Virtual LeaderCon 2020 - Speakers

Kevin Eikenberry

Chief Potential Officer - The Kevin Eikenberry Group
Host - Virtual LeaderCon

Kevin Eikenberry is a world expert on leadership development and learning. He is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group, & co-founder of The Remote Leadership Institute. He has helped organizations across North America, and leaders from 43 countries on leadership, teamwork, communication and more. 

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He has twice been named by Inc.com as one of the top 100 Leadership and Management Experts in the World and been included in other similar lists. He is the author, co-author or a contributing author to nearly 20 books, including best-sellers Remarkable Leadership and From Bud to Boss – Secrets of the Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership (with Guy Harris), The Long-Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership (with Wayne Turmel). In January 2021, The Long-Distance Teammate: Stay Engaged and Connected While Working Anywhere will be released. His blog is ranked among the world’s best, most read and most shared on leadership, has been visited over 4 million times.

Mary Abbajay

President - Careerstone Group, LLC

Mary Abbajay, author of the award-winning, best-selling Managing Up: How to Move Up, Win at Work, and Succeed with Any Type of Boss is the president of Careerstone Group, LLC, a full service organizational and leadership development consultancy that delivers leading-edge talent and organizational development solutions to business and government.

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As a sought-after author, speaker, consultant, and trainer, Mary helps clients develop the strategies, skills and sensibilities needed for success in the 21st century. Her expertise lies in helping clients create dynamic and productive workplaces that foster professional and personal excellence and growth.

Mary is a frequent expert contributor for television, radio and print publications where she provides practical leadership and career advice. In addition to her role as a Forbes.com contributor, her work and advice have appeared in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Forbes, The Financial Times, Money Magazine, Southwest Airlines Magazine, Monster, and the BBC.

In 2010, Mary was named as one of Washington Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business and was a Smart CEO Brava Award recipient in 2017.

Dr. Wayne Baker

Professor of Business Administration - University of Michigan Ross School of Business

Dr. Wayne Baker is the author of the book All You Have To Do Is Ask, and the Robert P. Thome (“Toe-May”) Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. He currently serves as Faculty Director of the Center for Positive Organizations.

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His teaching and research focus on social capital, social networks, generosity, positive organizational scholarship, and values.  He has published numerous scholarly articles and four books.  His management and leadership articles appear in venues such as Harvard Business Review, Chief Executive Magazine, and Sloan Management Review.

He puts his knowledge into practice as a frequent guest speaker, management consultant, and as an advisor and board member of Give and Take Inc., developers of the Givitas collaborative technology platform based on principles in his new book.

John Baldoni

Leadership Educator, Certified Master Corporate Executive Coach, & Author

John Baldoni is a globally-recognized leadership educator, certified Master Corporate Executive Coach, and author of 14 books that have been translated into 10 languages. His books include GRACE: A Leader’s Guide to a Better Us, MOXIE: The Secret to Bold and Gutsy Leadership, Lead with Purpose, Lead Your Boss, and The Leader’s Pocket Guide

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In 2018, Inc.com named John a Top 100 speaker and Trust Across America honored John with its Lifetime Achievement Award for Trust. In 2019, Global Gurus ranked John No. 9 on its list of Top 30 global leadership expert, a list John been on since 2007. In 2014, Inc.com listed John as a Top 50 leadership expert. John is also a member of the renowned Marshall Goldsmith 100 coaches, a group of executive coaches and thought leaders from the worlds of business, academia and social service.

John established a career as a highly sought after executive coach, where he has had the privilege of working with senior leaders in virtually every industry from pharmaceutical to real estate, packaged goods to automobiles, and finance to health care.

John has authored more than 700 leadership columns for a variety of online publications including Forbes, Harvard Business Review and Inc.com John also produces and appears in a video coaching series for SmartBrief, a news channel with over 4 million readers. John is also the host of LinkedIn Live’s Grace under pressure interview series. John’s leadership resource website is www.johnbaldoni.com.

Dov Baron

Dragon Leader, Author, & Podcast Host

Dov Baron, twice named to the list of the world's Top 30 Global Leadership Gurus and Inc. Magazine's Top 100 Leadership Speakers, is the founder and host of the podcast, Leadership & Loyalty, Apple Podcasts #1 podcast for Fortune 500 Execs. Inc magazine also rated it as the #1 podcast to make you a better leader.

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Dov is an independent contributor to multiple media outlets, including; CEO World, CNN, Elle Italia, Entrepreneur magazine, Medium and FOX. For over thirty years, Dov has worked privately with committed elite-level leaders and their organizations who are having impactful influence on leadership, business, and politics. He is also the bestselling author of One Red Thread and Fiercely Loyal: How High Performing Companies Develop and Retain Top Talent. As a speaker, Dov has presented to the United Nations, The World Management Forum in Iran, and the famed Servant Leadership Institute.

