Keynote Speeches and Workshops

Training that inspires you to connect and engage

KEYNOTE AND WORKSHOP OVERVIEW

In today’s hyper-competitive environment, change and complexity are accelerating. Together they threaten to overwhelm many leaders and individual contributors. To achieve sustainable superior performance, leaders of organizations must intentionally create a workplace culture that helps people thrive and that inspires them to give their best efforts, share their knowledge and align their behavior with organizational goals.
Few leaders do this well. In most organizations, two-thirds of employees are not engaged and performing near their potential, as Gallup research has clearly shown over the last decade. 
 
Leaders who develop and maintain a workplace culture infused
with connection see a marked difference. Employees in a workplace with
a high degree of connection are more productive, more engaged, more creative, better at making decisions, more collaborative and cooperative, and less likely to leave. They also benefit from experiencing greater
wellness and well-being.

In our keynote speeches, half-day, one-day and two-day interactive workshops, we teach participants about leadership, teamwork, productivity, innovation and employee engagement based on our proprietary Connection Culture model. Workshops are highly participative, and managers and individual contributors always take away specific actions they can use to increase connection in their organizations.

During the Connection Culture Workshop, we help leaders
learn how to develop a culture that boosts employee engagement, strategic
alignment, productivity, innovation and overall organizational performance.
Through case studies, relevant research and best practices, we equip leaders to take your organization to a higher level of performance.
BOOK A KEYNOTE OR WORSHOP NOW

WHAT PARTICIPANTS LEARN

  • A practical vocabulary of culture in the context of the workplace
  • 3 types of workplace cultures
  • How our brain, nervous, and endocrine systems work best in certain workplace cultures
  • 7 universal human needs to thrive at work
  • 6 distinct ways connection boosts the performance of organizations and provides a competitive advantage
  • How a Connection Culture strengthens an organization’s marketplace of ideas and fuels innovation
  • How a Connection Culture advances diversity and inclusion
  • How a Connection Culture protects an organization’s reputation and brand value
  • The simple, memorable, and actionable 3V Leadership Model
  • Best practices to create and maintain a Connection Culture
BOOK A KEYNOTE OR WORKSHOP
   “People were raving ... the evaluations from our 200 attendees were
through the roof!! These results are the highest we have seen in years
and the comments were all positive.”


—Tara Seager, President
New Jersey Organization Development Learning Community
   “Actionable information was presented that we have all taken back to our individual departments. Thank you for the excellent workshop.”

—Ben Gillis, Engineering Manager 
General Dynamics Electric Boat
“Your presentation was powerful and the buzz among
the MBA Executive students was fantastic.”


—Marian Chapman Moore, 
Professor, MBA for Executive Program
Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia
“Great job...the message resonated with our people.”

—Chris Mader, Vice President Growth Strategy & Development
Randstad Technologies, NA
“Our clients evaluated your seminar an average of 6.6 on a scale of 1-7 (7 being the highest).  Several wrote it was among best seminars they'd ever attended.”

—Mary Held, Chair, Institute for Management Studies, Columbus, Ohio

EXCERPTS FROM COSTCO KEYNOTE
MICHAEL LEE STALLARD

TESTIMONIALS

"Thank you for making a difference at Yale New Haven Health. Your sessions on the importance of connection in leadership were just what we needed!"
Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Yale New Haven Health System

“People were raving about your keynote speech. The evaluations from our 200 attendees were through the roof!! These results are the highest we have seen in years and the comments were all positive." 
Comments (many were duplicated):
- "Excellent speaker"
- "Deep and thought-provoking content"
- "I bought the book and can’t wait to dive in"
- "Outstanding keynote with many key takeaways."
President, New Jersey Organization Development Network

