Presentation: Innovation and the Tyranny of the Urgent

COVID-19 rocked the world this year in unimaginable ways. As we emerge, it’s critical to know not only the economy’s growth path, but also the answers to key strategic questions. What things will change? And what things will stay the same? Are their key risks – and opportunities – in the post-COVID world? Most importantly, what is the place of innovation? Let’s discuss!

Key Takeaways:

1. The economic outlook and the enhanced role of the innovator
2. The multi-faceted nature of post-COVID innovation
3. The dynamics of future innovation

Learn to Embrace the 3 C's of Psychological Hardiness to Overcome Stress and Increase Personal Growth

Life is full of questions. How you answer these questions can determine which path your life takes. Think about how many questions you are faced with every day. It can be overwhelming. From the mundane to the profound, questions help you navigate everything from your daily routine to your career choices and relationships. Sometimes, asking the right question is just as important as the answer: What do you want out of life? Is it financial success? A loving family? Career achievement? Maybe you are coping with a serious illness. Whatever your goal may be, you have undoubtedly encountered barriers that slow your progress. One of the biggest of these barriers is stress. Scientific research has found that your ability to resist the damaging effects of stress—your hardiness—can reduce stress-related illness and strengthen your ability to thrive under pressure.

Presentation: Hardiness and Emotional Intelligence: Becoming a More Resilient Leader

As we make our way through this pandemic our world has completely changed. Many of the things we have taken for granted pre-COVID no longer apply. For one thing the nature of work has changed for almost everyone. As a result, the nature of leadership has changed as well. Leadership factors that may not have been seen as important before having now become essential. With more people working remotely, what are the skills leaders now need to be successful? In this presentation you’ll learn some of skills you’ll need to be a better leader in this new environment.

Key Takeaways:

1. Learn the key emotional intelligence skills for leaders
2. Understand the 3 C’s of Hardiness and how they make you more resilient.
3. How to become a more hardy, emotionally intelligent leader yourself

THINK.DO.SAY. A Guide for Personal and Corporate Success in a Busy, Busy, World.

Times Square isn’t just one of the most vibrant parts of the world, it’s almost one of the most distracting. With massive messages, blinking lights, animated creatures, and scrolling text along with the authentic NY honk, music, protests, and characters performing at street level, people don’t know where to look.

Well, Times Square isn’t just in Times Square, it’s also in your pocket. And it’s in your car. And it’s in your home. And it’s in your office. The corporate world isn’t just battling for attention with its customers, it’s battling for attention with itself. Every day delivers a priority. There’s always a new platform, a new technique, a new tool, and a new approach to chase.

Stop chasing. Start succeeding.

Organizational and personal performance doesn’t need to be complicated. It just needs to be focused.

In today’s busy, busy world, for brands, organizations, and leaders to succeed it’s about:

• What you think.
• What you do.
• What you say.

Thinking is your beliefs and values. It’s not your product, it’s your purpose.

Doing is the decisions you make and actions you take to live your values.

Saying is how you communicate your values and actions: the internal or external selling, marketing, and promotion.

When an organization and all its people think, do, and say the same things, it creates complete alignment. But when an organization and its people DON’T think or do or say the same things, the result is an integrity gap. That’s not good for careers. And it’s certainly not good for business.

This entertaining and enlightening keynote will not only inspire your people to change their thoughts and actions to align with the organization. It’ll also give them the tools to do it.

Presentation: C2C Leadership - Leading from Chaos to Composure to Create Organizational Momentum

Normally, we use the word "chaos" to describe business environments in a slightly hyperbolic way. But when the world's economy is shut down, "chaos" is as appropriate as it gets. Reacting to and surviving chaos takes one type of leader; but successfully emerging from it requires an entirely different type of leadership, regardless of how you define it. The C2C Leader isn't just about leading a team of people. It starts with how you lead yourself. This humorous and insightful presentation will inform and inspire.
Key Takeaways:

1. An organizational and leadership operating system that can be initiated immediately to start preparing for success.
2. A model for internal disruption to seize emerging opportunities.
3. Changing the definition of corporate purpose.

Elaine is a Professional Certified Coach, consultant and entrepreneur based in Toronto. She coaches executives and leaders across Canada and the globe to develop key leadership competencies, skills and behaviours associated with success. As a consultant she supports start-ups, small business and not-for-profits in business start up, strategic planning, annual business plans and systems efficiencies. 

Prior to starting her consulting and coaching practice, Elaine worked 20 years’ in the consumer-packaged goods industry with large multi-national companies including Coca-Cola.

Elaine holds a Bachelor of Commerce Honours Degree (BCom) from Queen’s University; is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation and is an Adler Certified Professional Coach (ACPC) with the Adler School of Professional Coaching; and is trained in the CRR Global “Organization and Relationship Systems Coaching” program (ORSC).

PJ Ferguson has been a member of Innovators Alliance since 2006.  The ABL Group of Companies provides customized staffing solutions from 13 offices throughout Ontario & BC and has appeared multiple times on the ranking of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies by Canadian Business Magazine with a 5-year growth consistently over 200%.  PJ & ABL have been recognized over the years by various associations for growth, commitment to innovation and cultural strength.

Andrew has a history of improving financial results through optimizing the collaboration of teams and developing more effective senior leaders; focusing on the culture and behaviours required to be successful. He has been a consultant and a leader in turnaround situations and led companies that were recognized as being one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Privately-Owned Companies.

Andrew does professional speaking and training engagements for small and large groups across North America, covering the topic of "Performance and Cultural Alignment: Aligning your team to increase the predictability and profitability of your business." Some of the groups that he has been asked to speak to include the Chief Executive Network, TEC, Vistage, MacKay CEO Forum, Industrial Exchange, Business Transition Forum and Presidents of Enterprising Organizations. He has been interviewed for Forbes Magazine and appeared in numerous webinars and on podcasts for North American and European audiences.

Andrew started his career with Carpedia in 1997. From there he went on to various companies in the building materials, aluminum and construction industries as Vice-President of Operations, Vice-President of Sales, General Manager and President. He has held leadership positions in companies with 25 to 1,200 employees, in unionized and non-unionized environments for both publicly traded and privately held firms. He returned to Carpedia in 2017.

He also focuses a large amount of his time trying to align his three children aged 16, 14 and 10. This audience is usually his most challenging.