great business speakers

INSPIRING NEW DOCUMENTARY FEATURES BILL WALTON I just saw the greatest documentary! ON THE MAP tells the story of 1977 Maccabi Tel Aviv team, the one that brought the first European Cup to Israel and became "The Team of the Nation".

INTRODUCTION: Consultant and author Polly LaBarre has a brilliant way of creating actionable steps to address complex challenges leaders in organizations face. In this commentary, Polly offers strategies leaders can use to ramp up experimentation that leads to breakthrough innovations. To learn more about Polly LaBarre and watch videos from past speeches, click here.

YOUR EVENT PLANNING CHECKLIST: DOES YOUR ROOM SET-UP HELP SPEAKERS SUCCEED?

No-Cost Real Time Marketing Blog Generates Over $250,000 in Sales in Just Days DAVID MEERMAN SCOTT, real time marketing strategist and author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR, told me a marketing success story that got my attention. It's such a great lesson, it's worth sharing. Lindsay Lohan was having money troubles. That news caught the eye of entrepreneur Trent Silver who runs an online business called Cash for Purses. Trent’s company buys women’s handbags and then sells them to others at a profit, typically on Ebay. His biggest challenge is getting enough high-end product - Prada, Louis Vuitton, etc. Trent decided to seize the moment and post a blog post offering to buy Lindsay Lohan’s old handbags.

WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT PEAK PERFORMANCE IS LIKELY WRONG What separates great achievers from everyone else? The answer might surprise you.

BILL WALTON: A DIFFICULT JOURNEY OFF THE COURT It’s amazing how we look at celebrities and presume they’re living a charmed life.

Mike Abrashoff - "It Was All About the Culture" Imagine you’re put in charge of a new project. You’re given goals and objectives and a team of people to work with. This team, though, has a horrible performance history. In fact, they are among the worst teams in the organization, yet your job is to meet the objectives – no excuses. And – you can’t fire bad performers, or financially reward good performers, or hire new help. What would you do?

BASKETBALL COACH MAKES LIFELONG IMPRESSION ON NBA GREAT BILL WALTON, NBA legend, considers playing for legendary UCLA Bruins basketball coach John Wooden one of the greatest gifts of his life. “Coach Wooden was an English teacher who coached basketball to earn extra money,” said Bill. “He was about the most unlikely person to be coaching us. He never talked about winning and losing, but rather about the effort to win. He rarely talked about basketball, but generally about life. He never talked about strategy, statistics or plays, but rather about people and character. His words and ideas have inspired me my whole career. Coach Wooden never tired of telling us that once you become a good person, then you have a chance of becoming a good basketball player." Wooden is perhaps one of the most remarkable examples of sports leadership ever.

THE CONFIDENCE CODE: CLOSING THE CONFIDENCE GAP Women and confidence: KATTY KAY co-wrote the book on the subject. The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance – What Women Should Know (written with Claire Shipman), created quite a stir when it was released. The science part was rather sobering: women, even in top leadership roles, are more genetically predisposed to lack confidence than men...confidence and leadership don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. The art part was more reassuring: confidence is indeed a choice. The book launched a productive discussion about women and confidence that goes on to this day.

Smart technology has drastically altered how we operate in everyday life, and the workplace is no exception. These technological advancements have contributed significantly to how businesses operate both in the big picture and in day-to-day activities. With smart technology evolving at such a fast pace, what’s in store for the workplace of the future?