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: nextconference

Looking for a social media speaker for your next event? With hundreds of options to choose from, and with new “experts” popping up every day, how do you know who is the best — and more specifically, the best for your event?

Knowing that social media is one of the most in-demand topics for meetings and conferences today, we have scouted books, articles and conferences for leading authorities who meet the following criteria:

1. The individual must be established as a uniquely successful practitioner of social media and/or be frequently called on to share his or her expertise in the field — specifically as it relates to corporate and association social media practices.
2. The individual must have a proven ability to discuss social media in a way that is easily understandable and relevant to each unique audience.
3. The individual must be able to effectively engage the audience (every “expert” who writes an article is not necessarily someone you want on your platform as a speaker).

Based on those criteria, we’re assembling a powerful roster of social media speakers to help you address this highly relevant, in-demand subject at your next meeting or convention. Following are 10 such speakers from our roster to help you get started in your search (in alphabetical order):

Chris Brogan
Co-Author of Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust

Ryan Paddock of Digital Scientists says it best: “Chris Brogan, true to his reputation, is the authority when it comes to helping companies discover and implement social media into their business model. Chris… challenged the attendees to think differently about how to generate ROI in a strict corporate culture using social media and digital tools. His participation and prowess in the field undoubtedly added to the success of the event.”

Scott Klososky
Former CEO of Three Successful Startups; Specialist in Analyzing and Forecasting Technology Trends

Scott Klososky has proven multiple times that by combining technology knowledge with information on social trends, a person can have a huge impact in growing a business. In his presentations, Scott can help audiences understand “Digital Plumbing” (how to make data more valuable by leveraging the business intelligence layer), Social Media (how target and proximity marketing are playing out in the advertising and marketing space), Technology and White Collar Lean (using technology to lower back office and operations costs) and Web 2.0 Tools (Blogs, RSS Feeds, social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook,Twitter, crowdsourcing, other “hot” tools, plus Scott’s 10 favorite websites of the month). After all, he says, “Technology is simply a tool. Without the people who utilize it, there is no value.” Read some of Scott’s insights in this recent Q&A.

David Kralik
Director of Internet Strategy for American Solutions; One of the “Top Ten Changing the World of Internet and Politics”

While qualified to discuss a broad range of issues related to social media, David’s specialty is discussing the benefits of bringing Silicon Valley culture to Washington, DC. (He recently spoke about this during a Policy Talks@Google session which you can watch here.) David asks: What if the government ran on 20% time? David can help governments from the municipal level to the federal level understand how social media can help them tell their stories online, build and engage a following, and communicate with their constituents.

Mike McDerment
Co-founder and CEO of FreshBooks – One of Entrepreneur Magazine’s “100 Brilliant Companies”

FreshBooks, in business since 2004, now serves more than 800,000 people and has more than doubled the size of its staff in the past year. Though the business is 100 percent online, a key factor in their success has been their ability to engage with and get face-time with their customers. Read about FreshBooks As A Social Media Case Study and get a glimpse of the social media insights Mike can offer as a speaker for your audience.

Clayton Morris
Co-host of “FOX & Friends Weekend” and the Technology Show, “Gadgets and Games with Clayton Morris”

Clayton appeared on a panel with Rick Sanchez, Ann Curry, Brian Solis and others at the groundbreaking 140 Characters Conference and shared insights on how social media is changing the world of broadcast news. He is continuously uncovering best practices in social media by speaking with thought leaders such as Jeff Pulver, Robert Scoble and Gary Vaynerchuk, among others — see his chat with Jeff, Robert and Gary about the future of social media on the June 26 episode of Gadgets and Games.

Joe Rotella
Industry Expert on Usability, Web Design and Social Media

People are hearing fantastic stories about successful social campaigns that cost little or nothing to implement, and perhaps you’re considering putting your organization’s toe into the social media marketing pool. But are you really ready? Joe’s expertise can help you get ready. Joe recently spoke about social media and usability at the Ohio Hospital Assocation’s Annual Meeting and Tiffany Himmelreich, Manager of Media & Public Relations at OHA, said, “Attendees were frantically scribbling down pearls of wisdom, which proved to be challenging as they were simultaneously laughing at Joe’s humorous and engaging delivery. We have never received so many compliments about a speaker.”

