great business speakers

THE COMPETITIVE ORDER IS RESET IN TIMES LIKE THESE YOU CAN COUNT ON IT: The big lesson from past downturns is that the competitive order within industries is rearranged far more than will ever happen in prosperous times. It’s already happening -- the pandemic has spurred surprising innovation from companies across a wide range of industries, building a new competitive advantage for those bold enough to take action.

CREATING GREAT VIRTUAL EVENTS It’s amazing how quickly the events world has changed and how much we’ve all learned about virtual events in such a short time. From my experience, the early attempts at virtual events ranged from OK to terrible. But that's to be expected. I’ve likened it to the early days of the internet when dial-up was horrendously slow and it was text only. Still, we were all so excited to read a newspaper on the screen, even though there were no graphics and it took forever for pages to load. But quality quickly improved and high-speed connectivity put it over the top. I expect the same will happen with virtual events – new platforms will evolve and the bar will be raised as execution improves.

THE BILL WALTON ZOOM INTERVIEW - A POSITIVE FORCE OF NATURE Basketball legend BILL WALTON is no stranger to spending time in front of the camera. Lately, though, his on-camera work has been for appearances at virtual events for companies and organizations looking for a message on resilience, overcoming the odds, and finding a way to win. If you are feeling down…if you’re feeling like you just can’t face one more curve ball life has to throw at you…you need to spend some time with basketball legend Bill Walton. And if you need to get something done…anything done…BILL WALTON is the guy you want on your team.

Virtual events look like they are here to stay. To make them effective, though, we have to learn a whole new skill-set.

There’s a story legendary Washington Post political investigative reporter BOB WOODWARD tells in his speeches to make the point to audiences about the craft of investigative reporting. The reporter’s job, the story illustrates, is never really done. The truth unfolds over time – it never drops in a reporter’s lap in one piece. And sometimes, the truth winds up being something very different from where it looked like things were headed at the beginning.

“Learning to speak without a stutter is without a doubt my greatest accomplishment in life…and your biggest nightmare,” said basketball legend BILL WALTON to an audience of financial professionals recently. The crowd laughed because it was 30 minutes into his 60-minute talk and they'd already discovered what Walton fans everywhere already know -- the man can talk!

STOP PROTECTING THE PAST; CREATE THE FUTURE Innovation, reinvention and transformation are the business survival skills of our time. In this edition of DN Conversations, I talk with GEOFF COLVIN of Fortune who gets to explore how top companies and business leaders are managing the daunting job of adapting to nonstop disruption coming from every direction.

CLOSEST THING TO AN ECONOMIC CRYSTAL BALL What’s in store for the economy and business environment in the year ahead?

THUNDERBIRD PILOT NICOLE MALACHOWSKI TALKS ABOUT TRUST AND FLYING 400 MPH AND 3 FEET APART Trust: It’s the fuel that feeds high-performing organizations. 21-year Air Force veteran Colonel NICOLE MALACHOWSKI, USAF (Ret.), the first-ever woman USAF Thunderbird pilot, is frequently asked to talk on the subject. Her story about making the transition from fighter pilot to Thunderbird pilot is filled with valuable lessons for organizations looking to elevate their performance.

A GUTSY MOVE KATTY KAY made a brave career decision in 2019. She took time off from broadcasting – taking a work sabbatical from the BBC and MSNBC. Katty's husband Tom, who runs the Washington, D.C. office for Africaworks, was setting up a non-profit in Senegal and it represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go and help out and also do research for her next book. Katty also brought her 13-year-old daughter Poppy, who attended school there. “She had an amazing cultural experience...and I think we’ve given our daughter the best education we could give her,” Katty said.