he forms powerful insights that help business leaders face their toughest challenges in the areas of growth, talent development, corporate governance, and profitability.
His timely concrete advice is a powerful tool in navigating today’s uncertain business climate.
Former Chairman of GE Jack Welch says Ram “has the rare ability to distill meaningful from meaningless and transfer it in a quiet, effective way without destroying confidences,” while Ivan Seidenberg, the former CEO of Verizon, calls Ram his “secret weapon.”
Ram has coached more than a dozen leaders who went on to become CEOs. He reaches many more up-and-coming business leaders through in-house executive education programs. His energetic, interactive teaching style has won him several awards, including the Bell Ringer award at GE’s famous Crotonville Institute and best teacher award at Northwestern. He was among BusinessWeek‘s top ten resources for in-house executive development programs.
Ram has authored over 30 books since 1998 that have sold over 4 million copies in more than a dozen languages. Three of his books were Wall Street Journal bestsellers, including Execution, which he coauthored with former Honeywell CEO Larry Bossidy in 2002, which spent more than 150 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. He also has written for publications including Harvard Business Review, Fortune, BusinessWeek, Time, Chief Executive and USA TODAY.
Ram was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and has served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Corporate Governance. He has served on the boards of Hindalco in India, Emaar, Austin Industries, Tyco Electronics, and Fischer and Porter. His upcoming book, Rethinking Competitive Advantage (Currency, April 2021), is a guide for companies on how to gain competitive advantage in the digital age.
About
Click Here to Receive Your Customized List of Speaker Ideas
Virtual Events can:
- Reach a wider audience
- Offer a great experience at a much lower cost
- Create long term impact with recorded elements that allow for content to be watched over a period of time
- Have an increased impact over time, as viewers re-watch, discuss and connect over social media and other channels
And, most importantly: offer the ability for inspiring and impactful presentations to connect in a one-on-one way, directly to the attendee.
WHO is your audience?
Who are your virtual event attendees? Are they across a specific group within your organization, or are you serving clients across a wide range of levels? Determining who you are speaking to will help you determine a format for your event that will captivate your audience.
WHAT is your key message?
Are you focusing on change? Innovation? Leadership?
Creating a single focus or mission will allow you to hone in on the type of speaker(s) you need to engage your audience and help event producers to format the event into a dynamic program that balances inspiration with information and audience interaction.
WHAT type of event suits your audience?
- Virtual Conference
- Webinar
- Hybrid Event
Virtual event technology has come a long way over the last few months, offering a huge range of different options from pre-recorded webinars, to multi-day virtual conferences, to hybrid events with some attendees in the audience while the event is live streamed.
OUR ADVICE
A COMBINATION of live and pre-recorded elements will allow your virtual event to run smoothly and stay on time.
Many of our clients are also opting for multi-day virtual conferences with shorter segments spaced over a few days.
This allows some flexibility for attendees in different time zones and accommodates different teleworking situations for attendees, allowing them to tune in when it is convenient.
WHERE? It’s all about Tech.
Virtual meeting technology has exploded over the last few months as teleworking became the norm.
Consider your needs:
- Interactive elements like breakout rooms, polls & Q&A
- Seamless blend of live & pre-recorded elements
- Ability to replay segments
- Live tech support
If you plan for rain, it’s likely the sun will shine…
Tech isn’t perfect so don’t forget to test, rehearse and have a back up plan ready to go for your virtual event.
Pro Tip: Think of a virtual presentation like a podcast. Viewers can view the content multiple times and refer back to it.
WHEN? A Date… or Dates?
As we have all noticed, our attention spans for meeting in real life versus meeting online are a lot longer.
When deciding on a date, consider spreading your virtual event out over a few days, with a variety of speakers, interactive elements and information.
The benefits of a multi-day format:
- Viewers watch content fresh for a short period every day
- Allows attendees in different time zones to stay on top of the content
- Attendees can review & re-engage with content
Virtual Event Checklist:
Is your event?
- Interactive?
- Informative?
- Able to be rewatched?
WHY? Pandemic 2020
Just because you are online instead of in person, it doesn’t mean you are missing out on connection.
Using the technology that we have become so accustomed to over the last few months, our keynote speakers have the ability to connect to your viewers one-on-one, in a way that was impossible in live events.
FIND YOUR WHY…
What do you want the audience to leave thinking at the end of the presentation?
Apply this question to all the presentations and segments in your event to create a cohesive, impactful virtual event.
HOW? Virtual Event Checklist
To wrap it all up
- TECH: Find the right tech platform & don’t forget to test drive before your event
- AGENDA: Use a mix of live and pre-recorded segments, mixed with interactive elements, to ensure a smooth flow of events & audience engagement
- ANTICIPATION: Build up your event with emails, teasers and sneak peeks into what content will be offered
- NETWORKING: Create and encourage online chat functions, an event specific hashtag or even a dedicated event page to allow attendees to network virtually. Maximize the networking opportunities offered by your tech platform.
