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Jim Craig
Gold Medal Olympian, Inspiration for Disney Film "Miracle," Entrepreneur, Sales & Marketing Executive
Jim Craig was born on May 31, 1957 in North Easton, Massachusetts. Craig discovered his passion for hockey at the age of seven and trained tirelessly as a goaltender, often challenging neighborhood kids to shoot-outs. Craig’s success in high school and at Boston University, where he won a Division I National Championship and was named an NCAA All-American Goalie in 1979, earned him a spot as the leading goaltender on the 1980 U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team.
In what is voted by Sports Illustrated as greatest moment in sports history of the 21st century, Craig saved an incredible 36 out of 39 shots against his formidable Russian opponents, helping Team U.S.A. win what has become known as the “Miracle on Ice.” After a five-year professional career Craig sustained a career-ending injury while playing for the Minnesota North Stars, and he retired in 1984. Craig has since been inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame, the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, the United States Olympic Hall of Fame, the Boston University Hall of Fame, and he is a co-recipient of both the Lester Patrick award and the Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year” award. He is also a graduate of Boston University and earned his doctorate in humane letters from Mercy College.
Following Craig’s professional hockey career, he transitioned his success into the corporate world as a motivational speaker, powerful salesman and corporate consultant. Craig has been inducted into the Sales Halls of Fame for two different companies and has been selected four times as one of the top five speakers on team building in the United States. He is currently the President and Founder of his company, Gold Medal Strategies, through which he delivers motivational keynotes and hosts immersive corporate training programs that teach participants how to think differently and believe in their possibilities. He has authored two of his own books, serves as a board member of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, and has been a Spokesman for the W.L. Gore Ultimate SAAAVE Campaign since 2007. Craig has a passion for leveraging his athletic and business success to help others achieve their full potential and lives in integrity with his mission every day.
Speech Topics
Innovation and Strategic Change
- Always be on the lookout and the hunt for better ways to do things
- What tools and resources are available to help your team win?
- How Coach Brooks, a supreme innovator and strategist, taught and mentored us to play a revolutionary type of hockey that would enable us to beat the mighty Soviet machine: a hybrid of the bruising and physical Canadian form of play and the speed, fluidity, and finesse of the Eastern European and Soviet game
- When needed, abandoning the old, unsuccessful, yet comfortable, for the new and uncomfortable, yet what will eventually enable success
Identifying the Right People for the Right Position
- As Coach Herb Brooks said when building the U.S. 1980 Olympic hockey team: "I'm not looking for the best players - I'm looking for the right ones."
- Selecting the type of players so that the whole (team) is greater sum of the parts (employees, players)
- Being on guard against prima donnas and disruptive influences
- Finding your captain and team leader
Creating Great Groups
- Instilling in people a sense of destiny and desire to accomplish greatness
- Maintaining a competitive edge and a view that the team is an underappreciated underdog that will win, shock, and inspire
Self Reliance and Personal Responsibility
- How do I strive for and achieve personal excellence?
- How do I stay committed to my personal goals?
- How do I condition myself to be professionally tough – better than my competitor?
Building a Winning Team and Corporate Culture
- Recruiting and selecting the right players
- Inspiring, guiding, and motivating team members to put "team" in front of individual interests
- Managing and coaching team members to work efficiently and in synchronicity
- Identifying "diamonds in the rough"
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