Dr. Chip Bell

Keynote Speaker & Author

Chip R. Bell is a renowned keynote speaker and author of several award-winning, best-selling books including Take Their Breath Away, Service Magic, Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service, Magnetic Service and Kaleidoscope: Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles. His newest book is Inside Your Customer’s Imagination. Dr. Bell has appeared live on CNBC, Fox Business, Bloomberg TV, CNN and his work has been featured in Fortune, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Businessweek, Entrepreneur magazine and Inc. magazine. Global Gurus in 2020 ranked him for the sixth year in a row in the top three keynote speakers in the world on customer service.

Meredith Bell

Co-Founder & President - Performance Support Systems

Meredith Bell is co-founder and President of Performance Support Systems (PSS), a global software company. Their award-winning tools guide leaders to make the shift from KNOWING to DOING. The result: permanent improvements in the way managers lead and coach their teams. Because of Meredith’s and her two partners’ fierce commitment to service excellence, many clients have done business with PSS for more than 20 years.

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Meredith is an expert in leader/team communications. She’s the author of Strong for Performance: Create a Culture with Learning & Development Programs That Stick and co-author of Connect with Your Team: Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills, both released in 2020.  She’s also host of the popular Strong for Performance podcast.

Dr. Rob Bell

Sport Psychology Coach, Author, & Speaker

Dr. Rob Bell is a sport psychology coach, author, and speaker. He has spoken to the NFL, NSCA, PGA, Marriott, and Walgreens, and has written 7 books on Mental Toughness. His 7th book is PUKE & Rally: It’s not about the setback, it’s about the comeback.


Rob has worked with 3 different winners on the PGA Tour and has served as the mental coach for University of Notre Dame, Indy Eleven, an Indy 500 champion, an Olympic Silver medalist, an ATP Champion, and the USTA National Champion.

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Dr. Bell has caddied over 20+ events on the PGA & LPGA Tours. He’s completed an ironman, several marathons, and a 50 mile trail run. This fall he will complete a 100-mile trail run.

He has a podcast titled 15 Minutes of Mental Toughness where he interviews experts on Mental Heath, mental toughness, and their Hinge moments.

A former university professor, Dr. Bell has published over a dozen journal articles and has been featured on ESPN, The Golf Channel, Runner’s World, NY Times and Stack Magazine.

He is a graduate from of University of Tennessee, Temple University, & Shepherd University. He is married with 2 children.

Sara Canaday

Leadership Expert, Speaker, & Award-winning Author

As a respected consultant, compelling speaker, and author, Sara has a unique gift for connecting and communicating with her audiences to propel them from light-bulb-moment insight to strategic change. Moving far beyond the business-school basics, she helps people identify the professional blind spots that are preventing them from taking their careers – and their companies – to the next level.

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Sara’s professional career spans 20 years and includes sales, leadership, and executive roles at USAA and Texas Mutual. She served as principal consultant for Empowerment Enterprises before opening her own consultancy, Sara Canaday & Associates, in 2009.

Sara is a member of the National Speakers Association and a by-invitation only leadership instructor for LinkedIn Learning. She has been featured in a number of publications and broadcasts, most notably Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and the American Management Association’s Leadership Wired. Sara is also the author of a popular business book, You – According to Them:  Uncovering the blind spots that impact your reputation and your career and her new book, “Leadership Unchained: Defy Conventional Wisdom for Breakthrough Performance.

Marlene Chism

Professional Speaker & Authority on Stopping Workplace Drama

Marlene Chism is the leading authority on stopping workplace drama. She works with C-Suite leaders to build drama-free cultures that drive growth and reduce costly mistakes. Marlene is known for helping managers address “the elephant in the room” and initiate conversations that gets results. Her expertise includes leadership development, conflict management, and strategic communication.

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Marlene is a recognized expert on the Linked In / Lynda global learning platform, producing educational videos on Anger Management, and Having Difficult Conversations.

She is the author of three commercially published booksStop Workplace Drama (Wiley 2011), No-Drama Leadership (Bibliomotion 2015), and Stop Drama in Your Healthcare Practice (Greenbranch 2018).

Her newest book to be released in 2022 is From Conflict to Courage: How to Stop Avoiding and Start Leading.

As a seasoned professional speaker, Marlene’s transformational message of personal responsibility, and alignment is making its way around the globe at leadership academy’s corporate retreats, association conferences, and customized webinars.