Chris Sacca
Advisor to Twitter; Former Head of Special Initiatives at Google and Technology Advisor to President Obama’s Campaign

Based on his experience as an advisor to Twitter, and as former Head of Special Initiatives at Google Inc. and as an advisor on Telecommunications, Media, and Technology to President Barack Obama’s campaign, Chris is uniquely equipped to speak about how the Internet, social networks, and social media are being used in business as well as in government and democracy, exploring what it means for both entrepreneurs and citizens.

Andy Sernovitz
Author of Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking

Whenever there’s been an innovation in marketing, Andy Sernovitz has been there. An 18-year veteran of the interactive marketing business, Andy has spent years helping companies learn how to do better marketing. Andy recently delivered the opening keynote presentation at Buzz2009 – dubbed the “Social Media for Associations” event – in Washington, DC, and spoke about the core concepts that drive word of mouth, how social media plays a part, and what associations can do to create buzz around the great work they do. Andy is equally capable of helping corporations adopt best practices in social media, and does just that with his company’s BlogWell: How Big Companies Use Social Media event. Andy can help his audiences learn everything from how to get started, how to get past roadblocks, and how to make their social media programs phenomenal.

Peter Shankman
Authority on PR and Marketing; Creator of the 100k-member-strong Social Media Success: HARO

Peter’s PR and Social Media clients have included the Snapple Beverage Group, NASA, The US Department of Defense, Walt Disney World, The Ad Council, American Express, Discovery Networks, Harrah’s Hotels, and many others. Peter is perhaps best known for founding Help A Reporter Out (HARO), which in under a year has become the de-facto standard for thousands of journalists looking for sources on deadline, offering them more than 100,000 sources around the world looking to be quoted in the media. HARO is currently the largest free source repository in the world, sending out over 1,200 queries from worldwide media each week and adding thousands of new members each week.

Brian Solis
Considered One of the Original Thought Leaders to Pave the Way for Social Media and PR 2.0

Brian often asks his audiences, “Who do you want to be online?” Since what you do, say and post online defines who you are and broadcasts this image ahead of you wherever you go, how you (or your company, or your people) design your online public image will influence your chances of success in this new social economy. Brian is an active leader in spotlighting and cultivating new startups and emerging visionaries in Silicon Valley and beyond, and as a speaker, he helps audiences understand what the rapid evolution of products and services means for their businesses and careers.

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To find the perfect social media speaker(s) for your unique audience, meeting objectives and budget, contact us at The Speakers Group and we would be happy to offer some guidance and help you uncover opportunities to utilize social media in enhancing your business and your events.

And for additional help in your search for a social media speaker:

Be sure to read Peter Shankman’s “Is Your Social Media Expert Really An Expert?”

Not sure if a social media speaker is right for your meeting program? Read our blog post about the widespread interest in social media across numerous professions and industries.

Connect with The Speakers Group through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (company, president and vice president).

Bookmark our Social Media Speakers page to stay up-to-date as we add more authorities on this topic to our roster.

Posted under Innovation Speakers, Planner Tips, Social Media Speakers, Speaker Recommendations

Did you see the June 2009 cover of Entrepreneur magazine? If so, you saw Mike McDerment, Co-Founder and CEO of FreshBooks, hailed as one of “100 Brilliant Companies” by the magazine. Used by more than 800,000 people, FreshBooks is a web-based invoicing system that helps freelancers, independent service providers and small businesses with their billing and time-tracking needs. What makes it a “brilliant” company? Partly, it’s their offering of  “invoice templates, an MBA’s smarts and a human touch in a slick – and affordable – Web 2.0 package,” according to Entrepreneur. But their brilliance may also be attributed to their unique way of caring for their subscribers:

“No one takes care of people in the client-services business,” McDerment says. “Taking a customer who pays just $14 a month out to dinner is our way of doing that.”

