Speakers

Erica Dhawan is a globally recognized leadership expert and keynote speaker helping organizations and leaders innovate faster and further, together. Named as one of the top management professionals around the world by Global Gurus, she is the founder and CEO of Cotential – a company that has helped leaders and teams leverage twenty-first-century collaboration skills globally. Her writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including Fast Company and Harvard Business Review. She has an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, MBA from MIT Sloan, and BS from The Wharton School.

Erica says we all have the power to drive innovation. She points out that we just need to get past the roadblocks we’ve created: endless meetings, cross-team dysfunction, resource-wasting duplication, and a lack of real, meaningful inclusion. How do we do that? By harnessing knowledge from the places we’d never thought to look.

We typically associate success and leadership with smarts, passion and luck. But in today’s hypercompetitive world, even those gifts aren’t enough. Erica’s book, Get Big Things Done, argues that the game changer is a thoroughly modern skill called Connectional Intelligence. Virtually anyone can maximize his or her potential, and achieve breakthrough performance, by developing this crucial ability.

So, what is it? Put simply, Connectional Intelligence is the ability to combine knowledge, ambition and human capital, forging connections on a global scale that create unprecedented value and meaning. As radical a concept as Emotional Intelligence was in the 90s, Connectional Intelligence is changing everything from business and sports to academics, health and politics by quickly, efficiently and creatively helping people enlist supporters, drive innovation, develop strategies and implement solutions to big problems.

Can a small-town pumpkin grower affect the global food crisis? A Fortune 500 executive change her company’s outdated culture through video storytelling? A hip-hop artist launch an international happiness movement? Or a scientist use virtual reality games to lower pain for burn victims? The answer, you’ll read, is a resounding yes. Each of these individuals is using Connectional Intelligence to become a power player to get big things done.

Erica Dhawan and Saj-nicole Joni’s Get Big Things Done unlocks the secrets of how the world’s movers and shakers use Connectional Intelligence to achieve their personal and professional goals–no matter how ambitious.

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Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence

Learn new insights and tools to accelerate the connected power of teams, become more agile and innovative, and drive breakthrough ideas and outcomes in a digital workplace.

We live in a world of endless meetings and emails and constant cross-team dysfunction, duplication and delays. Our collaboration skills aren’t working to unlock better value in our business. As radical a concept as Emotional Intelligence was in the 90s, Connectional Intelligence is turning people into superconnectors who accelerate innovation, break down silos and foster breakthrough top and bottom line impact.

Learning Outcomes

Learn successful tactics to address communication overload and create authentic digital and in-person relationships

Discover how to break down silos and keep teams aligned, accountable, and motivated beyond in-person meetings

Gain specific actions to foster loyalty, respect, collaboration and innovation across all stakeholder networks regardless of physical distance

Collaborate Faster and Further Together

Learn the new common-sense rules of effective communication on digital teams across business silos, levels, backgrounds and regions.

We all leave a digital impression on each other. If someone doesn’t text back for hours or even days, do you think they are being rude? Is using an emoji or LOL unprofessional, or creating a human connection with your team? What impression does your boss, team, or colleague think of that kind of behavior? Whether your team works on separate floors, buildings or even countries, they have to connect online in order to collaborate. These new misunderstandings are happening all day, every day. They’re reducing your employee engagement, morale, and team performance each time.

In this keynote, you will learn new rules and nuances of Digital Body Language, the new requirement to innovate faster and further together, led by collaboration expert Erica Dhawan.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand your collaboration style and what digital body language signals you are broadcasting (even if you don’t intend to!)
• Create cultures of maniacal clarity in email, phone, IM, text, video mediums and even live meetings in the new normal
• Develop a collaboration strategy to create the highest performing teams and relationships

Maniacal Clarity: Reimagine Leadership to Drive Impactful Innovation

We used to think of leadership as constant hustle and grit – the leader that never slept, sent profits through the roof, and embodied the classic rags-to-riches story… But this tired playbook doesn’t seem to work as well as it once did. What changed?  What makes a 21st century leader and a great team now? Is it their ability to tell stories? Their decision-making skills? Their communication style?

