The Leading Speakers Bureau

Author and Results Orientated Consultant

Dr Denis Cauvier is a speaker, trainer and consultant, who has made a career out of helping his clients and audiences become financially successful. A former personal and corporate lender with two of North America’s largest banks and a financial consultant to his clients around the world, he has uncovered the traits shared by America’s wealthiest people. He also has over 20 years of experience in training and human resources

“Denis is widely recognized as North America’s top speaker on the topics of finding and keeping great staff.”

[expand title=”In detail”] Denis has been an active member of the National Speakers Association since 1989, and is one of the founding members of the Ottawa Chapter of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers. Denis is a certified Master Trainer in the Complete Sales Action System™ and its supplementary program Managing Complex Relationships.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]A brilliant speaker, Denis offers audiences tremendous insights into the world of successful wealth creation as well as talking in great detail about a range of human resources related issues. He offers sound, proven, practical advice along with examples from his highly successful career as one of North America’s most requested speakers.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Denis engages and entertains audiences with his well prepared presentations which he follows with a lively interactive Q&A session with audience members.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Actor, Author

Often named the funniest man alive, John Cleese is both a versatile comedic actor and a leading business motivator. John is one of the most influential comic writers and actors of the past 40 years and can show you how elements of creativity in the business world can reap untold dividends, from recruitment, training and retaining employees, to better and more enjoyable customer service, to helping businesses innovate and accommodate change.

“Undoubtedly one of Britain’s best loved comedians”

[expand title=”In detail”] It was during his time at Cambridge that John discovered he could create comedy material. He began to notice certain patterns to his creativity. Subsequently, a good friend who was a professor of psychology at Sussex University showed John all the relevant creativity research. John then realized that current business ethos worked against creativity, and he began to study how people could become more creative within such an un-helpful environment. John started his professional show business career in 1966 when he joined in The Frost Report at the BBC, as both a performer and writer. John played his part in creating such comedy classics as Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life, Fawlty Towers and A Fish Called Wanda.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]John helps businesses understand the importance of creativity and its direct relationship to all aspects of the corporate spectrum. His speech is based on his belief that creativity is fundamentally, allied with the ability to play – that is to relinquish intellectual control, so that ideas can emerge from the part of the brain which can supply them – the unconscious. He shares with audiences his comprehensive and specific messages on how to create the conditions in which one’s creativity can best flourish.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]John’s creativity presentations are a unique blend of humour and corporate business acumen. As a speaker he is unrivalled with his exceptional use of humour leaving audiences with a highly memorable and rewarding performance.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Professional Facilitator, Consultant and Author, Leading Authority on Leadership

Kate Sweetman is co-author of ‘Leadership Code: 5 Rules to Lead By’ and an experienced leadership consultant, educator, author, editor, and speaker. Currently an instructor at MIT’s Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship, she collaborates with gifted young entrepreneurs from emerging and developing countries including India, Rwanda, Colombia, Vietnam, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and North Africa. While an editor at Harvard Business Review, Kate acquired and edited articles by top business executives, academics, and consultants around the globe on the topics of business creativity, organizational change and development, leadership psychology, teamwork, and social enterprise.

“The organization’s leadership moves from the outside in, and the individual leader’s strength moves from the inside out”

[expand title=”In detail”] Kate Sweetman is a founding partner of Sweetman Consulting, LLC, an education and organizational development firm based in Milton, MA. In addition to her career in executive and management education, she has worked in publishing and academics. She was also a Research Associate at Harvard Business School, and later taught the Management Communications course there. Kate has a BA in English from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Kate Sweetman’s speciality is crafting customized cases around issues of leadership, strategy, organizational development, and implementation that help organizations look at themselves, what they do well, and what they need to improve. She has written hundreds of cases, scenarios, vignettes, role plays, scripts and other creative materials designed to open up essential discussions around strategy, leadership, and organizational behaviours.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Kate Sweetman’s ability to bring the best out of herself and others in front of audiences has been appreciated by clients including Citigroup, Novartis, Verizon, Johnson & Johnson, British Petroleum Exploration and AstraZeneca among others. She is also part of our Top Leadership speakers.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Former CEO & Chairman of the Management Board of Gucci Group, Fortune Magazine’s European Businessman of the Year 2007

Robert Polet joined Gucci Group in 2004 after a 26-year career at Unilever, bringing considerable global management experience and a deep knowledge of the development of consumer brands in a multicultural environment. His dynamism has helped turn around luxury goods company Gucci Group and was named as European Businessman of the Year 2007 by Fortune magazine. He encourages the people working with him to break rules and to go outside the box.

