In our ongoing effort to help meeting planners and business leaders create the most exciting, results-oriented meeting agendas, we’re excited to introduce the 10 newest additions to our roster of speakers (in alphabetical order):

 

• Stew Friedman – Stew is the Director of the Wharton Work/Life Integration Project and author of the 2008 national bestseller, Total Leadership: Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer Life. Invite Stew to your group or organization to improve performance at work, at home, in the community, and for the private self, and learn how to score four-way wins with Total Leadership, benefiting you and the most important people in your life.

 

• Bear Grylls – Bear is best known as host of The Discovery Channel’s Man vs. Wild, but did you know he’s also the youngest Briton to climb Mt. Everest – at age 23? Two years before the climb, he had suffered a near fatal parachuting accident and narrowly escaped being paralyzed for life – requiring a year of rehab. He is one of the youngest motivational speakers on the international business circuit and has won over even the toughest of audiences.

 

• Vicki Halsey – Dr. Victoria Halsey is a spirited, inspirational speaker, author and trainer who energizes audiences worldwide by engaging their hearts well as their minds. As Vice President of Applied Learning for the Ken Blanchard Companies, Vicki specializes in partnering with organizations to inspire people to be in touch with and unleash their greatness.

 

• Terry Hawkins – One of the most sought after speakers in Australia, Terry is relatively new on the speaker circuit in the US. Her high-impact, hilarious and thought-provoking presentations leave audiences inspired and motivated, equipped with new tools to create outstanding results in their personal and professional lives.

 

• Dave Horsager – Through Dave’s book and program, “The Trust Edge,” he shares the secrets of using trust to impact the bottom line. Combining humor, illusions and memorable stories with research and insight, Dave sheds light on the confusion and misconceptions surrounding the cornerstone of personal and professional success. He offers tangible steps that audiences can incorporate into their own lives right away.

 

• Mark Jeffries – As an economist, former stockbroker and TV host, Mark brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the events he speaks at and facilitates. He has the unique ability to serve as an entertaining emcee, an incisive and knowledgeable facilitator, and a popular speaker with a ‘hugely entertaining’ and ‘immensely practical’ keynote presentation entitled “Using Soft Skills to Gain the Business Advantage.”

 

• David Kralik – Called one of the “Top Ten Changing the World of Internet and Politics,” David is the Director of Internet Strategy at American Solutions, founded by former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. Based in Silicon Valley, he is constantly scouting new technology and finding ways technology can migrate government and politics into the 21st century. For both political and non-political organizations, he offers great insights into how to leverage technology to tell your story online and mobilize supporters (and customers).

 

• Jason Lezak – We would not be hearing about Michael Phelps winning a world-record eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics if not for Jason Lezak. As team captain, Jason swam the fastest split in 4X100M freestyle relay history to keep Phelps’ hope of winning eight golds alive. Your audience will be inspired by Jason’s competitive nature and will to succeed.

 

• David Nour – David Nour is a social networking strategist and one of the foremost thought leaders on the quantifiable value of business relationships. His “Relationship Economics” presentation, based on his book by the same title, teaches individuals how to exchange Relationship Currency, accumulate Reputation Capital and build Professional Net Worth. It’s about learning the art and science of relationships.

 

• Pat Zigarmi – Dr. Zigarmi currently serves as Vice President of Business Development for The Ken Blanchard Companies. She is an expert in the areas of leadership and change management and is coauthor of Leadership and the One Minute Manager, the third book in Ken Blanchard’s best-selling One Minute Manager Library, and Leading at a Higher Level. On the speaker’s platform, she is engaging and passionate with the ability to blend power and warmth, as well as knowledge and instinct.

 

Contact The Speakers Group today to inquire about these and other dynamic speakers for your upcoming events.

Posted under Event Management, Leadership Development, Motivational Speakers, Organizational Excellence, Planner Tips, Speaker Recommendations, inspirational speakers

Following is part two of the transcript of the “In the Spotlight” interview with Pete Luongo, author of 10 Truths About Leadership. In his signature fashion, Pete speaks frankly about some key issues that managers and leaders must address to lead their people and their organizations to higher levels of success. Picking up where we left off in part one of the interview:

TSG: Talk about the difference between “rules” and “standards of excellence.”

Pete Luongo: “Rules are for the weak and uncompromised standards of excellence are for the strong.” That’s Truth #5 and I can’t imagine it being anything more straightforward than that simple truth. As Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman tell us in First Break All the Rules, “creating a culture of compliance strangles an organization of its flexibility, responsiveness, and most importantly, its good will.” I believe it goes even deeper than that. Anything that gets in the way of our imagination, ingenuity, and creativity is non-productive. Standards of excellence are about expectations. What is it we want from our organization? It’s simple! At the Berry Company we were only interested in two things: selling lots of advertising and satisfying every customer. Anything that got in the way of those two objectives was not valued. As I so often said, “the solidarity of intent fills the team with the strength of knowing its purpose.” All 2800 employees knew that every day they woke up their focus and responsibility was around accomplishing those two objectives. It’s about embracing simplicity and making certain everyone understands their role in meeting and exceeding these expectations.

TSG: What qualities have you found to be effective indicators of greatness – or potential for greatness – in evaluating prospective employees?