Marlene has a degree in communications from Drury University, and a master’s degree in HR Development at Webster University.  She is an advanced practitioner in Narrative coaching.

Chris Dyer

Author & Host of TalentTalk

Chris Dyer is passionate about helping leaders reach their full potential. As an expert at driving workplace performance through company culture, Chris has been featured by leading media outlets such as the BBC, NBC, and Forbes. He is also a frequent speaker at conferences all over the globe and was recently named to Inc.’s list of 10 Leadership Speakers That Can Help Transform Your Company Culture.

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Chris is the author of the best-selling book, The Power of Company Culture, which was released in 2018. He is also the Founder and CEO of PeopleG2, a background check provider that has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list of the Fastest Growing Companies four times.

A passionate talent management enthusiast, Chris is the host of TalentTalk, a business podcast with over 3.65 million downloads that features interviews with top executives about their strategies for hiring and promoting talent.

Chris strongly believes in community involvement, and he is active with a number of organizations. Additionally, he runs two book clubs for Senior Level and HR Professionals in Southern California. In his free time, Chris enjoys traveling with his wife and kids, and playing live music with his band. He resides in Orange Country, California.

Keith Ferrazzi

Founder & CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight

Keith Ferrazzi is the founder and CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, a management consulting and team coaching company that works with many of the world’s biggest corporations. A graduate of Harvard Business School, Ferrazzi rose to become the youngest CMO of a Fortune 500 company during his career at Deloitte, and later became CMO of Starwood Hotels. He is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and Fortune and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Who’s Got Your Back and Never Eat Alone. His mission is to transform teams to help them transform the world.

Dr. Carolyn Goerner

Professor - Indiana University - Bloomington's Kelley School of Business

Dr. Carolyn Goerner is passionate about creating confident leaders. Now in her 21st year as a professor at Indiana University-Bloomington’s Kelley School of Business, she’s coached and mentored graduate and undergraduate students in a variety of management and negotiation courses. She has multiple classes published on LinkedIn Learning including her popular course, “Overcoming Impostor Syndrome.” 

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Her book “The Confident Millennial: 52 Tips for Leadership Success” will be published in September. Carolyn’s company, Practical Paradigms, provides in-person and virtual training programs. Carolyn received her PhD in Management and Human Resources at The Ohio State University. She lives in Greenwood, Indiana with her husband Peter and their dogs Charlotte and Etta.

Jon Gordon

Best-Selling Author & Keynote Speaker

Jon Gordon's best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sports teams, school districts, hospitals, and non-profits. He is the author of 22 books including 9 best-sellers: The Energy Bus, The Carpenter, Training Camp, You Win in the Locker Room First, The Power of Positive Leadership, The Power of a Positive Team, The Coffee Bean, Stay Positive and his latest The Garden.

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Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, The Golf Channel, Fox and Friends and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Los Angeles Dodgers, The Atlanta Falcons, Campbell Soup, Dell, Publix, Southwest Airlines, LA Clippers, Miami Heat, Pittsburgh Pirates, BB&T Bank, Clemson Football, Northwestern Mutual, Bayer, West Point Academy and more.

Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Masters in Teaching from Emory University. He and his training/consulting company are passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations and teams.

Dr. Ryan Gottfredson

Author, Researcher, & Consultant

Ryan Gottfredson, Ph.D. is a cutting-edge leadership development author, researcher, and consultant. He helps organizations vertically develop their leaders primarily through a focus on mindsets. Ryan is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author of Success Mindsets: The Key to Unlocking Greater Success in Your Life, Work, & Leadership. He is also a leadership professor at the College of Business and Economics at California State University-Fullerton.

Darrin Gray

Chief Marketing Officer - Athletes in Action

Darrin Gray has been immersed in the world of sports philanthropy, sports media and sports ministry for many decades. He serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Athletes in Action and leads AIA’s NFL Advisory Council and helps steward AIA’s global influence through sports. Darrin is a frequent guest speaker at College and Pro Teams and is an accomplished Public Speaker and Media Personality with a unique window into the NFL by virtue of his longstanding relationship with All Pro Dad, the national fatherhood program founded by Tony Dungy.

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Darrin interacts daily with NFL athletes, coaches, and alumni and has conducted programming with over half of the NFL franchises, the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, Pro Football Hall of Fame and many other notable events. Darrin speaks on a variety of inspirational topics that include faith, leadership, philanthropy, media, mentoring and fatherhood that are grounded in the practices and principles of Serving Leadership. Darrin co-authored The Jersey Effect, Beyond the World Championship about Tony Dungy’s Super Bowl XLI team.

He resides near Indianapolis, and has been married to his wife Leslie for 25 years and together they have 4 children.