“The man who has put the extra into extravagance”

[expand title=”In detail”] Robert Polet studied business administration at Nijenrode in the Netherlands and earned an MBA from the University of Oregon, USA. He joined Unilever in 1978, and has worked there in a broad variety of marketing and senior executive positions throughout the world. In his latest position, he was president of Unilever’s Worldwide Ice Cream and Frozen Foods division. Where Robert Polet exerts control at Gucci is in selecting the right leaders, and he then enjoys letting them “Go for it”.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Robert Polet shares his ideas for managing fashion brands, where art and commerce collide, with international audiences at events worldwide. His motto is “always put yourself through the hardship of keeping things simple” and his self-confidence and single-mindedness have brought success throughout his career. His people oriented leadership produces extraordinary results. He is open-minded, very direct, very transparent, and a fine speaker.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Never having been one to adhere to rules and protocols, this highly charismatic Dutchman, Robert Polet is truly insightful and memorable.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Pioneer of “market-based” philanthropy

Jacqueline Novogratz founded and leads Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that takes a businesslike approach to improving the lives of the poor. She’s become a leading voice of the new philanthropy, which emphasizes sustainable bottom-up solutions over traditional top-down aid.

[expand title=”In detail”] One of the most innovative players shaping philanthropy today, Jacqueline Novogratz is redefining the way problems of poverty can be solved around the world. Drawing on her past experience in banking, microfinance and traditional philanthropy, Novogratz has become a leading proponent for financing entrepreneurs and enterprises that can bring affordable clean water, housing and healthcare to poor people so that they no longer have to depend on the disappointing results and lack of accountability seen in traditional charity and old-fashioned aid.

The Acumen Fund, which she founded in 2001, has an ambitious plan: to create a blueprint for alleviating poverty using market-oriented approaches. Indeed, Acumen has more in common with a venture capital fund than a typical nonprofit. Rather than handing out grants, Acumen invests in fledgling companies and organizations that bring critical — often life-altering — products and services to the world’s poor. It’s a fascinating model that’s shaken up philanthropy and investment communities alike. And their success can be traced back to Novogratz herself, who possesses that rarest combination of business savvy and cultural sensitivity. In addition to seeking out sound business models, she places great importance on identifying solutions from within communities rather than imposing them from the outside.

Prior to Acumen Fund, Jacqueline founded and directed The Philanthropy Workshop and The Next Generation Leadership program at the Rockefeller Foundation. She also founded Duterimbere, a microfinance institution in Rwanda. She began her career in international banking with Chase Manhattan Bank. She is currently on the advisory boards of Stanford Graduate School of Business and of Innovations Journal published by MIT Press. She is an Aspen Institute Henry Crown fellow and a Synergos Institute Senior Fellow. She is a frequent speaker at international conferences, including the World Economic Forum, the Clinton Global Initiative and the TED Conference.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Leading Authority on Leadership

Manfred Kets de Vries is a clinical professor of leadership development; he holds the Raoul de Vitry d’Avaucourt Chair of Leadership Development at INSEAD. He is the Director of INSEAD’s Global Leadership Centre, program director of INSEAD’s top management seminar, and the program “Consulting and Coaching for Change”, and has on five occasions received INSEAD’s distinguished teacher award. He is the author, co-author, or editor of more than twenty books and has published over 200 scientific papers.

“One of the world’s leading thinkers on leadership”

Manfred Kets de Vries has been ranked among the top 50 most influential business thinkers. In 2009 Thinkers 50, the global ranking of management gurus, placed him among the list of most influential thinkers

[expand title=”In detail”] He has also held professorships at McGill University, the École des Hautes Études Commerciales, Montreal, and the Harvard Business School, and has lectured at management institutions around the world. He is a founding member of the International Society for the Psychoanalytic Study of Organizations.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Manfred brings a different view to the much-studied subjects of leadership and the dynamics of individual and organizational change. Bringing to bear his knowledge and experience of economics , management and psychoanalysis he scrutinizes the interface between international management, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy and dynamic psychiatry. [/expand]
Continue Reading »

Director of Entrepreneurial Leadership Centre, Thought Leader & Author

Colin Turner is an extraordinary entrepreneur with a flair for unlocking business and personal success in others. He is presently the President of Futuremedia Learning, the UK’s leading learning and brand communications company as well as Vice President of Business Bureau liaising with the UK Government on improving business practise. The author of 18 books published in 38 languages, with over two million copies enjoyed by readers, he shares remarkable knowledge on all aspects of successful entrepreneurial thinking. He is Professor Emeritus of Entrepreneurship, referred to by Business Age as ‘Europe’s foremost teacher for business success’.