For real. Read the company’s profile in Entrepreneur and you’ll see that the FreshBooks crew spends hours away from their offices traveling the U.S. and Canada to take their customers out to dinner.

That’s not the only way they engage with their customers, though. They have a fun, informative blog, and they’re also active on Twitter, masterfully using the popular social media service to serve customers, establish brand voice, deepen relationships, engage brand fans, and break news. It’s all part of the FreshBooks company commitment to Execute on Extraordinary Experiences Everyday, or “4E.”

If you’re looking for a brilliant speaker on topics such as entrepreneurship, social media, marketing and web applications for your next event, contact us at The Speakers Group today to learn more about booking Mike McDerment. Especially if your audience consists of freelancers, creative professionals, small business types or similar types, you’ll find Mike’s fresh, relevant insights to be just what your attendees are looking for.

Posted under Innovation Speakers, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence, Speaker News, Speaker Recommendations

Each year since 1990, Dr. James Canton has published his top forecasts for the next year in the Global Trends Report. These trends and predictions are designed to give your client’s a heads-up on what’s next in the economy, technology and society. As featured in his keynote, “The Extreme Future,” this year’s Global Trends Report is a wake-up call on the key trends that will shape the coming year. Dr. Canton identifies 2009’s top global trends as follows:

1. Managing Complexity – This year, more than ever, the top skill that everyone will need is managing complexity. The complexity of dealing with immense and fast changes, the economic crisis, the job market, global competition and new technologies will require a high level of complexity management. Survival may well be dependent on how well a Complexity Manager you are.
2. High Agility Enterprise - Fast to change. Anticipatory of what’s next. Exceeding expectations. New innovations to serve customers, find profit, accelerate transactions, release creativity and empower employees and customers will transform business in 2009. Innovations like customer care portals, Wikis, Mashups, Predictive Analytics, Social Networking, Web 2.0 processes and products will drive competitive advantage this year. Business agility will be propelled by elegant, integrative Clouds, adaptive and innovative business IT processes. This is the year to migrate to more web-centric business transformation.
3. Global Connectivity - Information will find you. The pervasive mobile Internet is coming in 2009 and will connect everyone in business, customers-everywhere, and all the time, across borders, supply chains and industries. Entirely new business models, supply chains, customer care networks, markets and industries will be born from this always-on global connectivity. New business models that deliver real-time value, all the time anywhere and everywhere, will redefine markets-get ready now for this shift.
4. Blended Reality - The convergence of TV, computer, Net, wireless, telephony across interactive fast real-time broadband networks with GPS information will become a Blended Reality lifestyle in 2009. Rich media interactivity, real-time messaging, rich media and virtual worlds are coming. This lifestyle cuts across geography, markets and cultures. Blended Reality is the new global lifestyle and demographic that will emerge.
5. Navigating the New Risk Landscape - Here comes the Post-Economic Meltdown-OK let’s get on with it. Every business and everyone will need a new strategy to deal with navigating risk and opportunity this year. It will change everything and touch everyone in 2009. Dealing with the aftershocks to the economic meltdown, which started in 2008, will be top of mind for every business and individual. Smarter moves and greater risk management will be prudent advice for this coming year. Navigating the new risks, new challenges and new threats will be key. We will look differently at risk-even missing some opportunities. Understanding how to navigate the changes and challenges of the new risk landscape will be essential this year. Know when to risk and when to hold on.
6. Personalized Medicine - People are living longer and spending more to enhance their cognitive, emotional and physical performance. Radical new choices are coming that will challenge our values and laws. From prevention, to mapping your personal genome, to life-extension, longevity medicine is coming fast. This global marketplace will be the largest in the 21st century, driven by Boomer’s wealth and biotech’s future innovations in stem cells, synthetic biology, and cloning that will transform health care making it boldly predictive and personalized. How about a new kidney for Christmas?
7. The MegaCity Consumer - From China to India, to Latin America and the EU, there is a new consumer demographic that is emerging driven by massive urban migration. They live in megacities, are highly mobile and are transnational. The MegaCity Consumers are the new middle class, tech savvy, highly mobile and entrepreneurial. They are driving up demand for products and services that could reach over 120 countries, generating billions by 2035. This new global middle class is being born and they want the prosperity and quality of life that is defined by the consumer marketplace.
8. Beware Dark Networks - Security will be an increased risk factor for business in 2009 given the vulnerability of computer networks that increasingly connect us all. From hackers to identity thieves, to terrorists and criminals, the future is bright for the Dark Networks. Business needs to invest in deeper innovations in security and take it to the next level. More sophisticated and complex fraud, theft and terror attacks will threaten modern society, so be prepared and invest now in prevention.
9. Green & Clean Sustainability - Billions will be invested in alternative energy, clean tech and climate change in 2009. The new administration will embrace, whole hog, the sustainability trend. We will capitalize on cleaning up the planet, reducing foreign oil dependence and reducing global warming. Customers are going green. Consumers will want increased corporate accountability in protecting and saving the environment. Smart companies will now leverage Green & Clean policies, products and services-and be held accountable if they are not.
10. Strategic Vision: Future Readiness - Most businesses are not ready for the future. Witness the economic beating of this past year. Each business needs to develop a predictive awareness-a sensing capability of what is next. Developing a capacity to see what’s next and prepare by monitoring trends, developing business foresight with an eye towards the longer more strategic view will be essential to success in 2009. New profit opportunities will come from those companies that see the future first and become Future-Ready-anticipating, adapting and evolving before the competition.

