After 10 years of flying supersonic fighter jets in the United States Air Force, Danny Cox joined one of the nation’s largest sales companies. A year later, he was promoted to sales manager and guided his office in its industry-leading, record-breaking pace of doubling, tripling and quadrupling old records.

Four years after joining the corporation, Danny was promoted to First Vice President and assigned a district of eight offices and a staff of over 140. His salespeople increased production 800% in a five-and-a-half-year period - and that included two recession years. Morale and productivity soared, and percentage of employee turnover dropped to near zero.

The point? Danny Cox knows something about “Leadership When the Heat’s On.” There is never a greater need for innovative leadership and teamwork than in challenging economic conditions as we face right now. Here are a few leadership maxims from Danny’s “Leader’s Dozen” to help today’s leaders:

1. The ultimate reward for the leader of people is to be able to say at the end of the day, “I saw someone grow today and I helped.”
2. To achieve great things, know more than the average manager considers necessary.
3. An organization quits improving right after the manager does.
4. Help a team member grow and you receive respect in return.
5. On a scale of 1-10, team morale and customer service receive the same score.
6. Be aware of a team member’s weaknesses but talk to his or her strengths.

If you would like to receive the full “Leader’s Dozen” of leadership maxims, contact The Speakers Group today. To learn more about how a Danny Cox keynote presentation could add value to your next meeting, view his speaker profile here: http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/Danny_Cox.

Posted under Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence, Sales Management, Speaker Recommendations

Shawn Ellis, founder and president of The Speakers Group, will be the guest “expert” on an upcoming teleconference to share advice/tips/insights with meeting planners about best practices in booking speakers for meetings and conferences. Details of the teleconference will be listed here when they become available.

To make the teleconference as valuable as possible for meeting planners, Shawn would like to hear your questions or concerns about booking speakers for your events. Please post any topics you would like Shawn to talk about in the comments box below and he will address as many of those issues as possible during the teleconference. Thank you!

Posted under Planner Tips, Speaker Recommendations

Not that business keynote speakers have ever been a frivolous expense, but now more than ever, the spotlight in the speaker selection process is on ROI. Sure, you want someone who is dynamic and engaging. Maybe some name recognition would be nice. But the critical question is, “What will be the lasting impact of this speaker’s presentation?”

With budgets tightening, you can’t afford the luxury of spending a few - or several - thousand dollars just to amuse your audience for an hour. You need to be sure your investment is securing you a speaker whose impact will last for not hours, days, or weeks, but for YEARS. You need a speaker whose message is so powerful and thought-provoking that it will continually find its way back to the top of your attendees’ minds. And when it does, those attendees will either think favorably of your organization for bringing them in contact with that speaker (if you plan an association annual meeting or a national client conference, for example) or those attendees will be reminded to apply what they learned which will make your organization stronger (if you plan internal programs for leadership, all employees, etc.). Either way, the thousands of dollars you invested will be continuously paying dividends. That’s what you need. Right?

So who are these “magical” speakers? Here eight who have proven their worth over and over again:

• Marcus Buckingham
• Keith Ferrazzi
• Neil Rackham
• Benjamin Zander
• Jackie Freiberg
• Kevin Freiberg
• Ron McMillan
• Jason Jennings

The added bonus with booking speakers with this kind of lasting impact? Not only are they the only type of speakers you can afford to invest in during this economic climate, but they’re the exact type of speakers who will help you create a thriving business in spite of this economic climate!

For additional high-impact speaker candidates, take a look at our up-to-date Top Five Speakers list (http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/top_five_speakers) to see the speakers who are generating the most buzz in various topic categories. Or search our speaker directory (http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/speakers) based on your unique event parameters - we’ve carefully selected all of the speakers on our roster so you can invest with confidence.

Posted under Organizational Excellence, Planner Tips, Speaker Recommendations

For professionals and organizations looking for help in the realm of social networking and social media, Peter Shankman may be your man. Who is Peter Shankman?

PR Week magazine has described him as “redefining the art of networking,” and Investor’s Business Daily has called him “crazy, but effective.” Peter Shankman is a spectacular example of what happens when you harness the power of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and put it to work for you.

As an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and ingenious worldwide connector, Peter is recognized nationally and globally for doing PR (and everything else) differently–not only to get attention, produce great results, and create great companies, but also to have a lot of fun while at it every day.

Peter’s clients have included the Snapple Beverage Group, Walt Disney World, Vantage Point Venture Partners, American Express, Discovery Networks, New Frontier Media, OpSec Security, Napster, Juno, GenuOne, Dream Catcher Destinations Club, Prstore, Weblo, and many others, and he sits on the board of both Scott-e-Vest, the world’s first technologically enabled clothing line, as well as TripLife.

Peter is the author of Can We Do That?! Outrageous PR Stunts That Work and Why Your Company Needs Them (Wiley and Sons 2006) and is a frequent keynote speaker and workshop presenter at conferences, shows, marketing summits, corporate events, and public relations and marketing industry meetings, including Saatchi and Saatchi, Home Town Suites Hotels, NAB, Comdex, CTIA, CTAM, CES, PMA, The Next Gen Asia Advertising Conference, Mobile Marketing Asia 2007, Advertising Week, and the Direct Marketing Association.

For more information about Peter, check out his full speaker profile here: http://www.thespeakersgroup.com/Peter_Shankman.

In Peter’s words, social media and social networking are not marketing tools or devices; they’re simply part of life now. We - individuals and organizations - have to embrace that truth and develop a new way of thinking. That’s not necessarily easy - which is why we need people like Peter! - but it’s exciting.

Posted under Speaker News, Speaker Recommendations

Recession or no recession, today’s business world is more challenging than ever. Leaders, managers, and sales professionals alike are looking for an edge to compete and thrive in a crowded marketplace. Popular keynote speaker and best-selling author (Never Eat Alone) Keith Ferrazzi is helping individuals and organizations find that edge by remembering a fundamental truth: “business is human.” In other words, focus on relationships. Doing so, Ferrazzi says, will lead to revenue growth and greater success.

Relationships for Leadership Success

“Relationships for Leadership Success” is about effectively connecting people and successfully building teams. Successful leaders know how to build and manage relationships with employees, clients, and business partners. They work with people, not against them. They understand that in today’s workplace, you can’t achieve success on your own.

With this keynote presentation, participants learn how to engender trust and develop genuine connections with others, how to define their values and leadership principles, how to motivate others to higher levels of performance, and how to lead with passion and purpose. Leaders who can apply Keith’s time-tested lessons will be able to empower others and find joy in their own personal and professional lives.

Relationships for Revenue Growth

Salespeople face the hard reality that more and more of their products and services are faster and faster becoming commodities in today’s competitive marketplace. In this environment, the one lasting strategy for consistently growing revenue is to proactively build genuine, lasting relationships with clients. Building connections and contacts is absolutely vital to creating revenue success and growth.

Keith’s “Relationships for Revenue Growth” keynote helps bridge the gap for salespeople who find it difficult to balance the desirable and necessary challenge of expanding and deepening connections with the time and energy required to do so.

Achieve the Full Potential of Your Network

Keith Ferrazzi will help you and your organization create a process to scale intimacy, focus on building deeper real relationships with key influencers who will help you succeed, and achieve the full potential of your network. Acquire both a philosophy and a best practice used to plan and develop deep personal relationships with your peers, clients, employees, and stakeholders. What are you waiting for?

Posted under Organizational Excellence, Speaker News, Speaker Recommendations