The critical missing factor is Maniacal Clarity. This is when leaders give their teams exactly what they need to do their absolute best work and enable them to be empowered to influence anyone, anytime, anywhere. Without it, even skilled, motivated and effective teams languish, with cross-team dysfunction, duplicative work, and unhealthy internal competition. Maniacal Clarity in our modern world delivers the ability to spark overarching optimism, inspirational imagination, continuous courage and fast focus.  

In her keynote, WSJ bestselling author and world-renowned speaker Erica Dhawan constructs a new framework for truly shifting minds and changing hearts, in the office, across any distance and with customers. Based on years of research and advising the respected companies around the world, this keynote promises a ground-breaking look into the science, frameworks, and stories of how to inspire anyone, anytime, anywhere to deliver their best results.

Learning Outcomes:

• Conduct your own clarity audit of your workplace and assess your own Maniacal Clarity habits
• Learn the 4 foundations of Maniacal Clarity and how to bring it to everyone around you with optimism, imagination, courage and focus
• Assess your strengths and opportunities to become a Maniacal Clarity change agent
• Develop an action plan to inspire your teams, customers, and the world around you to drive performance, teamwork and innovation

NASA engineer Jose Hernandez wanted to fly in space ever since he heard that the first Hispanic-American had been chosen to travel into space. “I was hoeing a row of sugar beets in a field near Stockton, Calif., and I heard on my transistor radio that Franklin Chang-Diaz had been selected for the Astronaut Corps,” says Hernandez, who was a senior in high school at the time. “I was already interested in science and engineering,” Hernandez remembers, “but that was the moment I said, ‘I want to fly in space.’ And that’s something I’ve been striving for each day since then.” And now that hard work has paid off. He was selected to begin training as a mission specialist as part of the 2004 astronaut candidate class.

One of four children in a migrant farming family from Mexico, Hernandez –who didn’t learn English until he was 12 years old — spent much of his childhood on what he calls “the California circuit,” traveling with his family from Mexico to southern California each March, then working northward to the Stockton area by November, picking strawberries and cucumbers at farms along the route. Then they would return to Mexico for Christmas, and start the cycle all over again come spring.

“Some kids might think it would be fun to travel like that,” Hernandez laughs, “but we had to work. It wasn’t a vacation.”

After graduating high school in Stockton, Hernandez enrolled at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, where he earned a degree in electrical engineering and was awarded a full scholarship to the graduate program at the University of California in Santa Barbara, where he continued his engineering studies. In 1987, he accepted a full-time job with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he had worked as a co-op in college.

While at Lawrence Livermore, Hernandez worked on signal and image processing applications in radar imaging, computed tomography, and acoustic imaging. Later in his career, Hernandez worked on developing quantitative x-ray film imaging analysis techniques for the x-ray laser program. Hernandez applied these techniques in the medical physics arena and co-developed the first full-field digital mammography imaging system. This system has proven useful for detecting breast cancer at an earlier stage than present film/screen mammography techniques. Hernandez has won recognition awards for his work on this project. He has also worked in the international arena where he represented Lawrence Livermore and the U.S. Department of Energy on Russian nuclear non-proliferation issues. 

During the astronaut application process, Hernandez had to meet with a review board. That’s where he came face-to-face with his original inspiration: Franklin Chang-Diaz.

“It was a strange place to find myself, being evaluated by the person who gave me the motivation to get there in the first place,” Hernandez says. “But I found that we actually had common experiences — a similar upbringing, the same language issues. That built up my confidence. Any barriers that existed, he had already hurdled them.”

Hernandez smiles. “Now it’s my turn!”

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Reaching For Your Own Stars: A Recipe To Succeed In Life

Jose Hernandez’s talk is an effective motivational talk where individuals leave so inspired, they re-evaluate and upgrade their personal and professional goals in life. This is accomplished by empowering attendees through his anecdotal stories of hard work and perseverance. He shares a simple yet effective recipe that serves as an effective tool in the empowerment process.

• Reach your full potential 
• Dare to dream big and be willing to work hard for it
• Re-evaluate and upgrade your life goals

Thriving In Today’s Challenging Environment

Jose shares his experience as an astronaut. He tells his story and focuses on the importance of goal setting, hard work and perseverance. Finally, he shows a short video including a summary of his 14-day mission into space as the flight engineer aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery – STS-128 mission.