Evaluations (on a 7-point scale; 7 = excellent, 1 = poor):
- Speaker effectiveness:  6.62
- Value of program content:  6.57
Comments:
- "Loved the entire day – great speaker!"
- "This was fantastic."
- "It was all really good but the stories and videos were wonderful."
- "Loved it all!"
- "Best IMS I’ve been to. Needed something like this. Bring Michael back!"
- "One of the best IMS sessions I have attended."
- "I’d be delighted to serve as a reference for you any time.”
Chairman, Institute for Management Studies, Columbus, Ohio (based on a one-day Connection Culture workshop)

"97% of attendees said they gained some key takeaways that they can apply to their respective roles at McKesson."
Director of Talent Management, McKesson Corporation

"Excellent presentation! Incredibly entertaining and informative. Should be required for every leader/manager."
Director, Perioperative Enterprise, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

"Your workshop was a big success. As a result, our goal is to create a 'Connection Culture' that you taught us. We want you to come back to teach us more. I’ve never seen our employees so fired up."
Senior Vice President, Scotiabank

“Your seminar scored 6.5 on a 7 point scale for overall effectiveness and content value. Those are very high scores. Several participants commented that they found … the Connection Culture to be very powerful.”
Director of Program Planning, Institute for Management Studies

“Your leadership of the program was superb. Your points were excellent, energizing, and enthusiastic. Everyone who attended was fully engaged and rated it very highly."
President & CEO, Wharton School Club of DC

“Michael and Jason’s knowledge and passion of the subject matter, Connection Cultures = Vision, Value and Voice made the workshop a complete success at Electric Boat. There was actionable information presented that we have all taken back to our individual departments at Electric Boat to implement."
Engineering Manager, Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics

“Thank you so very much for a terrific, enlightening presentation. Your examples and anecdotes were fresh and on target. You energized the attendees and gave everyone powerful ideas to consider. I was told by many on the way out and subsequently what a great meeting it was.”
Chair, Marketing Executives Networking Group, Connecticut Chapter

“The evening was truly inspirational. Michael’s ability to connect and engage by providing real life stories and personal experiences spoke volumes in support of the work he has done in creating “connection cultures.”
Chair, Speaker Series, Wharton Club of New York

REPRESENTATIVE CLIENTS

  • Alpine School District (Utah)
  • American Cancer Society
  • American Management Association
  • Arkansas Electric
  • Association of Career Professionals
  • Association for Talent Development (ATD) International Exposition and Conference
  • Baylor, Scott & White Health
  • Cengage
  • Center for Professional Development, Boy Scouts of the USA
  • Center for Creative Leadership
  • Chicago Area Healthcare Recruiters
  • CHRISTUS Health
  • The Conference Board
  • Costco
  • Dignity Health
  • Epiq
  • European Stability Mechanism
  • Eyesouth Partners
  • Foote, Cone & Belding
  • Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
  • Forum for People Performance Management and Measurement (Department of Integrated Marketing Communications, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University)
  • General Dynamics
  • General Electric
  • Google
  • Greenwich (CT) High School
  • Harvard Business and Wharton Alumni Associations
  • IE University (Spain)
  • Illinois State University
  • Innovation Forum
  • Institute for Management Studies (various locations in the U.S. and Europe)
  • Internal Revenue Service
  • The Integer Group
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • Lockheed Martin
  • Marketing Executives Network Group
  • M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
  • Nationwide Children's Hospital
  • New Jersey Courts
  • New Jersey Organizational Development Learning Community
  • New York University, Stern School of Business
  • Northwestern Medicine
  • Organizational Development Network (ODN)
  • Prestonwood Christian Academy
  • Qualcomm
  • Ravago
  • Recognition Professionals International Annual Conference
  • Remedy Healthcare Media
  • Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto
  • Salesforce
  • Society of Fellows and Friends
  • Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)
  • Texas A&M Retail Summit
  • Texas Christian University (TCU)
  • Toll Brothers
  • Treasury Executive Institute
  • Turner Construction Company
  • University of Virginia Darden School of Business
  • U.S. Air Force
  • U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
  • U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
  • UBS
  • Wachovia Securities
  • Wellpath
  • Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare
  • Yale-New Haven Health System
  • YP.com
  • Young Presidents Organization (YPO)