Guy Harris

Master Trainer and Coach, Workplace Conflict Resolution Expert

Guy Harris’ career includes service as a nuclear engineering officer in the U.S. Navy submarine fleet, various supervisory/managerial roles in the chemical industry and personal business ownership. In the early 1990s, he began to actively pursue the practical application of leadership, communication, team building and conflict resolution principles.

He is a Certified Human Behavior Specialist, a Master Trainer in the DISC Model of Human Behavior, and a Conflict Resolution Subject Matter Expert.

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Typical client concerns prior to working with Guy are forging a team from a group of individuals, moving a team past the conflict stage of team development, developing other leaders, expanding personal influence within the organization, communicating more effectively, and developing buy-in for new programs and processes.

As a consultant, trainer, and coach, Guy has worked with large and small clients, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and individuals from Boston to Brisbane and from Ottawa to Orlando. His past clients include: Sun Chemical Co., Ivy Tech Community College, The Good Samaritan Society, Redbox, Purdue University, Delta Career Education, The American Farm Bureau Association, Butler University, Alpha Chi Omega Sorority, Panda Express, and many others.

Guy is the co-author of From Bud to Boss: Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership, Sell Naked on the Phone, and The Behavior Bucks System. He has been a contributing author, content developer and editor on other books and training materials including: Presenting With Style; Leadership @ Work, Leadership Brief and To The Point, and Leadership: It’s an Inside Job.

Guy’s blog, The Recovering Engineer Blog, is about learning to get out of your own way and learning to take a close look at your thoughts, feelings, responses and reactions to find better and more effective ways to build and maintain both personal and professional relationships.

He also hosts the Talk Like a Leader Podcast, a weekly podcast exploring the mindset, skillset, and habit set of leadership communication.

Karin Hurt & David Dye

Leadership Speakers, Trainers, & Authors

Karin Hurt and David Dye help leaders achieve breakthrough results without losing their soul. They are keynote leadership speakers, trainers, and the award-winning authors of Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates (Harper Collins Summer 2020) and Winning Well: A Manager’s Guide to Getting Results Without Losing Your Soul. Karin is a top leadership consultant and CEO of Let’s Grow Leaders. A former Verizon Wireless executive, she was named to Inc. Magazine’s list of great leadership speakers. David Dye is a former executive, elected official, and president of Let's Grow Leaders, their leadership training and consulting firm.

Dr. Jennifer Kahnweiler

Author & Speaker

Jennifer B. Kahnweiler, PhD, is an author and global speaker hailed as a “champion for introverts.” Her bestselling books The Introverted Leader, Quiet Influence, The Genius of Opposites her latest book, Creating Introvert-Friendly Workplaces have been translated into 18 languages and have helped to shape the conversation about introverted leadership.

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Jennifer has worked as a consultant, learning and development leader and keynote speaker at such organizations as NASA, The American Chemical Society, Merck Pharmaceuticals, Bosch, the US Centers for Disease Control, Freddie Mac and Kimberly Clark.

She has been invited to deliver programs around the world virtually and on site in many countries including Australia, Vietnam, Japan, Germany, and Paraguay. Her presentations blend research To  She has also been featured in such news outlets as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes and Time Magazine. Her book, The Introverted Leader was named one of the top 5 business books by The Shanghai Daily.

Jennifer received her PhD in counseling and organizational development from Florida State University and her degrees in sociology and counseling from Washington University, St. Louis. She has served on the boards of Berrett-Koehler Authors, Inc., the BK Global Task Force, was the Vice-President of the National Speakers Association of Georgia and serves as a mentor to many professional women. Jennifer holds the Certified Speaking Professional, an honor given to a small percentage of professional speakers. A native New Yorker, Jennifer calls Atlanta, GA home.

Dave Kerpen

Serial Entrepreneur, Author, & Keynote Speaker

Dave is a serial entrepreneur, New York Times best selling author of Likeable Social Media and The Art of People and global keynote speaker. Dave is the Founder and Chairman of Likeable Local, a social media software company serving thousands of small businesses, as well as the chairman and co-founder of Likeable Media, an award-winning social media and word-of-mouth marketing agency for big brands. 

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Dave also recently founded Apprentice, a platform that matches entrepreneur's with the best assistants while providing world-class mentorship for college students. Dave's latest initiative Remembering.Live was built after he lost his mum during the pandemic and offers live memorial services and tribute website to grieving families like his own.

Bruce Lee

International Event Speaker, Coach, Emcee, & Author

As an international event speaker, coach, emcee and author, Bruce Lee brings the experience of a solid business leadership and entrepreneur /ownership background from a good cross section of industry for 40 + years.

