great business speakers

Basketball legend BILL WALTON could be the most colorful character from the world of sports. He is a curious guy with wide-ranging interests and pursuits – and he loves to talk about all of them. If you’ve ever watched a basketball game he’s broadcasted, you know just how off topic Bill can go – pulling in obscure references to science, literature, music, and more. Some sports fans find that distracting, but most everyone else watching finds it uniquely entertaining.

Happy Valentine's Day! On the day that we celebrate the heart, I want to share a story about a very special man. Basketball legend BILL WALTON is a true gentle man whose limitless kindness toward others reveals deep humanity and enormous heart. Not a week goes by that I don't hear one or two stories about Bill's generosity of spirit, but this one especially caught my attention.

MIKE ABRASHOFF is widely known for his role in one of the most storied of organizational turnarounds. At age 36, Mike took command of the U.S. Navy's near-worst ship in the Pacific fleet, the USS Benfold. Within 12 months it became the best ship in the entire Navy…using the very same crew! That transformation vaulted Mike into near legendary status. He wrote three books on the subject - the most successful, It's Your Ship, has sold over 1.1 million copies. Like all of us, there's more to Mike than what we know at the surface. Here are 5 fun you couldn't possible know about Mike Abrashoff - until now:

COL. NICOLE MALACHOWSKI (USAF, RET) wanted to fly military fighter jets since the age of five when she saw her first air show. She achieved that dream and then some. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Nicole was among the first group of women to fly modern fighter aircraft, one of the first women to fly in combat (logging 188 combat hours), and the first-ever woman to fly in the USAF Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron.

Keeping up with legendary basketball icon BILL WALTON, the most colorful and original sports personality on television, can be a real challenge. He is always on the move - making news and having fun. Here are some recent fun videos and articles on Bill:

I was with BOB WOODWARD in Toronto and New Haven for public ticketed events in the past week. What amazes me most when we travel together is the awe and reverence people display when they meet him. I saw it over and over in the many events we've done together since the release of his latest book. Steve Paikin, the popular veteran TVO broadcaster, was not immune to that feeling. He moderated the Toronto event and wrote this piece recapping what he called “one of the greatest nights of my life.”

Fortune magazine just highlighted LinkedIn’s U.S. Emerging Jobs Report for 2018. LinkedIn measured the fastest growing jobs and skills in the country and is a window on the future of work. It highlights some stunning information like this: -Top Five Emerging Jobs -Top Five In-Demand Skills (Biggest Skills Gap) -Top Five Majors for Professionals in Emerging Jobs -Top Five Fastest-Growing by Job Title

The article was originally published on the Walmart Book Blog. Interview by Gretchen Tarrant. Walmart: Regarding your process for the book, obviously you’ve written about numerous presidents and there’s been a lot of conversation surrounding this book in particular, especially regarding your reporting technique of using deep background sources. In what ways was writing Fear and researching President Trump different from past books and presidents? Bob Woodward: Well the same and different. In August when President Trump called me to complain that I hadn’t interviewed him—though I had tried to reach him through six different people—I said to him that there was no way I could do this book by going to the White House and just talking to people. I had to go talk to them at their homes and outside of the White House. The idea of show up, go see people . . . I had frankly become quite lazy, and was having people over here to my home, not going and knocking on enough doors at night. So I started doing that and found that it worked.

As I was thinking back on 2018 I realized that this year is the 35th anniversary of a milestone event that rocked the speaking industry; something that’s not been repeated since. If you were in the industry back in 1983, you’ll remember just how profoundly things changed.

It's a ritual for business folk to take stock at the end of the year and consider changes that might make business in the new year even better. If that’s on your agenda too, the conversation I had with Dario Presutto, the man who's cut my hair for more than 33 years, might be of interest. Dario Salon is on West 55th Street in New York and he is absolutely amazing. If you’re ever in the city – Dario really IS the man to see!