Business today needs a new paradigm, because “business as usual” is just not working anymore. Environmental consciousness is exploding; public distrust of business is at an historic high; many employees and customers are disconnected from the companies they work for or buy from; suppliers feel squeezed; communities often organize to keep certain businesses out. The traditional approach to business is like an old operating system that is no longer adequate and needs to be replaced. It is becoming increasingly evident that the old operating system of capitalism is simply not up to the demands being placed upon it in the new millennium.

At the same time that its reputation is deteriorating, the reach and impact of business in the world is growing. Business today has greater power than ever before to enhance or to diminish overall well-being in society. As its power and influence grow, so too must its sense of responsibility and stewardship. (from ConsciousCapitalism.com)

Under that premise, a group of pioneering business leaders gathered at the Catalyzing Conscious Capitalism (C3) Summit in Austin, Texas, last week, seeking to deepen their understanding and practice of Conscious Business™. Here’s a highlight video:

At The Speakers Group, we’re honored to represent Jeff Klein, President of the Conscious Capitalism Alliance and author of the recently released book, Working for Good, who spoke at the event. Here’s a video introduction to Jeff:

If the Conscious Capitalism theme resonates with you and your organization and you would like to empower and mobilize your team toward “Working for Good,” consider Jeff’s Working for Good Engagement Experience for your next meeting or conference. We’d be happy to help you evaluate the program and how it could benefit your organization – just give us a call or send an email.

Posted under Innovation Speakers, Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence, inspirational speakers

photo credit: markhillary

STEP ONE: Look only locally to save travel expenses.

STEP TWO: Choose a speaker based on the theme of your event.

STEP THREE: Read a book and hire the author to present the content.

STEP FOUR: Base your search on price.

STEP FIVE: Make name-recognition the top priority in your search.

STEP SIX: Do it yourself.   Google away!

Or, if you prefer to hire a good one…

Throw the net as wide as possible when searching for a speaker. Don’t let price, budget, name, or even topic dictate your search.  Look for the right speaker and if they are a fit, try to negotiate the expenses into the fee.

Tie in the décor with your theme, not the speaker. Any speaker worth their salt will work to customize the presentation to fit your theme in one way or another.  You want your attendees to walk away from the session saying “What a great speaker!” not “Wow did that speaker ever tie into the event theme well!”

Good writing does not necessarily a good speaker make. For a good best-selling author who speaks, look for one who was a speaker first, and then wrote their NYT bestselling book.

Finding a ‘silver bullet’ speaker is rare (great name, great story, great speaker, great message, actually accept engagements).  Nearly without exception, one of the things on that list has to be sacrificed. Quite often name-recognition is a contra-indication of speaking skills. It’s a short list!  You can save $10k – $20k by hiring a no-name speaker with the right stuff.  For well-spoken, engaging, name-recognition speakers, consider those who are famous for a profession that requires giving speeches i.e.: politicians & activists.

Outsource your weaknesses! Get a speaker-consultant-on-call who can help you.  Speaker Bureau services are free – use them!  Get referrals from colleagues you trust.  Use the IACEP network.  Ask other speakers!

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Guest Post by Christa Haberstock, Meetings Industry Veteran and Consultant to Professional Speakers

Posted under Event Management, Motivational Speakers, Planner Tips, Speaker Recommendations

photo credit: Rob Shenk

What’s your greatest challenge when booking speakers for your meetings? We’ve been asking that question of our clients and others who plan meetings lately and by far, the answer we hear most often is something to the effect of “finding speakers who fit my needs, objectives and budget.” If you feel the same way, allow me to introduce The Speakers Group.

When you consider that there are more than 5,000 professional speakers you could encounter in a speaker search, combined with today’s unique budgetary constraints on meetings, combined with the fact that you have numerous responsibilities beyond “booking speakers” that demand your attention, finding the right speaker(s) for your event can be understandably overwhelming. Our purpose at The Speakers Group is to relieve you of that burden and make your life easier.

Every day, we are evaluating speakers (reading their books, educating ourselves on their available presentations, watching videos, reviewing feedback from your peers) so we can guide our clients to speaker candidates who are best equipped to score top ratings with their audiences. That’s what we do.

With The Speakers Group on your side, you don’t have to spend hours researching speakers, trying to decide who might be the best match for your event. That’s exhausting! With one 15-minute phone call, we’ll gather the details about your event, listen to your concerns, and go to work for you. You can return to your other priorities, and the next time you think about speakers, you’ll be looking at a proposal of candidates who have been selected specifically for their relevance to your event. And that’s just the beginning of how we can help you.

We’ll continue to save you time and provide peace-of-mind throughout the speaker booking process, all the way through the day of your event. With an understanding of your needs and objectives combined with our expertise in speakers and how to effectively work with them, your speakers are one aspect of your meeting you won’t have to worry about!

(And by the way, we’re at your service at no cost to you. We earn a commission from speakers when we book them – because we help them connect with you just the same as we help you connect with them.)

Could you use some help finding and booking speakers for your meetings? Give us a try. We’d like to show you why we’ve been called “so easy” to work with and “a refreshing change from other speakers bureaus.”

Posted under Event Management, Motivational Speakers, Planner Tips

This little company in the video is ready to go global. They couldn’t do it alone, though. The manager knew he needed a great shipping partner like FedEx, and some extra motivation from one Mr. Dick Butkus.