- EXTEND YOUR IMPACT: A dedicated social media page is a great place for attendees to connect after an event to discuss ideas and implement some of the learnings from the event.
Offer a password protected, limited time recording of keynote presentations to continue the conversation long after the virtual event has ended.
Continue the conversation with post-event touch points like emails or questions based on the key presentations.
To find a GREAT Speaker for your Virtual event, get in touch.
About
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Leadership Keynote Speaker
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Former Senior VP of Sales Leadership at WaMu Investment Services and Washington Mutual
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Regular leadership contributor to Fast Company Magazine, and published in the Seattle Times, The Huffington Post, Reuters, CEO Magazine Great Britain, USA Today
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Past clients include: AIG, Crowe, Fidelity Savings, Microsoft National Bank, Shaw Communications, Yahoo!
For 25 years, Mark Crowley led nationwide teams to record-breaking success at one of America’s largest financial services companies—not through conventional management tactics, buy by tapping into the deepest source of human motivation there is: emotional connection. Entirely out of step with conventional management tactics—and with his peers—Mark proved when managers genuinely care about their employees, value them as individuals, and invest in their development, they inspire extraordinary commitment, loyalty and performance.
Recognizing that his leadership approach defied conventional wisdom, Mark set out to uncover the science that could validate it. His goal was to prove that the same profound results he experienced could be replicated by managers across industries and nations, confirming his philosophy was a measurable, repeatable driver of workplace excellence.
Mark spent two years on this quest, and the result was his groundbreaking book, Lead From The Heart: Transformational Leadership For The 21st Century—one that’s since been taught in 11 American universities.
When first published in 2011, many workplace managers were skeptical about bringing “heart” into leadership. They feared it was soft and weak. Now, in 2025, the science Mark introduced has been widely embraced by organizations worldwide. The cutting-edge discoveries that feelings and emotions drive up to 95% of human behavior—and that the human heart and brain work in tandem to shape motivation, behavior and productivity—challenges us to fundamentally rethink how we manage people.
What Mark proved is that no matter the industry, generation or education level, workers consistently excel; when they feel valued, safe, trusted and supported. Simply put. when leaders demonstrate to employees that they matter, they unlock levels of motivation and excellence common leadership methods will always struggle to achieve.
At its core, this approach has transformed the way leaders inspire performance. And, as the world of work continues to evolve—shaped by new expectations, remote collaboration, and shifting cultural priorities—the need for managers to adopt this approach has never been more urgent.
In September, 2025, Mark’s new book, The Power of Employee Well-Being: Move Beyond Commitment To Build Flourishing Teams, will advance this wisdom even further. It not only reinforces his core conclusions but unveils new and disruptive research that proves employee well-being isn’t a nice-to-have, it is a direct, consistent and powerful force for team and organizational success. Research from Oxford University and others proves that leaders who prioritize well-being create environments where employees not only thrive but outperform.
Dr. Ken Dychtwald
Futurist, Best-Selling Author, Entrepreneur, Psychologist, Gerontologist and Recognized Speaker on the Aging Population.
About
Over the past 40+ years, Dr. Ken Dychtwald has emerged as North America’s foremost visionary and original thinker regarding the lifestyle, marketing, health care, economic and workforce implications of the age wave.
Ken is a psychologist, gerontologist, and best-selling author of 18 books on aging-related issues, including Bodymind, Age Wave: The Challenges and Opportunities of an Aging Society, Age Power: How the 21st Century Will Be Ruled by the New Old, Healthy Aging, Gideon’s Dream: A Tale of New Beginnings, A New Purpose: Redefining Money, Family, Work, Retirement, and Success and What Retirees Want: A Holistic View of Life’s Third Age (an Amazon #1 bestseller in both the retirement and business marketing categories). He also released a memoir in April 2021: Radical Curiosity: One Man’s Search for Cosmic Magic and a Purposeful Life (an Amazon #1 New Release in the psychologist biographies category). He was the executive producer and host of the highly rated/acclaimed PBS documentary, The Boomer Century: 1946–2046 which aired over 2,000 times on PBS stations nationwide and his new Public Television special is titled Life’s Third Age. Ken also conceived and hosted the innovative new American Society on Aging series “The Legacy Interviews,” featuring interviews with the legendary pathfinders of the field of aging.
