great business speakers

PREFACE Before I tell you about those happy smiles, I need to provide a bit of background. The magician BILL HERZ and his wife Gwenn are treasured friends.

THE EXHAUSTION EPIDEMIC Are you feeling tired, like most of the time? You’re not alone! In the face of the exhaustion epidemic we’re experiencing, it’s time to rethink conventional wisdom about high productivity behavior. Grit and hustle certainly have their place in business but over the long haul, they’re also scientifically associated with burnout. If the pandemic proved anything, it’s that success in business is inextricably tied to health and well-being. You can’t have one without the other! It’s no coincidence that organizations and leaders have started to pay attention to the emotional well-being of their people like never before.

When Duke's season ended just short of the 2022 NCAA Championship Game, it also brought to a close an entire era of college basketball. In that moment the sport lost perhaps its most recognizable name, Coach Mike Krzyzewski. Some consider Coach K to be the most accomplished coach in college basketball history. Others favor the legendary John Wooden, the former UCLA coach. Basketball icon BILL WALTON played for Wooden at UCLA. He helped win two national championships while there and was part of the squads that contributed to UCLA’s incredible 88-game winning streak, which still stands as an NCAA record. On the evening of Duke’s loss to North Carolina, Bill appeared on Westwood One’s "Rich Eisen Show" where Eisen asked Bill what he thought of the debate about who’s the greatest college basketball coach – Coach K or John Wooden?

KEYNOTE MAGIC Ask Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour for her secret to delivering consistently great call-to-action, high-impact keynotes and she’ll tell you without hesitation -- “intense preparation!” Click above to peek behind the curtain and watch FlyGirl when she's on-site for a keynote. You'll glimpse the final preparation, the speech, and the extraordinary impact of FlyGirl’s remarks. 

It’s a new year with big business challenges. You would have thought CEOs would be worried most about the impact of Covid – but not so. That’s #13 on their list.   Disruption is the #1 fear. The frenetic pace of change in businesses and the world has accelerated during the pandemic. An Alix Partners study released on December 27 revealed almost every CEO (94%) surveyed said their company needs to reinvent the business model within the next three years. 57% fear they’re not moving fast enough.   The situation is also spiking CEO anxiety: 72% of CEOs fear losing their jobs due to disruptions facing their industries. That is an unprecedented level of anxiety.   All this comes as no surprise to veteran Fortune senior editor-at-large GEOFF COLVIN. He's been speaking and reporting on business model transformation for years – watching how leaders are leading the change that keeps their companies competitive and relevant. Here's a great example of Geoff's reporting and research – a Fortune profile on how Goodyear has reinvented their business.  Geoff also co-hosts a Fortune podcast and a recent topic was GM's transformation towards electric vehicles.  

Think fast! Speed is life! COL. NICOLE MALACHOWSKI (USAF, ret.) a 21-year Air Force pilot, combat veteran, and first female pilot in the elite Thunderbirds, has important advice for those trying to cope with nonstop and radical change. Thinking fast. Deciding fast. Acting together. These factors literally determine survival in combat. They’re just as important in today’s business arena, too. One of the most impactful speakers on handling change, creating high-performance culture, and leadership, Nicole started hearing from executives organizing conferences that speed and quick decision-making were two vitally important qualities they wanted to instill in their organizations.

BILL WALTON is a wonder of modern medical science. He should not be standing, but 39 – yes, you read that right, 39! – orthopedic surgeries have made it possible.   Bill’s physical health problems began in college when an undiagnosed foot abnormality led first to stress fractures and then more serious issues – culminating in a complete collapse of his spine in 2008.

IT ALL STARTED WITH WATERGATE In the summer of 1973, all eyes were riveted on televised coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings. The break-in, which occurred in June of 1972, went largely unnoticed at the time. But soon, thanks to investigative work by Washington Post reporters BOB WOODWARD and Carl Bernstein, troubling details began to emerge. A year later, those hearings were carried live on daytime television, pre-empting regular programming in an era when there were only three television networks – not the TV and streaming landscape of today. This was a very big deal.

HOW TO HARNESS A BREAKTHROUGH Where are you right now – and where do you want to be?

CIVIL CONVERSATIONS MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN POLARIZING TIMES How can we lower the emotional temperature at a time when people find themselves at odds with one another about so many issues - in their communities, at work, and at home? DARYL DAVIS has an answer: Get to know those who don’t share your values. Really get to know them! Daryl should know. A Black musician who befriended KKK leaders and other white supremacists, he built unlikely bridges with those who hate him just because of the color of his skin. And as unimaginable as that seems, many of those haters became true friends and renounced their old beliefs – some even gave Daryl their robes and hoods.