Considered by many as the leading authority on leadership and influence, Rene Rodriguez is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, leadership advisor, and transformational speaker coach. For the last 27 years, René has been researching and applying behavioral neuroscience to solve some of the toughest challenges in leadership, sales, and change. 

As an entrepreneur and CEO of multiple companies, Rene integrates a practical business approach that inspires his audiences to take action. Through his keynote, bootcamps, workshops and proprietary Amplifii™ course, he helps us own our backstory to build the frame for not only our unique value propositions but also a beautiful picture of life. 

His audiences describe him as “powerful”, “thought provoking”, and “authentic”. They say things like, “you could hear a pin drop as everyone was so captivated.” 

The result: greater influence, personal transformation, and immediate results in business and life by engaging with courage and grace.

His Best Selling book AMPLIFY YOUR INFLUENCE can be found on Amazon and all major retailers.

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AMPLIFY YOUR INFLUENCE

René breaks down the neuroscience of influence. He personally guides you step-by-step through methodologies that create influence from the front of the room, in meetings and one-on-one. You will learn – and put into practice – Rene’s proprietary 3-step process to become a more powerful presenter, communicator, and influencer. Highly interactive and immediately applicable.

• A complete transformation of how you speak at meetings or in front of audiences
• A powerful 3-step approach to influence behavior and drive action
• The secrets to powerful storytelling
• Inspiration and understanding of how to lead and communicate more effectively

ENGAGE THE POWER OF TRUST AND TEAMWORK

The world is embracing new interpersonal dynamics in business. To succeed, leaders need to understand and leverage the hidden drivers of behavior in a way that engages not only their people, but their customers as well. René will provide actionable insights that can be immediately adopted. As a result, you can expect new behaviors, new results, and new revenue – that lasts.

• An applicable understanding of the neuroscience of leadership
• Specific tools to take back to the workplace and home
• Proven methodologies that inspire deep engagement
• Simple ways to create trust quickly

AWAKEN YOUR SALES CULTURE

Somewhere out there, your competition is planning their attack. Are you prepared? The world of selling has changed and old tactics/techniques won’t cut it in today’s marketplace. People don’t want to be seen as consumers. They are much more savvy and the bar has risen to be successful in the modern sales. This awakening’s objective is to link recent brain research findings with practical tools and underlying wisdom that can be used in any selling situation to maximize results. 

• Six Money Making Activities
• Understanding how the brain helps or hurts the sales process
• Research-based methodologies for driving action
• Sales wisdom and philosophies
• Differentiating between an order-taker and sales professional
• Goals for every client interaction
• Hidden drivers of buying behavior

Jason Sudeikis is an award-winning actor, comedian, producer, and writer who stars as the buoyant optimist Ted Lasso in the widely popular Apple TV+ series he co-created. Good to the core, its first season was honored with the prestigious Peabody Award “for offering the perfect counter to the enduring prevalence of toxic masculinity, both on-screen and off, in a moment when the nation truly needs inspiring models of kindness.”  The series garnered 9 Primetime Emmy Awards after being nominated for a historic 20.

In 2021, Sudeikis was the recipient of two Emmy Awards, “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series” and “Outstanding Comedy Series.” He was also awarded a Golden Globe for best actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series, and a Critics Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. The Writers Guild of America awarded Sudeikis and the show “Best Comedy Series” and “Best New Series.”

And most recently in he won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for the second time (2022), and Ted Lasso won best Comedy Series also for the second time. Ted Lasso, the show, follows the adventures of a small-time college football coach from Kansas hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having no experience coaching soccer.

Jason is actively involved with The Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City as well as other charities. He currently resides in New York City.

TOPICS

A Conversation about leadership with Jason Sudeikis

The series not only imparts much-needed lessons about the power of kindness and doing the right thing, it share some important lessons about leadership – and leadership types. Many of the shows characters are leaders in their own way, despite their flaws and challenges.

As head coach, Ted Lasso is the show’s most obvious leader, but the more we learn about Lasso the more he morphs from underestimated caricature to a more complex character who forges ahead despite his own challenges. His commitment to treating others with dignity and respect and doing what he thinks is the right thing, transforms the people around him into better human beings. And he does it all while navigating his own heartbreak and mental illness. Lass is the leader who holds onto his vision and hope, even when he’s facing the kinds of personal obstacles that could derail others.