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  • Charter Bank branch management and Alberta Manager for the VISA credit card Division of the Bank,
  • Senior marketing representative for a fully integrated Canadian oil and gas company, charged with increasing market share and building new service stations
  • Senior executive recruiter with an office in England
  • Owned, managed and operated a 24 hour a day, 365 days a year retail convenience store and gas bar business.
  • As an implementation and marketing specialist for Custom Learning Systems, he enjoys working with health care clients all across North America and is developing a new platform that supports immediate patient feedback with their caregivers.
  • On a personal note, he is very active at the Board level in community and sport organizations, manages successful election campaign, and is a regular blood donor - 516 times and still counting!

Bruce has been providing education keynotes, workshops and webinars all across North America full time for the past 30 years. Bruce is passionate on working with individuals and organizations to get the results they need to grow their careers and enhance their business success. He shares practical, real life examples on the most current topics people need, and each presentation includes a variety of complimentary additional resources, articles and tools to support the content and measure skill levels. Recent clients include health care organizations, education systems, accounting and CEO groups.

The focus is always on improving engagement and teambuilding with the added value of aligning corporate strategy to create high performance employees. The results are increased productivity for individuals, departments, and organizations; higher profitability; and increased customer and client satisfaction. Above all, the intent of every presentation is to ensure implementation of the ideas and strategies to move people ahead with a realizable return on their education event investment.

In 2016 Bruce published his first book: Why Trust Me? Making Trust Your Competitive Edge, of which a free PDF version of the book is one of the many complimentary resources Bruce provides. There is also a very special series of complimentary resources offered if you are in health care, be it a hospital, clinic, long term care or health care Association.

Ama Marston

Leadership Expert and Entrepreneur

Ama Marston is an internationally recognized strategy, leadership, and purpose-led business expert as well as an entrepreneur. She is the author of TYPE R: Transformative Resilience for Thriving in a Turbulent World (Hachette Book Group; 2018), which won an Axiom Business Book Awards gold medal. Ama has worked on five continents with global leaders like Mary Robinson, first female President of Ireland, and Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate economist, FTSE Index and Fortune 500 companies, the United Nations, Oxford University, NGOs, and numerous others. She has also contributed to and been featured in the Guardian, the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, CNN Money, Forbes, BBC, Slate, Nasdaq, ABC News and Cheddar, among others.

Eileen McDargh

Chief Energy Officer - The Resiliency Group

Since 1980, Eileen McDargh has helped organizations and individuals transform the life of their business and the business of their life through conversations that matter and connections that count.  She has become known as a master facilitator, an award-winning author, and an internationally recognized keynoter and executive coach.

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She draws upon practical business know-how, life's experiences and years of consulting to major national and international organizations that have ranged from global pharmaceuticals to the US Armed Forces, from health care associations to religious institutions. Her programs are content rich, interactive, provocative and playful—even downright hilarious.

In 2021, Global Gurus International, a British-based provider of resources for leadership, communication and sales training, also ranked her third as one of the World’s Top 30 Communication Professionals following a global survey of 22,000 business professionals.

Her newest book, Burnout to Breakthrough: Building Resilience to Refuel, Recharge and Reclaim What Matters has been generating great response and interest.  You can find it on Amazon in paper, digital and audio formats.

Mike Myatt

Founder & Chairman - N2Growth

Mike Myatt is a leadership advisor to Fortune 500 CEOs and their Boards of Directors. Widely regarded as America’s Top CEO Coach, he is a globally recognized authority on leadership, the bestselling author of Hacking Leadership (Wiley) and Leadership Matters (OP), a Forbes leadership columnist, an instructor of executive education at many of the nation's top business schools, and is the Founder and Chairman at N2Growth, a top leadership development and executive search firm with more than 50 locations globally.

Tanveer Naseer

Founder & CEO - Tanveer Naseer Leadership

Tanveer Naseer is an internationally-acclaimed keynote speaker and award-winning leadership writer. He is also the Founder and CEO of Tanveer Naseer Leadership, a leadership corporate training and consulting firm that works with executives and managers to help them develop practical leadership and team-building competencies to drive organizational growth and development.

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Tanveer's work and writings have been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Inc Magazine, The Globe and Mail, The Economist Executive Education Navigator, CBC Radio Daybreak, Global News, and the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

Tanveer is the recipient of several awards and recognitions as one of the world’s top thinkers/writers in the leadership sphere, including being recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts.

Tanveer has been very active on speaking circuit, giving keynote speeches and talks in Canada and the US, including his TED talk “Forget Passion – Purpose is the Real Spice of Life”.