Since 1986, Ken has been the Founder and CEO of Age Wave, an acclaimed think tank and consultancy focused on the social and business implications and opportunities of global aging and rising longevity. His client list has included over half the Fortune 500. He has served as a fellow of the World Economic Forum and was a featured speaker at two White House Conferences on Aging. Ken has twice received the distinguished American Society on Aging Award for outstanding national leadership, and American Demographics honored him as the single most influential marketer to baby boomers over the past quarter century. His article in the Harvard Business Review, “It’s Time to Retire Retirement,” was awarded the prestigious McKinsey Award, tying for first place with the legendary Peter Drucker. He was honored by Investment Advisor as one of the 35 most influential thought leaders in the financial services industry over the past 35 years. Ken and his wife, Maddy, recently received the Esalen Prize for their outstanding contributions to advancing the human potential of aging men and women worldwide. In 2018 he was awarded the Inspire Award from in the International Council on Active Aging for his exceptional and lasting contributions to the active-aging industry and for his efforts to make a difference in the lives of older adults globally. In 2020, he was the first recipient of the Pioneer Award from the Retirement Coaches Association.
During his career, Ken has addressed more than two million people worldwide in his speeches to corporate, association, social service, and government groups. His strikingly accurate predictions and innovative ideas are regularly featured in leading print and electronic media worldwide and have garnered nearly fifteen billion media impressions.
About
Ryan Estis: Bestselling Author | Former Fortune 500 Chief Revenue Officer | Speaker on Leadership, Sales, and Growth
Why Book Ryan Estis?
Ryan brings energy, stories, and clear actions to the stage. He tailors his presentations to the audience, whether the goal is to strengthen leadership, improve sales performance, or help people move forward through uncertainty.
Why Is Ryan Estis Right for Your Audience?
Ryan is a strong fit for leadership conferences, sales kickoffs, manager meetings, and company events. He is especially valuable when an organization wants people to take ownership of growth while building stronger relationships with colleagues and customers.
Book Ryan when your audience needs to:
- Lead high-performing teams through change
- Build trust and engagement at work
- Coach people to take greater ownership
- Communicate value to today’s buyers
- Strengthen customer relationships
- Turn new ideas into action after the event
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Clearer on how their daily actions affect team performance
- Ready to coach and support people more effectively
- Better equipped to build trust with colleagues or customers
- More confident navigating change and uncertainty
- Committed to a practical next step they can take immediately
Keynote Programs
Human-Centered Leadership: Leading High-Performance Teams in a Forever Changed World
Ryan shows leaders how to develop people, communicate with clarity, and create the trust teams need to perform. He helps managers connect individual growth with shared goals and lasting results. Ideal for leadership conferences and manager meetings.
Sell for Impact: Value-Based Selling & Winning Customers in the Era of Complexity
Ryan helps sales teams earn customer trust, communicate value beyond price, and guide buyers through complex decisions. Drawing on his experience as a chief revenue officer, he offers practical ways to strengthen conversations and move opportunities forward. Ideal for sales kickoffs and client-facing teams.
Adapt & Thrive: Leverage Change and Transformation as a Catalyst for Growth
Ryan helps audiences approach change with greater confidence and a willingness to learn. He explores how people and organizations can respond to disruption, find opportunity, and keep growing. Ideal for company events and teams facing transformation.
Is Ryan Estis Right for Your Event?
Tell us whether your priority is leadership, sales growth, or navigating change. We can help select Ryan’s most relevant program, discuss the event format, and confirm his availability and fee.
Contact The Sweeney Agency at 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected] for more information on this speaker.
About
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Vijay Govindarajan
Speaker on strategy execution and global leadership, author of Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators.
About
Vijay Govindarajan has been recently named the first Coxe Distinguished Professorship of Management at the Tuck School and founding director of Tuck's Center for Global Leadership. He is also the faculty co-director for Global Leadership 2020, Tuck's executive education program that focuses on global management and is taught on three continents.
For 25 years, Govindarajan has been advancing the field of strategy execution and advising senior executives in all industries on how to modify their organizations to achieve their strategic ambitions. Govindarajan focuses on teaching corporations to build breakthrough businesses while simultaneously sustaining excellence in their core business -- the subject of his new book, Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators.
Govindarajan currently writes a column for FastCompany.com. His articles have also appeared in journals such as Harvard Business Review, strategy+ business, California Management Review, and MIT Sloan Management Review. One of his papers was recognized as one of the ten most-often cited articles in the entire 40-year history of Academy of Management Journal. Govindarajan has published six books, including The Quest for Global Dominance.
As a popular keynote speaker, Vijan has been featured at many conferences such as the Business Week CEO Forum and the Economist Conference. Recognized as one of today's leading business strategists, Govindarajan has been named to a series of lists by influential publications, including: Outstanding Faculty in BusinessWeek's annual Guide to Best B-Schools; Top Five Most Respected Executive Coaches on Strategy by Forbes; and Eight Leading Executive Advisors by the Wall Street Journal Online.