To learn more about Dr. Canton’s keynote presentations, trend analysis, and related work, please visit http://www.techfuturist.com/. To book Dr. Canton or check his availability for your upcoming meeting or conference, please contact The Speakers Group.

Posted under Innovation Speakers, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence, Speaker News

Peter Sims is a best-selling coauthor, strategic adviser and keynote speaker specializing in leadership and innovation. He is the coauthor (with Bill George) of True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, the BusinessWeek and Wall Street Journal best-selling book that New York Times called “one of the most important books on leadership to come along in years.”

Peter was kind enough to participate in our “In the Spotlight” interview series recently and he shared some enlightening insights on the True North book, authentic leadership, and his current work on the subject of leading innovation.

TSG: How did you and Bill George connect for True North?

Peter Sims: I met Bill after he gave a great speech at Stanford Business School. We got to know each other much better in the months that followed because he was starting a course on leadership at Harvard Business School that was very similar to a course I was establishing at Stanford with a group of classmates called “Leadership Perspectives.” Although we were not successful in luring Bill to teach at Stanford, he and I would speak once a week or so to trade ideas, insights, or best practices and, before long, we were collaborating on True North.

TSG: What was the experience of creating True North?

Peter Sims: I loved it – I have never learned so much, so quickly. I was initially drawn to the book in part because we could pick up where Jim Collins left off in Good to Great – how do individuals go from good to great leaders, or “authentic leaders”? Bill describes authentic leaders as those who stick to their values and lead with purpose to empower others, similar to Collins’ Level 5 leaders. Our research team conducted 125 one-on-one, in-person interviews, out of which I did about 50, including with Howard Schultz of Starbucks, long-time presidential advisor David Gergen, Charles Schwab, eBay CEO John Donahoe, and Donna Dubinsky. The interviewees did not know what they were going to be asked in advance, but we learned that, without exception, they believed they were more effective as leaders when they were authentic.

Much of the critical acclaim for True North has come from the fact that the book is based on revealing and oftentimes eye-opening research about the influences, experiences, and concrete development tactics that shape leaders. I use those lessons and insights everyday – the hardest part was determining the most important and relevant ones for the book.

