Adrian Gostick

(also available as a joint presentation with Chester Elton)

The Dilemma: The vast majority of employees’ days are now spent working collaboratively, but still 96 percent of executives cite poor teamwork as the main source of workplace failures in their organizations. It might be the most-pressing question organizations must address: How can managers lead their teams to improved performance given the volatility and challenges we face today.

The Research: Based on an 850,000-person study of the most profitable, innovative work teams, New York Times bestselling authors Adrian Gostick introduces audiences to the new science of teamwork—helping leaders deal with the increased speed of change in business, global and remote employees, the rise of the Millennials, the need to work more cross-functionally across departments, and more.

The Result: Gostick’s research has discovered a set of leadership disciplines that make the biggest difference in building today’s best teams. They help leaders:

• Manage to the One—Identify the drivers of each team member for maximum engagement
• Speed Productivity—Help new people and teams work faster & smarter
• Challenge Everything—Inspire greater innovation through healthy debate
• Focus on Customers—Build bridges across functions, cultures, and distance

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.

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 and Chester Elton’s bestselling book What Motivates Me with the findings of an 850,000-person research study and introducing their Primary Research Study of thousands of millennials, the authors identify 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.

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.

How 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 experts Adrian Gostick & Chester Elton present 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. Their work shows exactly which leadership behaviors move engagement and which don’t.

The Result: In this practical and thought-provoking keynote, Gostick & Elton introduce a practical guide for leaders, showing them exactly how to move the needle on employee engagement. The authors drill 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, Gostick & Elton have presented “The Engagement Effect” to corporate audiences and associations worldwide. The session is typically customized to an organization’s specific engagement challenges.