“A leading authority on business, lifestyle and management” Time

[expand title=”In detail”] A leading authority on success, business, management and lifestyle, Colin Turner, a.k.a The Monaco Mentor, is the Patron of Determined to Succeed; providing personal development learning tools for Schools in Scotland. Combining Eastern philosophy and contemporary Western experience into a practical format for daily use, he is consistently in demand with some of the world’s most recognised global corporations; Pfizer appointed him as their external change agent to attain leading market position. He was also instrumental in developing BT’s global customer service strategy. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Concentrating on the entrepreneurial characteristics that are essential for growth, he shows audiences how to increase focus, performance and productivity. In his presentations, he propels both teams and individuals to develop their personal and career paths to success. As an internationally respected keynote speaker, Colin Turner has the very real ability to inform and inspire people while igniting within them a fresh approach to business and life. He shares proven techniques gained over 35 years experience of building his own, successful enterprises and working closely with cutting edge leaders of the world’s most profitable organizations.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]His dynamic, highly inspirational and thought-provoking presentations are specifically tailored to deliver real value, ensuring a memorable conference that delivers the best impact for the messages you wish to impart. His tough, no holds barred, uncensored style, whether for leading organizations, business owners and entrepreneurs, works.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Professor of Competitiveness

Colin Coulson-Thomas is the UK’s first Professor of Competitiveness.

He is the principal author of a widely used methodology for designing and re-engineering board and management processes.

An authority on board and director development, he has worked with the boards of over 70 commercial and public sector organisations.

Expert strategic reviewer and developer of board and director performance.

[expand title=”In detail”] He has facilitated many strategic reviews, such as the session of G10 chairmen that established the vision and mission of the TEC movement and the role of the TEC secretariat.

Currently, he delivers a programme of bespoke and in-house master classes for board members and senior management teams.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Focusing on the board’s role in corporate transformation, he shows you how to improve board performance and that of the directors within it.

His unparalleled expertise on corporate change and creating entrepreneurial drive are not to be missed.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Ecologist, Conservationist, Environment and Climate Change Expert, and Writer

Julian Caldecott has spent more than 20 years promoting biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability around the world. Major themes in his work include integrating development and conservation, promoting sustainable and equitable use of biodiversity and ecosystems, and exploring ways to finance conservation sustainably. In recent months, he has assessed a five-year EC project on coastal ecosystem conservation in Thailand, and has been writing and editing books for UNEP.

“An ecologist on a mission”

[expand title=”In detail”] In 2003, Julian led a division at the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Conservation Monitoring Centre, responsible for global assessment of ecosystem status and threats, and the valuation of ecosystem services. In 2005, he joined the UNEP Asian Tsunami Disaster Task Force to help assess the impacts of the Great Tsunami in Sri Lanka, and to improve environmental security by restoring various coastal ecosystems. In 2006 he was Senior Technical Adviser at the UNEP with special responsibility for environmental restoration in the Indian Ocean region. He has taught seminars and examined graduate dissertations at several universities including Cambridge, Hawaii, Kiel, Dalhousie, Australian National and Sydney.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Julian is a scientifically-trained independent practitioner of sustainable development, with special interest and experience in biodiversity, ecosystems, environmental services and participatory and community-based management of natural resources. He believes passionately that through education, consultation and action, we can all help to reduce the damage that we are doing to the biosphere – the thin skin of life on Earth. His aim is to make the workings of the biosphere clear to all, so that we can understand how and why to start living on the Earth as if we intended to stay.[/expand]
Continue Reading »

Psychologist and Author

Karen Moloney is a Chartered Psychologist, consultant, writer, speaker, and a Director of Moloney Minds. In 1986, conscious of the growing interest from HR in measuring competence at work, she founded Moloney and Gealy with Norman Gealy. Clients included many household names such as the British Government, the NHS, GlaxoSmithKline, Volvo, Philips, Centrica. Karen set up Moloney Minds in order to concentrate on thinking, writing, speaking and working with a smaller group of select clients worldwide.

“As a young woman, growing a successful business from nothing to turning over a million pounds was an achievement in itself, but collecting an enviable client list along the way has been a delight”

[expand title=”In detail”] Over the course of her career, she has developed particular theories on the use and abuse of talent and now advises global corporates on future demographic, social, political and economic changes, so they can be ready with the right talent in the right place at the right time. The changing nature of work, what people want from their working lives and how to engage generation Y and keep women on the leadership track are all issues she embraces with gusto.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Karen’s work over the past couple of years has included advising companies on attracting and retaining its top talent, the building of emotional capital within organisations, the development of competency frameworks as a culture change tool, and the creation of career and personal development opportunities to retain individuals. Karen has worked with the biggest, best and most varied private and public organisations across the world, including leaders who have made their mark, and her anecdotes and commentaries on their leadership style and strategy are enlightening.[/expand]
Continue Reading »