TSG: Is there a particular story that you heard from an executive that you find yourself still thinking about today?

Peter Sims: John Donahoe, a great leader, summarized what we learned best, “It’s a process, not a destination.” He described how he grew through each stage of his career. Starting in his first job, he felt he had the world at his finger-tips – he didn’t know what he didn’t know. Soon, he had to begin to learn how to balance values tradeoffs between his personal and professional life and even signed a pledge to his wife on the back of a bank receipt, “I will not lead the life of a typical management consultant.” Then, in his 30s, mentors helped John understand how to overcome a fear of failure. He also experienced difficult setbacks or “crucibles” that helped him to develop perspective and self-awareness – to be more comfortable in his own skin. Lastly, he has refined his own effective leadership style, in which he has become a great leader and developer of people (which I know from speaking with those who work for him). He does all this while being the same person at home as he is at work, something that is not easy for anyone to achieve, and he shared a number of helpful tactics about how he does it. Getting there is indeed a process and everyone is at a different stage of their growth.

TSG: What was your role in co-authoring the book?

Peter Sims: Throughout the course of developing the book, I led the research, including managing our research team and making sense from the 3,000 pages of transcripts. Bill brought over 30 years of management and leadership expertise and we did a lot of concept-building and writing together. Then, Bill did the final edit before it went to press. What fueled me throughout was the desire to share the key lessons we learned as clearly and concisely as possible with our readers.

TSG: Your next chapter focuses around leading innovation. How has that evolved?

Peter Sims: Over the past few years, I developed a closely related interest: how do individuals and organizations better innovate? Like before, I started reading the relevant research and had hundreds of discussions with CEOs, managers, experts, and organizations like IDEO that specialize in innovation. Innovation has become almost a generic term, but the emerging field of design thinking provides some tested and insightful innovation processes and principles – ranging from customer need-finding techniques to rapid, low-cost approaches to experimentation – that will soon be required reading for every MBA, CEO, and corporate or nonprofit manager. A.G. Lafley, CEO of Proctor & Gamble, is one example of someone who leads innovation in this way, and with enormous success. The Stanford University Institute of Design (the d.school), is a remarkable place for innovation thinking, doing, companies, and experts.

TSG: The topic of innovation is not new, but what do you think are the keys to successful innovation today?

Peter Sims: There are many best practices designed to help make incremental innovations. However, the main question that CEOs ask me about is how to achieve breakthrough innovations, especially since the failure to do so will lead to irrelevance. Entrepreneurs are usually the best examples of executing this type of innovation because they don’t overanalyze – they act as quickly and inexpensively as possible to identify unique market opportunities. It’s a mindset. Similarly, Beethoven used countless experiments to gradually differentiate his music from Mozart’s established brand of classical music. Beethoven learned from small failures and built upon his successes such that he eventually built the movement toward a new era of classical music. Amazon executives have used a similar mindset to continuously use experiments to identify ground-breaking innovations such as the Kindle, just as Toyota has done with the Prius. That innovative mindset comes naturally for many entrepreneurs and pioneering leaders, but it doesn’t fit easily within traditional management or strategic thinking. Combining the rigor of strategic thinking with the dynamism of an innovative mindset is the future of leading innovation – a handful of insights and approaches will help guide the way.

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More about Peter Sims:

While studying at Stanford Business School, Peter established “Leadership Perspectives,” which is now one of the school’s most sought-after classes. His work has been published in Harvard Business Review, Fortune, and The Huffington Post and he has spoken at and advised organizations such as Eli Lilly, Molson Coors, Current TV, American Data Network, and Gallup. Previously, he was part of establishing and building the European Office of Summit Partners, a leading global investment company, where he worked with hundreds of the world’s most innovative companies and served as part of the Deloitte Touche Tomatsu Global Strategy Team.

To consider Peter as a speaker for your organization, contact The Speakers Group speakers bureau or visit Peter’s speaker profile page on The Speakers Group’s web site at http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/Peter_Sims.

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