Some of companies Vijay has advised include: AT&T, Boeing, British Telecom, Corning, Ford, The Gap, Hewlett-Packard, The Home Depot, IBM, J.P. Morgan Chase, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Sony, and Wal-Mart.
Scott Greenberg
Business Motivational Speaker Helps Leaders & Franchisees Engage Employees, Serve Customers and Grow their Business
About
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Talks about customer service, management, and employee engagement, and how the human factor drives bottom-line results in business.
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Audiences learn how to operate in a way that makes the most impact on customers and colleagues and ultimately, the most money, your culture must excel in three critical areas: the way people think, the way they lead, and the way they serve.
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Author of The Wealthy Franchisee: Game-Changing Steps to Becoming a Thriving Franchise Superstar
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Past clients include: McDonalds, Great Clips, Anytime Fitness, GNC, Wyndham Hotel Group, National Shoes Retailers Association, Re/MAX, Lyft, Columbia Sports Wear, Principal Financial Group, National Property Management Association.
At the core of every thriving business lie the human elements of leadership, culture, and employee engagement. Scott Greenberg is the catalyst for a new kind of business transformation—one that balances the scales between strategic prowess and human empathy, the interconnectedness of profit and people.
Author of Stop the SHIFT SHOW and The Wealthy Franchisee, Scott delves into the human factors of business that directly impact performance. He helps leaders think at a higher level with a peak performance mindset that keeps emotions in check and yields the clearest, most productive perspective possible for business growth. He helps them lead more effectively so they can hire, train and develop their teams into a high-performance workforce. Improving business from the inside out, he co-created an innovative management diagnostic and leadership tool, 30-Second Leadership™, that enhances employee mindset, skillset and performance.
As a former multi-unit, international award-winning franchise owner for best management and customer service, Scott’s programs are a harmonious blend of wit, business acumen and human-centric leadership. He stands at the intersection of hard strategy and emotional intelligence, offering a holistic approach to business transformation that is practical and relatable.
Scott’s books, keynotes and online trainings aim to elevate not just the metrics, but the people behind them. As a sought-after author and international speaker, Scott ignites audiences with engaging, high-energy and customized programs that leave audience members with proven strategies and long-lasting inspiration. He is the expert organizations call on to boost performance and elevate their teams.
Scott Halford
Expert in the Areas of Achievement Psychology, which includes Brain-based Behavioral Science, Emotional Intelligence and Critical Thinking.
About
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Scott takes the complex topic of neuroscience and distills it into bite-sized morsels that anyone can digest. He makes neuroscience feel intuitive, and his enthusiasm for the topic is downright contagious.
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Talks about: Activate Your Brain: The Neuroscience of Success & Emotional Intelligence: Success in Business and Beyond
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Internationally renowned keynote speaker and the bestselling author of Activate Your Brain
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Past clients include: General Electric, American Airlines, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, First Data, Medtronic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Centura Health, MillerCoors, Western Union
Scott Halford is an Emmy Award winning writer and producer, an engaging communicator and presenter and a long-time consultant to Fortune 500 executive teams. Scott’s expansive knowledge in the areas of achievement psychology, including brain-based behavioral science, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and influence, add richness and depth to his programs.
You will appreciate Scott’s wise and timely insights into the human experience. His captivating ability to tell stories with humor, wit, and depth transports his audiences to destinations they may have never been; physically, mentally or emotionally. Participants laugh and learn, and consistently praise the rich and rewarding learning experience.
Scott is an accredited and certified Emotional Intelligence Provider as well as an Advanced Certified Associate in Emergenetics®. He holds an Executive Master’s degree from the NeuroLeadership Institute.
As an author, Scott has two best-selling books: Be a Shortcut, based on emotional intelligence and influence; and Activate Your Brain, a Wall Street Journal best-selling book and winner of the Bronze Axiom award for best business book.
Scott is on faculty at General Electric’s John Welch Center of Leadership in Crotonville, NY; is a guest lecturer for the MBA program at the Daniels School of Business at the University of Denver; and is a Trustee for the Iliff School of Theology. Scott is Founder and Principal of Complete Intelligence, LLC.
Corporate clients span many industries and include General Electric, American Airlines, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, First Data, Medtronic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Centura Health, MillerCoors, Western Union and many more. Scott’s books are available on Amazon.com.
Dan Heath
Co-author (with his brother Chip) of four New York Times bestsellers: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive, and The Power of Moments A senior fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports social entrepreneurs who are fighting for social good Named …
About
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Co-author (with his brother Chip) of four New York Times bestsellers: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive, and The Power of Moments
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A senior fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports social entrepreneurs who are fighting for social good
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Named in 2013 to the Thinkers50, a ranking of the world’s most influential management thinkers
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MBA from Harvard Business School
Dan Heath is the co-author, along with his brother Chip, of four long-running bestsellers: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive, and The Power of Moments. The Heath Brothers’ books have sold over three million copies worldwide and been translated into 33 languages. Dan’s new book Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen was an instant Wall Street Journal bestseller, and it was included on “best books” lists from Apple, Amazon, the Financial Times, and others.
