great business speakers

Imagine this: you've just taken command of the near-worst performing ship in the U.S. Navy. Your job is to try and turn things around - something others before you have tried and failed to do. Where do you start? What's the first thing you'd do? That’s was the intriguing question that was posed to MIKE ABRASHOFF during the Q&A session last month. Mike is the former Navy captain who came to the world’s attention in a Fast Company magazine cover story. The magazine heard that he’d taken command of a poorly-performing performing ship in the Navy and transformed it in just about a year's time into the best ship in the fleet – using the same crew. That’s some organizational transformation and the magazine wanted to know how he did it.

“Nearly three-quarters of Americans age 17 to 24 are ineligible for military service due to obesity, other health problems, criminal backgrounds or lack of education, according to government data. That's a harsh reality check for the Pentagon’s plan to recruit tens of thousands of new soldiers, sailors, pilots and cyber specialists over the next five years.” So says this article on Politico last week. The piece is definitely worth reading.

COL. NICOLE MALACHOWSKI USAF, (RET.), a rock star in military aviation, has just joined the D'Amelio Network which will manage her speaking career.

DEVELOPING THE LEADERSHIP PIPELINE I have worked with thousands of executive teams since I left the Navy and one of the common complaints I hear is where to find the time to mentor the next generation. Schedules are double and triple blocked as it is. “I just don't have the energy or the time,” is the common refrain.

Most leaders don’t need convincing that a focus on transforming organizational culture pays big dividends. What a company is to its customers is inextricably tied to the workplace culture it creates for its own people. Recognizing this direct link between corporate culture and competitiveness & profitability, the topic of culture is popular at business meetings and events. Below I've highlighted advice from top keynote speakers and seminar leaders who are popular choices for such meetings because their insights help jump-start fresh thinking. Their ideas can help transform your culture to unleash the power of your organization.

MIKE ABRASHOFF'S "NO-LIMITS MANAGEMENT" CREATES A CULTURE OF INNOVATION What organization isn’t searching for a path to inspire breakthrough performance by engaging the employees differently? If you’re among them, this story will inspire some fresh thinking on the subject.

The natural reaction to the Wells Fargo debacle, perhaps within that company and by leaders at other companies looking to prevent similar behavior, is to clamp down and exert more rules and regulations; tighten organizational control. But Management Lab partner POLLY LaBARRE cautions that approach runs the risk of stifling the very innovation and employee engagement that organizations covet. Polly has been a top innovation speaker since her early days at Fast Company magazine; someone whose approach to organizational control was centered around the idea of unleashing the full power and creativity of the people within it by demolishing bureaucracy. Polly's strategies look to make organizations as human as the people who comprise them. I asked Polly to write about the tug between controlling, regulating, and making rules vs. the ideal of setting workers free to find new ways to drive innovation. I hope you enjoy her thoughts here on a fresh approach to organizational control. --------------------------------------------------------- Control by Other Means - The Benefits of Bureaucracy Without All the Costs by Polly LaBarre It was one of the most breathtakingly egregious cases of institutional overreach in recent memory: the widespread fraud uncovered at Wells Fargo last fall. Under bruising pressure to meet wildly aggressive sales targets, thousands of bankers created as many as 2 million accounts for customers without their consent—and kept the racket alive for years with a web of shady practices and tacit executive support.

THE FUTURE OF WORK AT IBM When I read the news about IBM's decision to have most teleworkers return to their offices I knew it was something Fortune magazine's GEOFF COLVIN would be following closely. His last book, Humans are Underrated, focused on where humans fit in and add value in a workplace culture that is increasingly dominated by robots and smart technology of every sort. What did IBM's move mean for the future of work? Will this organizational transformation really increase effective collaboration in the workplace as IBM hopes? Geoff's concise essay on IBM's decision is below. He will be following it closely and will weigh in down the road with the impact this change makes for the company and the ramifications more broadly in the workplace. What do YOU think? Feel free to comment at the end of this article.

THE SHIP THAT LAUNCHED A THOUSAND (PLUS) SPEECHES In 1999 Fast Company magazine ran an article that got my attention. It featured a Navy captain who took command of a ship that was near the bottom of the performance rankings in just about every category. Twelve months later – under this new captain - the ship was the best performing ship in the fleet. How did that happen? Everyone wanted to know.

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.