What are your big plans for closing out 2009 or kicking off 2010? Is a great shipping partner your missing link? If so, maybe FedEx can help you, too. If your team would benefit from a motivational – and performance – boost, though, give us a call at The Speakers Group. We’ll help you find the right speaker to fit your needs – and your budget! (NOTE: Dick Butkus generally speaks to audiences larger than one.)

Posted under Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence

Michael Moore’s newest movie, Capitalism: A Love Story – which opens in theaters nationwide today – spotlights what Moore calls “the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans.” Jeff Klein, author of Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living, offers a  contrasting, more hopeful perspective with his latest op-ed (written for the December 2009 issue of ICOSA Magazine – which the editors kindly allowed us to preview on our blog).

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Capitalism: A Love Story – The Missing Chapter

by Jeff Klein

True to form, in his new documentary Capitalism: A Love Story, director Michael Moore amplifies the lies, abuses, and manipulations underlying the recent and ongoing financial crisis. In some ways appropriately, Moore points accusing fingers at Wall Street titans and their well-placed allies in government. We can recognize and perhaps celebrate the role of connection and collaboration in facilitating the bail out of the finance, auto, and other related industries.

But there is a chapter missing from Michael Moore’s story, which reveals a very different conclusion and inspires optimism and engagement, rather than pessimism and despair. This new chapter in the story of Capitalism reflects a distinctly different kind of connection and collaboration.

While some capitalists work on Wall Street, and some of those Wall Street capitalists focus on money and their personal wealth at the exclusion of nearly other things, many other capitalists build and run companies that focus on creating value for more that just themselves. And many of the capitalists on Wall Street invest in companies for reasons beyond their own self-interest.

The missing chapter of the Love Story reveals a growing cadre of entrepreneurs, executives, and investors dedicated to practicing Conscious Capitalism – dedicated to creating conscious companies, which are purpose-driven and deliver great value to all of their stakeholders, including their customers, employees, investors, vendors, and the communities where they do business.

At its core, Capitalism is about voluntary association and collaboration, which is one of the reasons Capitalism works, why it won the battle with Socialism in the 20^th Century, and why it continues to persist and flourish, in spite of its flaws and manipulations by some of its practitioners. At its core, in a market-based economy, no one forces us in deciding what to buy or where to buy it, where to work and under what conditions, or where to invest and on what terms. For the marketplace to work, the participants need to be connected – through language, culture, proximity or technology – and to collaborate to facilitate transactions and value exchange. Without connection and collaboration, there is no marketplace or Capitalism. While to some extent the financial markets function in their own realm, their foundation rests on the companies, commodities, and other things that we value or that create value. No customers, no business. No business, no stock market.

While Capitalism is about much more than Wall Street, the ecosystem of Capitalism requires capital. Just as we require food and drink to survive, grow, and flourish, businesses need capital to fuel their growth and development, and often the rate of capital required outstrips a business’s ability to generate through its revenues. And a start up, like an infant, requires nourishment from the outside to feed its launch into life.

Thus investors are one important stakeholder in the ecosystem of a business, but not the only one. Conscious investors recognize that for their capital to have the greatest effect and to yield the best return – best including their considerations other than financial, such as healthy companies, communities, and environments, among other things – the business need to deliver value to the other stakeholders and they need to collaborate with management to ensure a healthy stakeholder system.

The marketplace is increasingly saying “yes!” to environmental sustainability, poverty alleviation, peace, and opportunity for all—and business is responding. Consumers, employees,

investors, and others expect businesses to participate in addressing social issues, and they look to business as a source of inspiration, meaning, and purpose as well as a platform for personal growth and societal evolution.

So, how does the marketplace reward conscious companies? In their ground-breaking book, Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose (Wharton School Publishing: 2007) authors Jag Seth, Raj Sisodia, and David Wolfe assess long-term and short-term stock performance of 30 companies who practice versions of conscious capitalism. The companies substantially outperform the S & P 500. The 100 Best Places to Work similarly outperform the market.

By having a clear, meaningful purpose, creating value for all stakeholders, explicitly and purposefully fostering collaboration within and between its stakeholder groups, companies and their leaders they cultivate vigorous ecosystems with great energy and information flow. In the process, conscious capitalists will create healthy, sustainable, purpose-driven companies based on strong, resilient relationships with engaged stakeholders. As a result of an increasing number of conscious companies, we will advance the evolution of the marketplace as a tool to facilitate human interaction and development and a more Conscious Capitalism will emerge.

While Michael Moore may want the Love Story to end, there are new suitors entering the story, and their offerings are not only appealing, they are delicious, nutritious, and sustainable. If Capitalism is dead or dying, it is only to be reborn. From the compost of Greed-based Capitalism (which has never been the only face of Capitalism), Conscious Capitalism is sprouting. Let’s all play a role – as consumers, employees, entrepreneurs, leaders, investors, communities, citizens – in celebrating and tending its growth and development.

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Jeff Klein is CEO of Cause Alliance Marketing, President of the Conscious Capitalism Alliance, and author of Working for Good: Making a Difference While Making a Living.

To learn more about Working for Good and download the free e-book, 26 Principles of Working for Good, visit www.workingforgood.com.

To learn more about scheduling Jeff Klein to deliver the “Working for Good Engagement Experience” at your next meeting or conference, visit www.thespeakersgroup.com/Jeff_Klein.

Posted under In the Spotlight, Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence