John Spence

At the age of just 26, John was named CEO of an international Rockefeller foundation, overseeing projects in 20 countries and reporting directly to the Chairman of the Board, Winthrop P. Rockefeller III. Three years later Inc. Magazine’s “Zinc Online” recognized him as one of America’s up and coming young business leaders. John has twice been named by Trust Across America as one of the Top 100 Business Thought Leaders in America and has been recognized by that organization on their global list of the top 100 Thought Leaders in the area of “Trustworthy Business Behavior.” Other recipients of this award include: Sir Richard Branson – CEO of the Virgin Group, Howard Schultz – CEO of Starbucks, Tony Hsieh – CEO of Zappos, acclaimed business consultant Ram Charan, internationally renowned author Thomas L. Friedman, and business authors Patrick Lencioni, Tom Peters, Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jim Kouzes. John has also been selected as a leading small business influencer in America along with Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin and Apple.

Since 1994, John has presented workshops, speeches and executive coaching to more than 300 organizations worldwide, including dozens of private companies, government offices and not-for-profits. John is the author of  Excellence by Design; Leadership the six key characteristics of outstanding leaders and Awesomely Simple, essential business strategies for turning ideas into action. He is also the author of Letters to a CEO and Strategies for Success . He has been a guest lecturer at over 90 colleges and universities across the United States including Harvard, Cornell, Stanford and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and as a special instructor for the Entrepreneurial Masters Program at MIT. John currently serves as the Director of Best Practice Innovation for the Best Practice Institute and as an advisor/board member to several companies.

Affectionately referred to as the “Human Cliffs Notes” by many of his clients, John is known for taking massive amounts of research combined with his personal hands-on experience to deliver timely, focused, results-driven programs. For example, to create carefully customized workshops and presentations that reflect the newest research and most current thinking, John reads a minimum of 100 business-related books each year and listens to an additional 30-50 audio books, giving him an incredible depth and breadth of knowledge from which to draw.

John has served as “Executive in Residence” for the University of Central Florida’s Technology Incubator; as a Special Advisor to the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University; as a lead instructor for the University of North Florida’s Executive Education division; on the Board of Directors for the University of Florida’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation; as an advisor to the University of Florida’s Leadership Development Institute and as a senior instructor at the Cornell University Leadership Development School.

His work as a business advisor and executive educator has taken him on assignments to Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Latin America, the Bahamas and Canada.

The Leader Of The Future

Based on John’s work as the senior instructor for several corporate leadership development programs, this speech focuses on the characteristics, skills, attitudes and behaviors that are demanded by top talent of leaders they willingly follow. Topics for this speech include respect, vision, honesty, communication, teamwork, integrity and ethics. This thought-provoking and motivating session will help attendees understand what is required to be a highly effective leader.

Awesomely Simple

Taken directly from the core ideas of John’s book, this speech deals with the six critical strategies for building and sustaining a highly successful organization. Full of stories, anecdotes and lots of real-world application, this speech will help attendees clearly understand what they must focus on to take their business to the next level and keep it moving forward. This speech is appropriate for anyone who manages or leads a team, department, division or an entire organization.

Creating A Winning Culture

One of John’s most popular speeches, this program takes an in-depth look at what is required to build the kind of corporate culture that attracts, retains and grows truly outstanding employees. Based on the Great Places to Work study and the Firms of Endearment study, this speech touches on issues such as: communication, teamwork, motivation, accountability and delivering superior customer service.

The New Normal: Dealing Effectively With Change

Anytime there is economic or organizational turmoil and your employees are faced with significant change, it is absolutely critical to help people understand how to effectively embrace change and move forward proactively towards the “new normal.” This speech deals with the emotional cycle that people move through as they struggle with change and outlines specifically what must be done to create an organization that can deal successfully with change.