Adrian Gostick: Topic Descriptions

Adrian Gostick: Topic Descriptions Topic #1: Culture change

Title: All InHow the best leaders develop a culture of belief & drive big results The Dilemma: While most leaders understand their most reliable competitive advantage comes from their people, few know how to get their teams “all in”—convincing employees to buy into the strategy they’ve put forward. If a culture is clear, positive, and strong, then people will believe what they do matters and that they can make a difference. If a culture is dysfunctional—chaotic, combative or indifferent—employees will spend more time thinking about why the people sitting next to them should be fired than getting fired up themselves. The Research: Teaming up with research giant Towers Watson, #1 bestselling author Adrian Gostick presents the findings of an unprecedented 300,000-person study conducted in the worst of the recession for his book All In. Based on this breakthrough research and his extensive consulting experience with a who’s-who of successful organizations, he presents a simple roadmap that all managers can follow to create a high-achieving culture in their own teams where employees are engaged, enabled and energized. The Result: Gostick offers specific how-tos for each step, and tells fascinating stories of leaders in action that vividly depict just how these powerful methods can be implemented. Audiences will learn: the 3 research-based characteristics of the world’s most profitable, productive organizational and team cultures; the 7 steps today’s most successful leaders use to generate buy-in; and how managers at any level can build a productive workgroup culture of their own where employees commit to the culture and give an extra push of effort. The Audience: Designed for senior leaders and managers (although sometimes tailored to include all employees), Adrian Gostick has presented “All In” to corporate audiences and association conferences worldwide. The session is typically customized to an organization’s specific culture challenges.

Topic #2: Employee engagement

Title: The Engagement EffectHow the best managers are engaging employees to meet the needs of a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world The Dilemma: Financial performance in high-engagement organizations is 44 percent higher than in low engagement organizations. Some 90 percent of senior leaders believe employee engagement is a key driver of business performance. But only 24 percent think their employees are engaged enough to move their businesses forward. The Research: New York Times bestselling author and leadership expert Adrian Gostick presents findings from 20 years of research, with a total of 850,000-people now surveyed, to illustrate the steps today’s most successful organizations use to generate superior levels of employee engagement to drive energy, focus and innovation. His work shows exactly which leadership behaviors move engagement and which don’t. The Result: In this practical and thought-provoking keynote, Gostick introduces a practical guide for leaders, showing them exactly how to move the needle on employee engagement. The author drills deep with case studies of real managers in action and practical examples of proven drivers of engagement such as 1) alignment with future vision, 2) enhanced trust and innovation, 3) transparent communication, 4) career development, and 5) strategic recognition of contributions. The Audience: Designed for senior leaders and managers, Adrian Gostick has presented “The Engagement Effect” to corporate audiences and associations worldwide. The session is typically customized to an organization’s specific engagement challenges.

Topic #3: The latest thinking in rewards & recognition

Title: Carrots 2.0How today’s managers use recognition to engage their people, retain talent, and accelerate performance The Dilemma: Most managers want to create cultures where their teams achieve above-and-beyond results, but for a culture to really take off teammates must encourage each other on a daily basis. The answer is in rooting for each other: having each other’s backs, appreciating strengths, and recognizing strategic behaviors. The Research: Based his #1 bestselling book The Carrot Principle, which unveiled a 10-year, 200,000- person survey, Gostick has become the preeminent authority on employee recognition. Now, he introduces us to Carrots 2.0—showing incontrovertible evidence that today’s employees respond best when they are recognized for things they are good at and for those actions where they had to stretch. The Result: Gostick introduces audiences to new generational and industry- specific data from his 2016 proprietary survey of 14,000 working adults—helping managers link recognition to what is most meaningful to their employees. He introduces practical concepts that help managers encourage excellence, including ideas such as appreciation vs. recognition, effort vs. achievement, and praise vs. rewards. The Audience: Designed for managers, Adrian Gostick has presented “Carrots 2.0” to corporate audiences and associations worldwide. The session is typically customized to an organization’s specific recognition needs and can also include the organization’s available R&R tools.

Topic #4: Managing millennials & other generations

Title: What Motivates Me?How to lead and retain generations in the workplace The Dilemma: By 2024, 75 percent of the workforce will be Millennials and Gen Z. The best leaders are retaining more of their key, young talent by creating meaningful career discussions from day-one, and are helping younger workers understand their impact on the greater purpose of the organization. The Research: Based on Adrian Gostick’s bestselling book What Motivates Me with the findings of an 850,000-person research study, and introducing Gostick’s Primary Research Study of thousands of millennials, the author identifies practical methods to inspire today’s young workers to increase levels of commitment, enhance feelings of inclusion, and speed the process of onboarding. The Result: In addition to learning how to help team members of all generations work together more effectively, leaders in this session will discover ways to reduce employee attrition by helping each employee understand their core motivators and sculpt the nature of their positions to better match those drivers. The truth is very few leaders know what is really motivating to their people or, even if they do, don’t know how to apply that information to day-to-day work. The Audience: Designed for senior leaders, managers, and employee groups, the authors have presented “What Motivates Me?” to corporate audiences and associations worldwide. Some groups have participants complete the online Motivators Assessment before the session.

Topic #5: Leadership in the 21st century

Title: Be a Better Manager by FridayReal skills for inspiring employees, leading a team, and winning in today’s transformative marketplace The Dilemma: For leaders looking to drive innovation, diversity, and inclusion in their teams, many established management practices are doing more harm than good. Too many leaders are dampening their employees’ exuberance and refreshing diversity with old-school management approaches that are killing their cultures. The Research: Adrian Gostick has been one of the most influential voices in leadership research and organizational consulting for more than two decades, but it’s his research over the last few years that’s garnering extra attention. After surveying more than 14,000 working adults in 2015-16 alone, he has found 5 principles of effective leadership that managers in the 21st Century can employ to great effect, and 5 principles that must be avoided. The Result: In a fresh, funny and challenging keynote presentation, Gostick debunks myths such as The Smartest Person in the Room, Treating Everyone the Same is Fair, Appreciation Comes in a Paycheck, and We’ll Let You Know if You Mess Up. He teaches audiences how to lead in such a way that today’s employees will follow—including establishing a clear future vision, enhancing diversity, increasing trust levels, and providing opportunity and growth development paths. The Audience: Designed for senior leaders and managers, the author has presented “Be a Better Manager by Friday” to corporate audiences and associations worldwide. The session is typically customized to an organization’s specific leadership challenges.