Dan is a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports entrepreneurs who fight for social good. He is an entrepreneur himself, having founded Thinkwell, an innovative education company that next year will celebrate its 25th anniversary. Dan was named in 2013 to the Thinkers 50, a ranking of the world’s 50 most influential management thinkers, and also to Fast Company magazine’s list of the Most Creative People in Business. He has spoken to teachers, police chiefs, U.S. senators, interior designers, Navy admirals, health care leaders, marketers, ministers, and countless executive teams, across 26 countries on 6 continents. (He’s still waiting for that invitation from Antarctica.)
Dan has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin. One proud geeky moment for Dan was his victory in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest, beating out 13,000 other entrants. He lives in Durham, NC.
Dane Jensen
Acclaimed speaker, Media Commentator, Educator and Author of The Power of Pressure
About
Dane Jensen is the CEO of third Factor, an acclaimed speaker, an instructor at Queen's University and the University of North Carolina, a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, and the author of The Power of Pressure (HarperCollins).
Dane oversees Third Factor's delivery of leadership development programs to leading firms across North America, including RBC, Asana, Microsoft, Starbucks, Pfizer and more.
He teaches in the Full-Time and Executive MBAs at Queen's Smith School of Business in Canada and is Affiliate Faculty with UNC Executive Development at the Kenan-Flagler Business School in Chapel Hill.
In addition to his corporate work, Dane works extensively with athletes, coaches, leaders, and boards across Canada's Olympic and Paralympic sport systems to enhance National competitiveness.
He has worked as an advisor to Senior Executives in 23 countries on 5 continents and is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.
Whitney Johnson
Author and Co-Founder, with Clayton Christensen, Rose Park Advisors’ Disruptive Innovation Fund
About
Whitney Johnson is recognized as one of the 50 leading business thinkers in the world since 2015 (Thinkers50), Whitney Johnson is an expert on disruptive innovation and personal disruption? specifically, a framework which she codifies in the critically acclaimed book Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work. She is also the author of Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream. Her latest title, Build An “A” Team: Become a Boss People Love, will be released in May 2018 by Harvard Business Publishing.
She developed her proprietary framework and diagnostics after co-founding The Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen. This framework is complemented by a deep understanding of how executives create and destroy value, having spent nearly a decade as an Institutional Investor ranked equity analyst on Wall Street.
In addition to her work as a speaker and advisor, Whitney is one of Marshall Goldsmith’s original cohort of 25 for the #100 Coaches Project, is a coach for Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program, frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, is a Linkedin influencer, and hosts the twice-monthly Disrupt Yourself Podcast. You can follow her on Twitter at @johnsonwhitney.
Dr. Jessica Kriegel
About Dr. Jessica Kriegel – Organizational Culture Expert and Leadership Strategist
About
Dr. Jessica Kriegel: Workplace Culture Researcher | Author of Surrender to Lead | Speaker on Leadership, Change and Accountability
Why Book Dr. Jessica Kriegel?
Jessica combines data, humor, and direct advice. Her keynotes help audiences examine what gets in the way of ownership, how to build alignment, and what leaders can do to create a culture that supports their goals.
Why Is Dr. Jessica Kriegel Right for Your Audience?
Jessica is a strong fit for leadership conferences, company meetings, executive retreats, and events focused on culture or transformation. She is especially relevant when an organization has a clear strategy but needs people across the business to understand it, own it, and act on it.
Book Jessica when your audience needs to:
- Connect culture with business results
- Build accountability without relying on pressure or micromanagement
- Lead people through change with greater clarity
- Align teams around shared goals and expectations
- Encourage ownership and follow-through at every level
- Reconsider assumptions about a multigenerational workforce
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Clearer on the beliefs and behaviors that shape results
- Better equipped to create ownership rather than simply demand it
- Ready to identify cultural friction that slows change
- More aware of how to connect strategy to daily decisions
- Equipped with practical questions to bring back to their teams
Keynote Programs
Surrender to Lead: The New Leadership Paradigm for an Unpredictable World
Drawing on her book Surrender to Lead, Jessica challenges leaders to loosen their grip on control, face changing conditions, and take clearer action. Ideal for organizations navigating uncertainty and disruption.
Results-Based Leadership: The Framework for Turning Strategy Into Real Results
Jessica shows how beliefs influence actions and how those actions shape outcomes. She gives leaders a framework for strengthening clarity, alignment, and accountability. Ideal for leadership and strategy events.
