Geoff Colvin

The whole world of business is changing in deep ways – competition, technology, government's role, and the balance of global economic power are shifting massively. These are historic and profound changes, and they're happening fast! Successfully navigating the tumult is every leader's great challenge today. Geoff Colvin helps leaders meet it by bringing a unique perspective based on long-standing relationships with the world's top leaders in business and government. He knows what they're seeing, thinking, and planning. In addition, his own work published in Fortune, the Harvard Business Review, and his bestselling books reveals what distinguishes the most successful leaders – how they lead organizations, make choices, and respond to today's challenges in ways that others can learn from. Colvin's presentation is as fresh as the day's headlines and at the same time rich with specific, profound lessons. To organizations facing extraordinary challenges; to compete and win will require extraordinary leadership at every level, Colvin explains what's important, what isn't, and what's next.

More than at any time in memory, Washington has become the center of the action for business and the economy. Taxes, spending, deficits, health care, inflation, interest rates, regulation, energy, education – all these critical issues and more are dramatically in play, affecting your organization in deep and lasting ways. One of America's most respected business journalists, Geoff Colvin brings you the benefit of his insider access to top government and business leaders. He slashes through the bewildering spin, separating political fact from campaign fiction and explaining what's really likely to happen in this election year and beyond. Always engaging and energetic, Colvin explains which policy decisions from the White House, Congress, and the Fed will matter most, how they will impact business and the economy, and how audiences can make sense of it all in guiding their lives and businesses.

What if everything you know about raw talent, hard work, and great performance is wrong? Odds are that few if any of the people around you are truly great at what they do—awesomely, amazingly, world-class excellent. But why not? Why don't they manage businesses like Jack Welch or Andy Grove, or play tennis like Rafael Nadal, or play the violin like Itzhak Perlman? Scientific research on great performance exposes what most of us wrongly believe. Geoff Colvin, author of the groundbreaking national bestseller Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else, explains the findings and relates them to real life in real organizations. He shows how most organizations value the wrong things – how passion, honesty, and learning are more valuable than hours, IQ, or "native ability." In an engaging, entertaining way, he demonstrates that world-class performance doesn't come from mysterious natural gifts but rather from very specific behaviors that every organization can adopt. People and organizations that learn from these principles gain a tremendous advantage, because most are still making costly errors. The same principles used by the greatest performers can be applied by all of us – and must be, if we're to meet the challenge of rising standards in today's global economy.

In addition to delivering compelling and topical speeches, Geoff Colvin is brilliant at being the glue that keeps the program together. He's played that role for years at FORTUNE magazine's most important senior executive conferences all over the globe. He's interviewed everyone from Bill Clinton, Rudy Giuliani and Jack Welch to panels of high profile executives on the most challenging and sensitive of topics. Colvin's gift is putting the focus of your program squarely where it belongs – on the person(s) he is talking to and building an understanding of the issues being discussed. He gets the most out of the participants by asking the right questions, keeping the discussion relevant and the energy high. His work is so successful that many top firms couldn't imagine doing an important program without calling on his talents. As an attendee at a recent conference told the event organizer, "Geoff Colvin literally made this conference."