“Power in an unprepared manager’s hand is like giving him or her a scalpel and saying, ‘Do surgery on your people.’ Risky.”
New managers, emerging leaders, mid level managers and executives – any leader who is feeling the pressure to perform – needs to know the essential, yet often, unspoken ground rules of building engaged, cohesive leadership relationships.

This keynote, drawn from Phil’s popular book, Leaders Ought to Know: 11 Ground Rules for Common Sense Leadership, delivers leadership strategies that propel new managers, even senior leaders into respected, integrity-based leaders – leaders with staying power – leaders who can perform at ever increasing levels of responsibility.

When these leadership strategies are practiced consistently, leaders learn:

• How to motivate – not manipulate – to get results
• How to communicate with honesty, integrity and confidentiality
• How to earn the respect of those you lead
• How to manage fear and control emotions
• How to take responsibility and be accountable

“Trying not to change is like trying not to breathe – if you succeed, you die.”
Leaders at every organizational level know change is inevitable and never-ending. It’s an all-encompassing reality that doesn’t go away. For those leading the charge, future success rides on a sound approach to embrace change, guide transition and energize transformation.

For organizations seeking the best outcome, this keynote is a realistic look at successfully managing change. It is drawn from Phil’s professional experiences spanning four decades of work with hundreds of organizations, large and small. And thousands of leaders – prepared and struggling – during extended periods of change, transition and transformation – including his own!

For leaders, this presentation will reveal the real world lessons for successful change, transition and transformation including:

• The characteristics of change that impact your organization
• 4 truths impacting change for your people
• The relationship between change and transition
• Key steps to successfully lead transformation

“Leaders who find it hard to listen, often find it hardest to lead.”

From the frontline to the c-suite, the ability to communicate impacts all facets of business operations – bottom line issues like: sales and production – customer and employee relationships – productivity, cost reduction and profitability.

For anyone needing help with their communication skills, this keynote, based on Phil’s book by the same title, presents six commonsense strategies that will immediately improve communication results.

When applied to their own enterprises, business owners, managers and front line staff understand:

• How to improve business relationships through listening skills
• How to rein in “brutal honesty,” and deliver difficult, sensitive messages with tact
• How to rebuild believability when truthfulness hasn’t always been practiced
• How to reduce conflict, build trust and improve team and customer relations

Funny title, but it’s a serious topic. More than any other issue, leaders struggle with how to motivate employee performance – yes, the performance of younger generation employees, but also the performance of all employee groups.

Whether you’re working with Millennials, Baby Boomers, Gen X, or the up-and-coming Gen Z employees, learn the methods that really motivate individual employee performance long-term.

• Learn the communication secrets that work with Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials or Gen Z employees
• Learn two motivational truths that apply to all generational groups
• Identify five clues to any employee’s level of motivation
• Explore methods to discover what really motivates each employee

“Successful people choose to do the things unsuccessful people could have done – should have done – but consciously chose not to do.”

Each day, employees, managers, executives and leaders at all levels – regardless the industry – make choices that speak volumes about their commitment to service and professionalism. Choices and actions that either say, “I am a professional” or “I think I am good enough to get by.”

If the “good enough” mentality is costing your organization money, market share and reputation, this presentation offers solid practices that will set your team apart from the competition!

Set your organization ahead of the competition by learning:

• How to solve problems rather than assign blame
• Why integrity and reputation cannot be compromised and how to protect them
• How to reverse the negative behaviors of whining and whispering
• 12 practical choices that build professional image and impact the bottom line

Leaders don’t generally intend to make poor decisions. Leaders struggle with decision making for one primary reason – they’ve never learned a solid process for smart decision making. It’s Your Call: Tools & Rules for Big League Decision Making will show you and your team how to take the lead in making smart decisions.

From Phil’s training at Wendelstedt’s School for professional umpires, his work in Employee Relations, Human Resources / Safety, and his experience as a leadership training expert for top U.S. companies, you will:

• Discover the importance of having the necessary – but seldom taught – tools for decision making
• Get tips for avoiding “heat of the moment,” disastrous decisions
  Assess your understanding of the written – and unwritten – rules for smart decisions
• Learn a step-by-step process for making better decisions
• Understand the factors affecting how and when to make “the call”