Leading Change: The Change Activation Equation
Jessica explores the conditions that help change take hold across an organization. She offers a practical approach to building alignment and reducing the cultural friction that can slow transformation. Ideal for teams facing restructuring, technology adoption, or a strategic shift.
Ignite a Culture of Accountability
Jessica examines how leaders can inspire people to care about their work and take ownership of outcomes. She connects empathy, clear expectations, and shared purpose to stronger follow-through. Ideal for company and leadership audiences.
Is Dr. Jessica Kriegel Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, the results you want to improve, and the behaviors that need to change. We can help select Jessica’s most relevant keynote, discuss customization, and confirm her availability and fee.
Contact The Sweeney Agency 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected] for more information on this speaker.
Patrick Lencioni
Best-Selling author and speaker on leadership, organizational health, teamwork and corporate culture.
About
Patrick Lencioni: Bestselling Author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team | Founder of The Table Group | Speaker on Teamwork and Organizational Health
Why Book Patrick Lencioni?
Patrick brings his ideas to the stage through stories, humor, and clear models. His keynotes give audiences a shared language for building trust, reducing confusion, and working together with greater purpose.
Why Is Patrick Lencioni Right for Your Audience?
Patrick is a strong fit for leadership conferences, executive retreats, company meetings, and events focused on culture or team performance. He is especially relevant when an organization has talented people but needs stronger alignment and healthier ways of working together.
Book Patrick when your audience needs to:
- Build more cohesive leadership and project teams
- Recognize behaviors that undermine trust and accountability
- Reduce politics, confusion, and silos
- Clarify what makes an organization healthy
- Identify and develop effective team players
- Make better use of people’s natural strengths at work
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Better able to recognize the patterns that weaken teamwork
- Equipped with a common language for more honest team conversations
- Clearer on how leadership clarity shapes organizational health
- Ready to consider humility, hunger, and people smarts in team development
- More aware of how different kinds of work energize or frustrate people
Keynote Programs
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Drawing on his bestselling book, Patrick examines the behaviors that keep teams from building trust, handling conflict, committing to decisions, holding one another accountable, and focusing on results. Ideal for leaders and teams seeking stronger collaboration.
The Advantage
Patrick shows leaders how organizational health can reduce politics and confusion while improving clarity and cohesion. Ideal for executive and management audiences.
The Ideal Team Player
Patrick explores the three qualities he identifies in effective team players: humility, hunger, and people smarts. He connects the model to hiring, developing people, and building a more collaborative culture.
The 6 Types of Working Genius
Patrick introduces a framework for understanding the kinds of work that give people energy and those that cause frustration. He helps audiences consider how to combine different strengths across a team.
Is Patrick Lencioni Right for Your Event?
Tell us about your audience, its teamwork challenges, and what you want people to do differently after the event. We can help select Patrick’s most relevant program, discuss the format, and confirm his availability and fee.
Contact The Sweeney Agency 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected] for more information on this speaker.
David Maxfield
Coauthor of New York Times Best-selling books of Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success and Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, expert on the art of influencing.
About
David Maxfield's experience and research into the best practices of leaders and influencers has made him a leading industry expert in communication, behavior, organizational effectiveness, and corporate culture. For more than twenty years, David Maxfield has led high-leverage research initiatives that uncover causes of and solutions to managerial, cultural, and operational inefficiencies that directly affect the bottom line. David's career began with his doctoral work in psychology at Stanford University. Since then, his impact on organizational performance has been wide-reaching as he's helped clients such as General Mills, Harvard Medical School, Pizza Hut, and Spectrum Health increase organizational effectiveness and become measurably more vital.
David is the coauthor of two New York Times bestsellers, Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success and Influencer: The Power to Change Anything. A respected academic, David has taught at Stanford University and the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. David is the recipient of the Motorola University's Distinguished Teaching Award and Stanford University's Dean's Award for Innovative Industrial Education.
Drawing from extensive academic and corporate experience, David delivers topics that are grounded in solid research and application. Speaking in front of more than five hundred audiences ranging in size from small retreats to large keynote events, David has been featured at prestigious venues including Stanford and Georgetown Universities, the American Association of CriticalCare Nurses, and the National Association of Children's Hospitals. With an unrivaled ability to connect to his audience through engaging stories and captivating examples, David brings concepts to life-motivating listeners to put their newly-found skills and knowledge to immediate use.
Currently, David is the vice president of research at VitalSmarts, an innovative corporate training company that teaches skills which deliver significant improvements to the results companies care about most. In the past thirty years, VitalSmarts has helped thousands of organizations, including more than three hundred of the Fortune 500, realize widespread and lasting results through its award-winning training programs. Named the 2008 Business of the Year by The Association of Learning Providers, VitalSmarts has also been ranked four times by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in America and has taught two million people worldwide.