His engaging and thought-provoking style and content has to his recognition by Inc. Magazine as one of today’s “100 Great Leadership Speakers”, a list that includes such highly sought-after thought leaders as Sir Richard Branson, Tony Hsieh, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ken Blanchard, Brené Brown, and Marshall Goldsmith.

In addition to his work speaking, writing, and consulting on leadership, Tanveer is also the host of the podcast "Leadership Biz Cafe", which Inc Magazine has described as feeling "like you're sitting down for a cup of coffee with two leadership experts to learn about how to become that leader our employees need us to be." You can listen to Tanveer's leadership podcast on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Deezer, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Stitcher Radio, and on many other podcast platforms. You can also listen to every episode of his podcast - as well as find links to subscribe - on the show's podcast page.

Tanveer's first book, “Leadership Vertigo” has received rave reviews and endorsements by many of today’s top leadership thinkers and practitioners. In fact Doug Conant, Chairman of Kellogg Executive Leadership Institute, has praised Tanveer's book as offering “practical and effective tools for avoiding self-deception and empowering those we seek to lead.”

Tanveer is a graduate of McGill University's Department of Medicine where he obtained his Master of Science degree in Pathology. He currently lives in Montreal, Canada with his wife and their three daughters.

Shasta Nelson

Friendship Expert

Shasta Nelson, M.Div., a friendship expert, is a leading voice on loneliness and creating healthy relationships. She speaks across the country sharing the work that can be found in her books: Frientimacy: How to Deepen Friendships for Lifelong Health and Happiness and Friendships Don’t Just Happen! The Guide to Creating a Meaningful Circle of GirlFriends.

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Her 3rd book, The Business of Friendship: Making the Most of the Relationships Where We Spend Most of Our Time will be published by HarperCollins Leadership in August 2020. In addition to writing and speaking across the country, she is also a frequent contributor to the media appearing on TV shows such as The Steve Harvey Show and The Today Show, and in countless magazines and newspapers including The New York TimesWashington Post, Good Housekeeping, and Forbes.

Author of the upcoming book, The Business of Friendship: Making the Most of Our Relationships Where We Spend Most of Our Time .

Buy other books at Frientimacy: How to Deepen Friendships for Lifelong Health and Happiness and Friendships Don't Just Happen!  

Dr. Nate Regier

CEO & Founding Owner - Next Element Consulting

Nate Regier, PhD, is the CEO and founding owner of Next Element Consulting, a global leadership firm dedicated to bringing compassion into the workplace. Dr. Regier is a former practicing psychologist and expert in social-emotional intelligence, interpersonal communication and leadership. Recognized as a Top 100 keynote speaker, he is a Process Communication Model® Certifying Master Trainer.

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Nate is the author of three books: Beyond Drama: Transcending Energy Vampires; Conflict without Casualties: A Field Guide for Leading with Compassionate Accountability; and his newest book, Seeing People Through: Unleash Your Leadership Potential with The Process Communication Model. He hosts a podcast called “On Compassion with Dr. Nate,” writes a weekly blog, contributes to multiple industry publications and blogs, and is a regular guest on podcasts.

Learn more about his free leadership workshop series: https://www.next-element.com/workshops/.

Dan Rockwell

Coach, Advisor, & Author of Leadership Freak blog

Dan Rockwell is the author of the highly recognized Leadership Freak blog and co-author of The Character Based Leader. Leadership Freak, read in virtually every country on the globe, has been recognized as the most socially shared leadership blog on the Internet. Over 400,000 people subscribe to Leadership Freak’s social media channels.

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Inc Magazine lists Dan as a ‘Top Fifty Leadership and Management Expert’ and a ‘Top 100 Great Leadership Speaker’. The American Management Association lists Dan as one of the ‘Top 30 Leaders in Business’.

Dan’s articles are also found in the material of the American Marketing Association, the American Management Association, the Society for Human Resource Management, the Deloitte Leadership Academy, Huffington Post, and many others.

Dan has owned two businesses and served fifteen years as a Workforce Development Consultant for a Penn State University Special Affiliate. In that capacity, Dan designed courses, hired and mentored instructors, and delivered hundreds of presentations for local, regional, and global organizations.

Dan travels from Central Pennsylvania to coach and advise leaders, lead workshops and deliver keynotes to business and community organizations.

Lou Russell

Director of Learning - Moser Consulting

Lou Russell is the Director of Learning at Moser Consulting. As an executive consultant, speaker and author, she channels her passion to create growth in companies by growing their people. Lou inspires greatness in leadership, projects, and teams. She is the author of 8 popular books on Leadership, Teams and Project Management. Most importantly to Lou, you will leave this session with a new tool.