Pete Luongo: It’s not about greatness. It’s about finding the right match. Truth #1 says, “Past Performance Predicts Future Behavior” and that is the answer. What are those qualities, those behaviors that are required to perform a certain task? Once they are determined, it’s simply about finding those people who bring those qualities to the relationship. To be very specific, when we were rebuilding our sales force we knew that our best salespeople were possessed those attributes of competiveness, commitment, character, capacity to learn, and passion. Our challenge was that through the selection process, we only brought those people into the business that possessed those same types of behaviors. Assuming they found their sweet spot we know they had a high probability of being successful. It really is that simple! Knowing that you can’t change people is a precursor to effective selection.

TSG: What do you think leaders are doing better today – as a whole – than they were doing 10 or 20 years ago?

Pete Luongo: I’m almost embarrassed to say this, but I’m not sure we are better today than we were 20 years ago! I’m convinced we’re smarter and certainly more technologically advanced, but there is so much greed, so much winning at all cost that it’s taken its toll on every aspect of society from youth sports to our Fortune top 50 companies. Organizations and individuals are struggling with the question of how do we not compromise our core values as we chase the endgame, both individually and collectively, and personally and professionally. We all know the right things to do but l question the courage of leadership today to do it the right way!

TSG: What do you believe is the greatest challenge that leaders today must overcome in order to achieve long-term success in their organizations?

Pete Luongo: The answer is incredibly complex but it has to start with a fundamental belief that our individual legacy as both leaders and human beings will be willingness to make a difference in other people’s lives. It’s about unconditional love! It’s about helping our employees find the courage within themselves to lead others and dismissing the belief that leadership is the unwanted burden of a privileged few – but rather it’s our most basic birthright. The deeper we drive leadership in an organization and the more we can distribute ownership throughout, the greater chance we have of being successful both individually and collectively.

TSG: You’ve got this book out there now. What else are you doing to spread the message?

Pete Luongo: It’s like any business – it’s about distribution! It’s about getting in front of more audiences. It’s about building a learning series. I’m convinced that while there are a lot of theories, models, etc. out there, not many thought leaders have been at the edge of the cliff and have implemented a model that not only has universal application, but also works! It’s a story that needs to be told and I’m convinced that we will get the exposure necessary to share The Leadership Pledge.

TSG: One last question: When you stand in front of a group of leaders as a keynote speaker, obviously you can’t work a miracle in 60 minutes. What is the take-home value you’re trying to deliver in that setting?

Pete Luongo: My message is this: As leaders and employees we’ve all got to accept accountability and responsibility for our actions. Only when we understand and accept our roles and responsibilities in each relationship can we be successful. The Leadership Pledge defines those responsibilities, but it must be up to each of us as individuals to recognize that only when we’ve learned to accept ourselves can we learn to accept others and in the context of differences and similarities, find better ways of coping as a behavior organization.

TSG: That’s a good message! Thanks, Pete, for taking the time to participate in this interview.

—

For more information about Pete Luongo:

Peter A. Luongo retired as President and CEO of The Berry Company in August 2003. His career at The Berry Company spanned more than 33 years. During his last nine years with the company, Peter was instrumental in guiding Berry through a period of record sales growth, numerous contract acquisitions and the perpetuation of the nearly 100-year-old company as an industry leader and “a great place to work.” Since retirement, Peter has dedicated himself to sharing this unique approach with audiences all over the world. His powerful message transcends business transformation, emerging technology, product innovation, corporate vision statements and strategic imperatives.

Posted under In the Spotlight, Leadership Development, Organizational Excellence

Representing the leading thinkers in sales, marketing, management, etc. for speaking engagements is, in some ways, like having a life-long pass to the world’s best business school. “Best practices” teaching from the likes of Marcus Buckingham, Pat Lencioni, Kevin and Jackie Freiberg, Keith Ferrazzi, Ken Blanchard, and many more is constantly flowing through our office. Most recently, I’ve learned some brilliantly simple lessons from Pete Luongo, former President and CEO of The Berry Company and author of 10 Truths About Leadership.

Published last summer, 10 Truths is a little book packed with lessons Pete learned during his 33-year career at The Berry Company (and the great teacher called “life”) such as:

“The people who care about us the most are those who stand shoulder to shoulder with us during our most difficult times.”

“Finding and keeping good people must be the number one priority for all organizations!”

“Rules are for the weak. Uncompromised Standards of Excellence are for the strong.”

“Winners do things they don’t like to do. Average people follow their natural likes and preferences.”

“As leaders, we’ve got to give employees a sense of purpose, a set of principles, a vision, a dream, and most importantly, an environment where they can get what they want.”

The message is so simple, yet so desperately needed. There is a flood of new paradigms, new laws, new formulas, etc. coming our way every day. Yet here is a guy who has been at the top, who has achieved great success – he led The Berry Company through a period of record sales growth and established the organization as an industry leader and “a great place to work” – and he’s reminding us that the true key to organizational and personal success is… people.

What about the bottom line? What about marketing strategy? What about meeting quotas? All important, no question. Here’s what Pete says: “My belief is that, beneath the spreadsheets, strategies and psychological tests, the truths really are pretty straightforward. This book is about the ten truths leaders understand will lead to success, time and again.” It’s a focus on people that is key; not a focus on Wall Street.

And for those who still need to see the hard data, Pete wants you to know, “I’m extremely proud to share with you that in every case, the data backs up what my intuition was telling me all along.”

If you’re looking for a good read on management and leadership, I encourage you to check out this book. I can’t recommend it highly enough. And if you do pick it up, come back and share your feedback.

– Shawn Ellis, Founder and President, The Speakers Group

Posted under Book Review, Organizational Excellence