As vice president of research, David has led a series of research projects on a variety of subjects including the role crucial conversations play in the healthcare industry, and how the ongoing failure rate within enterprise projects is consistently linked to the avoidance of a few key crucial conversations. David has also led research projects about diversity, leadership, and influence.
About
Dr. John C. Maxwell is a #1 New York Times best-selling author, coach, and leadership speaker who has sold more than 30 million books in 50 languages. His latest book Leadershift: 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace was released in February, 2019.
Dr. Maxwell has been identified as the #1 leader in business by the American Management Association, and the most influential leadership expert in the world by Business Insider and Inc. magazines. He is founder of The John C. Maxwell Company, The John C. Maxwell Team, EQUIP, and The John C. Maxwell Leadership Foundation - organizations that have trained millions of leaders from almost every country of the world. A recipient of the Horatio Alger Award and the Mother Teresa Prize for Global Peace and Leadership from the Luminary Leadership Network, John speaks each year to Fortune 500 companies, presidents of nations, and many of the world’s top business leaders.
About
Dr. Nick Morgan: Founder of Public Words | Author of Can You Hear Me? | Speaker on Executive Communication and Presence
Why Book Dr. Nick Morgan?
Nick brings the science of communication into practical focus. He examines how stories, body language, and presence affect what people hear and trust, then gives audiences ways to improve their own messages. His direct approach challenges even experienced communicators to think more carefully about the impact they want to have.
Why Is Dr. Nick Morgan Right for Your Audience?
Nick is a strong fit for executive meetings, leadership conferences, sales events, and gatherings where people must present ideas or guide others through change. He is especially valuable when an organization needs its leaders to connect across a room, a screen, or a difficult conversation.
Book Nick when your audience needs to:
- Communicate a high-stakes message more effectively
- Build trust and presence as a leader
- Turn complex ideas into stories people remember
- Understand the role of body language in communication
- Connect more effectively in virtual and hybrid settings
- Move an audience from listening to action
Audience Takeaways
Attendees will leave:
- Clearer on what makes a message connect with its intended audience
- Better able to recognize the signals their body language sends
- Equipped to develop stories around important ideas
- More confident communicating with authenticity and authority
- Ready to adapt how they connect across in-person and virtual settings
Keynote Programs
Connecting with People in a Virtual World
Nick explores why remote and hybrid communication can feel distant, even when the technology works well. He gives leaders ways to reach the people on the other side of the screen and build a stronger sense of connection. Ideal for distributed organizations and virtual leadership events.
Unforgettable Storytelling
Nick helps audiences find and shape stories that make their ideas easier to understand and remember. This interactive session focuses on using story to hold attention and move people toward action. Ideal for leaders, sales teams, and anyone who presents important ideas.
Secrets of Body Language and the Unconscious Mind
Nick examines what body language can tell us about how people respond to one another. He helps audiences understand how nonverbal signals affect trust and how to bring their delivery into better alignment with their message. Ideal for leadership and communication events.
Neuroscience, Authenticity, and Executive Presence
Nick explores why audiences respond to authentic communication and how leaders can develop a presence that fits their own voice. Ideal for executives and emerging leaders who want to speak with greater clarity and authority.
Is Dr. Nick Morgan Right for Your Event?
Tell us which messages your audience needs to deliver and what you want listeners to think or do afterward. We can help select Nick’s most relevant program, discuss customization, and confirm his availability and fee.
Contact The Sweeney Agency 1-866-727-7555 or [email protected] for more information on this speaker.
David Nour
Growth Strategist, Thought Leader and Global Keynote Speaker on the Concept of the Quantifiable Value of Business Relationships
About
David Nour is a growth strategist, thought leader and internationally recognized as the leading expert on strategic business relationships. Through his best-selling books, compelling speeches and valuable consulting - Nour demonstrates how relationships are the greatest balance-sheet asset any organization possesses, large or small, public or private. He is a popular speaker and delivers over 50 global keynotes a year explaining the hidden assets of relationships, and the art and science of investing in them.
He is CEO of The Nour Group, Inc., a consulting firm that advises top global leaders and boards of corporations, associations and academic forums - on disruptive innovations to fuel their growth. The Nour Group, Inc., has worked with leading global companies such as Disney, Cisco Systems, Deloitte Consulting, Hilton Worldwide, HP, IBM and more.
Nour is the author of 10 books, including best-sellers CO-CREATE (St. Martin’s Press) and Relationship Economics® (Wiley) - as well as the upcoming Curve Benders.