Jan Rutherford

Founder - Self-Reliant Leadership

Jan Rutherford entered the U.S. Army at age 17 (weighing 114 pounds), and spent six years in Special Forces as a Green Beret medic and “A” team executive officer, and three years as a military intelligence officer. Jan has over 25 years of business experience and has held executive roles in business development, marketing, sales, training, product management, and as a CEO. 

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He is the founder of Self-Reliant Leadership, LLC, leads Crucible expeditions with executives and transitioning military veterans, and is the author of “The Littlest Green Beret: On Self-Reliant Leadership.” As a professional speaker, Jan was recognized as one of “The Top 100 Leadership Speakers for 2018” in Inc., and was a TEDx speaker. Jan also serves on numerous boards, and invests time with select DOD units and veteran organizations. He is also the co-host of The Leadership Podcast.

Becki Saltzman

Chief Curiosity Seeker - Applied Curiosity Lab

Becki Saltzman is Chief Curiosity Seeker at Applied Curiosity Lab. Her engaging and actionable presentations and workshops (in-person and virtual) help forward-thinking organizations apply unique ways to illuminate and navigate the future, capture insights, and make better decisions.

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As a best-selling content creator/online learning instructor (LinkedIn Learning) and author, Becki doesn’t specialize in everything. She is, however, a content expert in Applied Curiosity, critical thinking, ideation, and decision-making. She received her graduate degree in applied behavioral science from Washington University in St. Louis. In her spare time Becki enjoys great travel adventures, crowded dance floors, and brown drinks.

Dr. Melvin Smith

Professor - Department of Organizational Behavior 
Faculty Director of Executive Education - Case Weatherhead School of Management

Melvin L. Smith, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Organizational Behavior and Faculty Director of Executive Education at the Case Weatherhead School of Management. He is also Chairman of the Board of the Graduate School Alliance for Education in Coaching (GSAEC).

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Dr. Smith received his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business.  He also holds a B.S. degree in General Management and Accounting from Purdue University and an MBA in Marketing from Clark-Atlanta University.

Dr. Smith’s research and teaching focus on leadership and emotional intelligence in the workplace, as well as the development and use of human and social capital in organizations through executive coaching.  He is co-author (with Richard Boyatzis and Ellen Van Oosten) of the book, Helping People Change: Coaching with Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth (Harvard Business Review Press).

In addition to his work with numerous U.S. organizations, Melvin has worked with executives in Canada, Dubai, India, New Zealand, Scotland, and Trinidad.  He has also served as a visiting professor at ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain where he co-taught a senior executive education course on emotionally intelligent leadership.

Prior to completing his doctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh, Melvin spent over fifteen years in a series of sales/marketing management, and organization development positions with a number of Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Pepsi-Cola, and H.J. Heinz.

Michael Lee Stallard

Cofounder & President - E Pluribus Partners & Connection Culture Group

Michael Stallard is a keynote speaker, workshop leader, and globally-recognized expert on how to tap into the power of human connection to maximize the performance of individuals and organizations. In this context, he addresses issues of leadership, employee engagement, wellness, productivity and innovation.

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Michael's first book, Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team's Passion, Creativity, and Productivity (2007), made him one of the earliest thought leaders on the power of human connection at work and introduced the concept of cultures of connection. Wishlist recognized Michael as one of the top leadership coaches of 2021 and his latest bestselling book, Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work, now in its 2nd edition, was selected as one of 100 leadership books recommended by Leader to Leader and was an editor's choice selection by getAbstract. You can read his blog here.

 

Dr. Jesse Lyn Stoner

Founder - Seapoint Center for Collaborative Leadership

Dr. Jesse Lyn Stoner, founder of Seapoint Center for Collaborative Leadership, is one of the foremost experts on how to create a shared vision and the strategies to achieve it. For over twenty-five years, she has worked closely with leaders in hundreds of organizations using collaborative processes to engage the entire workforce in creating their desired future.

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A former business executive, sought after speaker and business consultant, she is author of several books, including the international bestseller Full Steam Ahead: Unleash the Power of Vision (co-authored with Ken Blanchard) which is translated into 22 languages. Her clients include Marriott, Skanska, Stanley Black & Decker, SAP and T.J. Maxx to name a few. Jesse writes an award-winning leadership blog and was named American Management Association’s Leader to Watch, a Top 50 Leadership Expert by INC magazine, and a recipient of the Conant Leadership Award. Her writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post and Forbes. She serves on the board of directors of Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Brad Sugars

Author, Speaker, & Owner of ActionCOACH®

Internationally known as one of the most influential entrepreneurs, Brad Sugars is also a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and widely known as one of the top business coaches in the world. He has built his career around successful and proven business strategies that motivate and educate entrepreneurs and business owners to achieve impactful and lasting results. 

