Patrick Lencioni’s newest book, Getting Naked: A Business Fable About the Shedding the Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty, lands on shelves this week. From Amazon.com:

Written in the same dynamic style as his previous bestsellers including The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni illustrates the principles of inspiring client loyalty through a fascinating business fable. He explains the theory of vulnerability in depth and presents concrete steps for putting it to work in any organization. The story follows a small consulting firm, Lighthouse Partners, which often beats out big-name competitors for top clients. One such competitor buys out Lighthouse and learns important lessons about what it means to provide value to its clients.

Click through to read Amazon.com’s exclusive Q&A with Pat, where he answers questions such as “Why do you use the term naked and where does it come from?” (Hint: It’s not just to be catchy. Pat — through his speaking and consulting — helps CEOs and their teams build healthy organizations, and they found that by being completely transparent and vulnerable — “naked” — with clients, they could build amazing levels of trust and loyalty.)

Pat is one of our favorite speakers here at The Speakers Group, and we’re not alone — the Wall Street Journal has named him one of the most in-demand business speakers. If you’d like to learn more about bringing Pat to your next event, we’d be happy to speak with you. Just submit this form to tell us about your event, or click here to read more about Pat first.

Posted under Book Review, Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence, Speaker News, Speaker Recommendations

Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest & Most Successful Women Do Differently-Marcus Buckingham

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Interested in bringing Marcus Buckingham to your next event to speak? Contact The Speakers Group today!

Posted under Book Review, Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Speaker News

Are you looking for a speaker who can help your meeting attendees get charged up every day? A speaker who can help your people focus more sharply than before? A speaker who can offer practical steps to greater health, balance and happiness? Consider Dr. Gregg Steinberg.

Dr. Steinberg – or Dr. Gregg, as he prefers – is a sports psychologist and world-renowned expert on human performance. He has appeared as a commentator for the hit show, Dancing with the Stars, as a sport psychology commentator for Fox News Channel during the 2008 Olympics, and as a guest commentator on The Golf Channel and CNN. Golf Digest magazine hails him as one of golf’s great masterminds. Also, Dr. Gregg has authored books on topics from golf psychology to parenting, and his newly released (June 2009) Full Throttle illustrates 122 ways to supercharge your energy and performance at work in the midst of life’s challenges.

Facing a continual barrage of tasks coupled with a tough economy, many people feel completely drained by day’s end. To stay ahead of the game, you need to capitalize on your energy so go full throttle when needed – not all the time, which is a surefire way to burn out. Based upon his years of research as well as his coaching experiences with professional athletes and top executives, Dr. Gregg has developed an energy management system comprised of six key emotional strengths. Individuals who learn to master these strengths will thrive on the inside, regardless of what is happening on the outside.

In his “Full Throttle” keynote presentation, Dr. Gregg focuses on five of the six key emotional strengths:

• Emotional Awareness: Learn how to go full throttle, then rethrottle, then full throttle, then rethrottle, etc.
• Emotional Bravado: Learn how to turn pressure into pleasure
• Emotional Connectedness: Learn how to “connect” with every moment and avoid distraction
• Emotional Preparedness: Learn how to go with your flow and identify your “signature strength”
• Emotional Balance: Understand why finding meaning and purpose boosts energy and happiness

Dr. Gregg shares examples of how high-caliber athletes and business professionals have improved performance through mastery of the five emotional strengths, and provides attendees with practical exercises to help them master their own emotions to:

• Get Focused for every meeting
• Develop greater balance in life
• Become more productive with less work
• Plug up all the energy drains
• Discover their inner flame of excellence
• Be able to overcome obstacles and adversity
• Be happier in their moments

Watch a video with excerpts of Dr. Gregg’s keynotes and media appearances on his profile page here.

Use the “Book a Speaker” form to learn more about booking Dr. Gregg for your next event.

Posted under Book Review, Motivational Speakers, Sales Management

The online edition of MPI’s June 2009 One+ magazine includes an article about how meeting and event professionals can manage speaker costs in the current economic climate: “Talk Ain’t Cheap: How to secure a speaker for your event with as little fiscal pain as possible.” Robert Farmer, author of the article, writes:

For planners, the art becomes how to contain speaker costs. Indeed, there are methods in which savvy planners can manage the cost of their keynotes, while also delivering a program about which their clients will surely be talking. The trick is to work with speakers and their agents to ensure both parties get what they need from the deal.

The article also includes insights from Sam Silverstein, president of the National Speakers Association, Marc Reede, president of Nationwide Speakers, and The Speakers Group’s own founder and president, Shawn Ellis. Ellis spoke of how some speakers are helping planners by discounting their fees, while others are doing so by adding value to their engagements:

“…I think the value-added element is what’s really occurring these days, and there is a wide range of ways in which that can play out. Speakers are offering everything from follow-up webinars along with their keynotes to doing breakout sessions and offering more in terms of takeaways.” [This is the essence of The Speakers Group's ROI Speakers initiative.]

While “adding value” doesn’t take money off the top of a speaker’s fee, it does have financial benefits to planners, which is discussed in the article as well our “Think Added Value” blog post here.

In the end, Farmer hits the nail on the head when he writes, “Cooperation among planners and speakers remains the key to success on both ends.” Read the full “Talk Ain’t Cheap” article on MPI’s web site here.

Posted under Book Review, Event Management, Planner Tips

Sheila Murray Bethel’s latest release, A New Breed of Leader, offers valuable insights and teaches leaders how to take advantage of the immediately usable action steps to dramatically increase success and meet modern society’s issues head-on by cultivating new insights and perspectives. The 21st century leadership puzzle lets you see how all “eight leadership qualities that matter most” fit together to form the new breed leader. This indispensable volume is a road map for everyone who desires to become the best leader they can be for themselves and their organizations.

Sheila shared some insights from the book with Investors Business Daily columnist Morey Stettner for his recent “Managing for Succcess” article titled “Shows Of Humility Polish Your Management Image.”

Pick up your copy of A New Breed of Leader at 800-CEO-Read, and if you’re looking for a dynamic, high-impact leadership speaker for an upcoming event, consider Sheila:

“In my Leadership presentations I engage your audience with real life anecdotes and examples of what works, what doesn’t and why. I share insights and knowledge drawn from 20 years of research and experience that are the principals of my newest book, A New Breed Of Leader: 8 Leadership Qualities That Matter Most In the Real World … What Works, What Doesn’t and Why. We explore the eight critical leadership qualities that matter most in the real world; competence, accountability, openness, language, values, perspective, power and humility. We reinforce the best leadership qualities of the past and update them with new ways to create a sense of community built around a shared purpose. Each person leaves knowing that leadership is not the exclusive privilege of the well educated, the rich, or the powerful. Whether they lead at home, in the community, or at work, they can be a 21st Century leader who makes a difference.”

More than just a great keynote speaker, Sheila is a true leadership expert who can deliver sustainable solutions to bring about real change for your organization. Contact The Speakers Group’s ROI Speakers division for more information.

Posted under Book Review, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence