Opening our Minds to Issues of Cross-Cultural Business & Management

Business is becoming more international every day. While doing business and advising companies around the globe for over 20 years, John has seen important deals and negotiations fall apart due to very basic cultural misunderstandings. He once attended a meeting between a group of German investors and a French company; the Germans showed up in time, ready to get down to business. The French sailed into the office 45 minutes late, politely asking the astounded Germans how they’d like their coffee and if they watched the soccer match last night…

In this keynote, John helps you to open your mind and understand the complexity of crossing cultures. Across the broad spectrum of cultures, John has observed a wide variety of components and characteristics that should be considered: diverse notions of time, space and context; differences in the way work is organized and performed; and different views of hierarchy and human interaction. Based on these observations, he has built a framework that we can all use to understand what we should be sensitive to when managing, doing sales and conducting business internationally.

Telling your Brand Story

Storytelling is the most powerful form of communication known to man, and advertisers have known this for decades. At the same time, relatively few companies and brands today use this tool effectively. In this keynote, based on in-depth interviews and case studies he did for his book The New Marketing: E-mail, Social Media and the Art of Storytelling, John speaks about brands that have been successful at creating and managing their e-reputation, and at building a true community of followers, often without spending vast resources. Based on his pioneering Sadowsky Method of leading from the inside out, outlined in his upcoming book (Fall 2014), John also explains the similarities between coaching a leader and coaching a brand; he coined the term Emotional Transportation Business (ETB) to describe the process of moving people, in their minds, from indifference to interest. He shows how your brand can learn to operate successfully in the ETB, and that the tools for developing and fostering a brand community are accessible to everyone.

How to Free Ourselves from the Myths of Leadership

Leadership is the most studied and the least understood phenomenon in history. In this keynote, John speaks about how distorted images, or myths, of leadership prevent us from developing our leadership potential. John argues that we should be grateful that these myths exists, because knowing them means that we need not be constrained by them. He will share with you persistent myths and stereotypes about leadership that he encountered during his search for the qualities of outstanding leaders. Based on his pioneering Sadowsky Method of leading from the inside out, outlined in his upcoming book (fall 2014), he then demonstrates how we can free ourselves from these myths to become more effective leaders.

The Power of Storytelling and How to Use it

Since the beginning of time, story has been the most powerful form of communication known to mankind, far more persuasive than logic and rational argument. In this keynote, John speaks about how we can all learn to use the age-old art of storytelling to influence our teams, our organizations, and our worlds.

The pioneering Sadowsky Method of leading from the inside out teaches individuals and organizations how to use their core stories of identity - the stories of who we are, what we stand for, why we do things the way we do, and what makes us unique - to move others from indifference to engagement, and from inertia to action.

Based on his highly successful book "The 7 Rules of Storytelling" (available in French and Spanish), John will give both historical and current examples of successful storytelling leaders. He will also explain how we can all use storytelling to have a more profound impact on those we seek to influence.

Leading from the Inside Out

Leadership is about influence. John has uncovered a pattern in the way successful leaders influence others: above all, they are not afraid to take stands on their strongest convictions and they have learned to speak from the heart about these. Each of us tends to have more influence than we realize on the groups that we participate in. In this keynote, John explains how anyone, at every level of an organization, can learn to have a wider and more profound impact. And, whereas leadership development commonly focuses on models, examples and guidelines one should follow, John contends that the keys to truly successful leadership are self-knowledge and self-awareness. Based on his pioneering Sadowsky Method of leading from the inside out, outlined in his forthcoming book (Fall 2014), John shows examples of people who have learned to inspire their worlds, and how we can all do it.