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Currently the CEO of 9 companies, Brad has 30+ years of business experience and is the owner of the multi-million dollar franchise ActionCOACH®. Today, the company is internationally recognized as the leading global business coaching firm and one of the leading and most awarded franchises in the world today due to Brad’s accolades in the entrepreneurial and business space.

Andrew Tarvin

CEO - Humor That Works

Andrew Tarvin is the CEO of Humor That Works, a leadership development company that teaches professionals how to use humor to achieve better business results. He has partnered with top organizations–including IBM, the UN, and the FBI–to solve human challenges with humor solutions.

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A best-selling author, Andrew has been featured in The Wall Street JournalInc, and FastCompany, and was named a ‘Visionary Under 40’ by the P&G Alumni Network. His TEDx talk on the skill of humor has been viewed more than seven million times, only half of which were his mother. He loves chocolate and tweeting puns.

Maura Thomas

Founder - Regain Your Time

Maura Nevel Thomas is an award-winning international speaker and trainer on individual and corporate productivity and work-life balance, and the most widely-cited authority on attention management. Her proprietary Empowered Productivity™  System has been embraced by the likes of the U.S. Army, L’Oreal, and Dell. She is a TEDx Speaker, founder of Regain Your Time, author of three books, and was named a Top Leadership Speaker in Inc. Magazine.

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Maura is frequently featured in major business outlets including Business Insider, Fast Company, and Huffington Post, and she’s also a regular contributor to both Forbes and the Harvard Business Review, with articles there viewed over a million times.

Bob Tiede

Member of Cru's Leadership Development Team

Bob Tiede (pronounced TEE-DEE) has been on the Staff of Cru for 50 years. He serves on the U.S. Leadership Development Team. Bob's blog LeadingwithQuestions.com recently marked its 9th Anniversary and is followed by Leaders in over 190 Countries. Bob is also the author of 4 popular books including "Great Leaders ASK Questions" & "Now That's a Great Question." Bob and his wife Sherry have been blessed with 4 - now adult and married children and 7 (soon 8) remarkable Grandchildren!

Gordon Tredgold

Author

Gordon Tredgold is passionate about inspiring people to take action.

From the early stages of his career Gordon has seen the benefits that inspiration brings, how it can transform companies, teams and individuals to achieve amazing results. He strongly believes that if we can create more inspiring leaders, we can help make ourselves a better world.

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Described as “sharp and insightful with a thought-provoking style” Tredgold teaches leaders and organizations simple, practical and pragmatic strategies that help them to engage, empower and excite their teams in a way that inspires them to challenge the limits of what they thought was achievable.

Tredgold is the author of three books: Chartered Management Institute finalist, “FAST – 4 Principles Every Business Needs To Drive Success and Achieve Results”, “Leadership it’s a Marathon Not a Sprint”, and “Practitioners Guide to Leadership” and he has written over 1400 articles contributing to Inc, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Fortune and many other publications.

As former corporate warrior, with over 30 years of experience, Tredgold is a sought-after turnaround expert who has successfully delivered $100m programs, led and developed global teams of over 1000 people, and transformed operational performance with improvements of 50-500% and cost reductions of $240m. This has given him the practical hands-on experience of what is needed to create inspired teams and build high-performance cultures.

Gordon has devoted himself to humanizing leadership, simplifying the concepts and making them accessible to everyone to help them become a better leader, an inspiring leader that can engage, empower and excite people to take action as his greatest reward is seeing the people around him achieving their highest and best results.

Wayne Turmel

Co-Founder - The Remote Leadership Institute
Author & Speaker

Wayne Turmel is a co-founder of the Remote Leadership Institute. He has spent the last twenty years or more obsessed by how people communicate at work. His work has helped organizations on four continents develop the communication skills needed to lead people, projects, and teams and to make the adjustment to remote working and virtual teams.

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Besides The Long-Distance Leader: Rules for Remarkable Remote Leadership from Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Wayne is the author of nine books, including ASTD’s 10 Steps to Successful Virtual Presentations and Meet Like You Mean It: A Leader’s Guide to Painless and Productive Virtual Meetings. His newest book, The Long-Distance Teammate: Stay Engage and Connected While Working Anywhere, will be released in January 2021. He has also contributed to almost a dozen other books. His groundbreaking podcast, The Cranky Middle Manager Show, was one of the first leadership podcasts to be included in the list of 50 Top Influential HR Blogs by BNET. His clients include the American Red Cross, Schneider Electric, Dell, and several departments of the United States and Canadian governments.

Marshall Goldsmith has called Wayne “one of the truly unique voices in leadership.”