In addition to speaking and writing, Nour serves as a trusted advisor to global clients - and coaches corporate leaders and rising entrepreneurs. He is an adjunct professor at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management, was named to the Global Gurus Top 30 Leadership Professionals list and is honoured to be one of Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Global Coaches.
A Forbes Leadership contributor on the Future of Work, Nour’s unique insights have been featured in a variety of prominent publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fast Company, Huffington Post Business, Entrepreneur, and Knowledge@Wharton.
Born in Iran, Nour immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager with $100, limited family ties - and no fluency in English. He graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor’s degree in business management and went on to earn an Executive MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. He resides in Atlanta, GA, with his family.
Dr. Roch Parayre
Speaker and Expert on Innovation, Decision-Making, Scenario Planning and Blue Ocean Strategy
About
Dr. Roch Parayre is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Philadelphia office and a member of Heidrick Consulting. He was previously a senior partner at Decision Strategies International, a global strategy and leadership development advisory firm acquired by Heidrick & Struggles in 2016, where he also led the Blue Ocean Strategy Practice.
A strategist and master teacher, Dr. Parayre has advised organizations on five continents across a broad spectrum of industries, helping them grow and transform their businesses. He is an expert and conducts executive education seminars on the topics of decision-making, scenario planning, innovation, and strategy. Roch teaches in executive education programs at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, at CEDEP and INSEAD in France, for Duke Corporate Education, and at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Dr. Parayre was previously a senior fellow at the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School and a faculty member at the Cox School of Business at SMU, where he won numerous MBA teaching awards. His published works are in a variety of academic journals, industry reports, and trade publications.
Marc Randolph
About Marc Randolph – Netflix Cofounder, Bestselling Author, Executive Mentor
About
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Talks about a small Silicon Valley start up disrupted the entire home entertainment industry.
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Audiences are inspired story filled presentation that shows the values of innovation, persistence and optimism. Marc shares some of the many lessons he learned, including the value of analytics and testing, corporate culture and focus.
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Marc Randolph is a top entrepreneur and innovation keynote speaker, Netflix co-founder, angel investor, and an Amazon #1 bestselling author and podcast host of That Will Never Work.
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He is a frequent speaker at industry events, works extensively with young entrepreneur programs, sits on the board of the environmental advocacy group 1% for the Planet.
Marc Randolph is a veteran Silicon Valley entrepreneur, advisor and investor. Marc was co-founder of Netflix, serving as their founding CEO, as the executive producer of their web site, and as a member of their board of directors. Although best known for starting Netflix, Marc’s career as an entrepreneur spans more than four decades. He's founded or co-founded more than half a dozen other successful start-ups, mentored rising entrepreneurs including the co-founders of Looker Data which was recently sold to Google for $2.6B, and invested in numerous successful tech ventures. He is a frequent speaker at industry events, works extensively with young entrepreneur programs, sits on the board of the environmental advocacy group 1% for the Planet, and chairs the National Outdoor Leadership School’s Board of Trustees.
Scott A. Snook
Associate Professor at the Harvard Business School and Speaker on Leadership Development
About
Scott Snook is currently the MBA Class of 1958 Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.
He graduated with honors from West Point earning the Royal Society of Arts Award for the most outstanding overall cadet in his class. Following graduation, he was commissioned in the US Army Corps of Engineers where he served with distinction in various command and staff positions for over 22 years, earning the rank of Colonel before retiring in 2002. He has led soldiers in combat. Among his military decorations are the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Master Parachutist badge.
He has an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where he graduated with High Distinction as a Baker Scholar. Dr. Snook earned h is Ph.D. from Harvard University in Organizational Behavior winning the Sage-Louis Pondy Best Dissertation Award from the Academy of Management for his study of the Friendly Fire Shootdown in Northern Iraq. Until July of 2002, Colonel Snook served as an Academy Professor in the Behavioral Sciences and Leadership Department at the United States Military Academy. He also directed West Point's Center for Leadership and Organizations Research as well as its joint Master's Program in Leader Development. He is the primary author of West Point's Cadet Leader Development System - the Academy's philosophy on how to develop leaders of character for the Nation. Professor Snook's book Friendly Fire was selected by the Academy of Management to receive the 2002 Terry Award as the most influential book on managerial thinking published during the past two years. He has also co-authored a book that explores the role of "common sense" in leadership titled, Practical Intelligence in Everyday Life, available from Cambridge University Press (2000). He most recently co-edited The Handbook for Teaching Leadership: Knowing, Doing, and Being available from SAGE Publications (2011). Professor Snook has shared his leadership insights in formal executive education programs at Harvard and with numerous corporate audiences around the world.
Professor Snook's research and consulting activities have been in the areas of leadership, leader development, change management, organizational systems and failure, and culture. He currently lives in Concord, Massachusetts with his wife Kathleen and their five children.
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