Bill Benjamin

Bill Benjamin's Speech Descriptions

Bill Benjamin brings a scientific approach to the art of leadership, combined with his own personal experience, to help leaders to see where their weaknesses are and how they can develop their strengths. He shows that when brilliant people fail it is not due to a lack of intelligence or technical skills, but a lack of emotional intelligence; they don’t know how to manage their emotions and those of others when the pressure starts to tell. Bill lays out a series of practical measures that can help leaders to cope with their own stress under pressure and that of their teams.

Bill shows how to maintain the ability to have conversations with others under pressure, and how to make sure that you get that crucial “Last 8%”–the difficult end of a conversation which so many people avoid so that they do not have to face pressure, the part of the conversation which often contains the things which really need to be said.

Other programs Bill offers show how important it is for leaders to consider their reputations; he demonstrates that every aspect of your business life, from the way people react to you in a meeting to their response to your direction, is shaped by the reputation which precedes you. Once you have listened to Bill, you will be able to leverage your reputation so that it becomes an asset, not a handicap.

Are you an Exceptional Leader?
Why Meeting Your Biggest Challenges has Everything to Do with Leading Under Pressure

Your organization, like many others, is facing big challenges: whether it is an accelerated rate of
change, threat of disruption, ambitious targets or aggressive competition; your people experience
these organizational challenges as pressure. If not managed skillfully, this condition can result in
diminished performance, lower engagement, and an inability to deal with change. It doesn’t have to be
this way.

Research is clear that some leaders are better prepared to handle and lead their people through these
challenges more than others. In this powerful keynote, based on the NY Times best-selling book,
Performing Under Pressure, The Science of Doing Your Best When it Matters Most, your audience will
learn how to leverage pressure to help them get to the other side of performance and succeed in
achieving their most challenging goals.

In this cutting-edge keynote your team will learn:

• What exceptional leaders do differently from the average, to help their people manage change
  and perform at their best.

• How to build a culture ready to take “smart risks’ and innovate.
• Specific tools to leverage pressure and help others get to the next level of performance.

The Science of Emotional Intelligence:
The Missing Ingredient Behind Building a Highly Engaged Organizational Culture

Why would anyone want to be led you? This is the single most important question a manager or leader
needs to ask themselves if they want to unlock the potential and creativity of their people. The reason
your employees get up in the morning and choose to be engaged and productive has nothing to do
with a manager’s level of IQ or technical capabilities, it has everything to do with their manager’s level
of Emotional Intelligence (EI).

The research is clear that Emotional Intelligence is the single most important driver of an engaged,
results-driven, highly effective workforce, especially in environments that are undergoing significant
change and disruption.

In this interactive keynote, your team will discover:

• What the brain does under pressure and specific tools & strategies to effectively manage
  situations of tension and conflict.

• Self-awareness: understanding the impact of your leadership style and how to win the hearts and
  minds of your people by connecting to the emotions that drive their behavior.

• Engaging stories from the frontlines of leaders who are stepping up and winning in the most
  challenging, pressure-filled circumstances.

Why the Conversation You are Not Having is Holding You Back: Getting to The Last 8%

When facing a challenging conversation, most managers adequately cover the first 92% of content
they want to cover. When they get to the more difficult part of the conversation, more often than not,
they avoid the last 8% of the conversation. What’s missed is the critical information and feedback an
individual or organization needs to improve performance, grow and achieve objectives.

Having the “Last 8% Conversation” is one of the key differentiators of world class organizations and
while having them is not easy, it is a skill that can be learned and mastered.

In this powerful keynote, your team will learn:

• What is a “Last 8% Conversation” and why most people avoid them.
• How to have these conversations in a way that the other person can hear us.
• How to navigate the difficult emotions that typically prompt us to avoid the Last 8%
  Conversation.

• How to inspire your team to be more courageous and skillfully step into having the conversations
  they need to have.

All Change is Personal:
Why Leading Through Disruption and Change is About People Not Technology

If the Hippocratic Oath main directive is ‘first, do no harm,’ then the brain’s is ‘first, keep alive.’ Yet the
usual approach most organizations take in managing change and disruption does not take into
consideration this neurological reality. Leaders bring their ‘five-point strategies’ or get overly focused on
the latest technology and completely miss that real change happens in the mind, and more specifically, in
the operating systems (the brains) of their people.

To get your organization to successfully adapt to external disruption and the new world of work, requires
managers and leaders to accept that all change is personal and that until they start managing from this
point of view, their people will not step into uncertainty and take the risks required to achieve successful
change efforts.

In this provocative keynote, your team will hear about other organizations that have succeeded in adapting
to change and disruption by leveraging the operating system of the brain.

Your team will learn:

• How to identify the traps leaders fall into as they attempt to manage the pressure of change.
• How to create an environment of risk-taking and learning to adapt to disruption.
• Concrete tools to help leaders manage their emotions, thoughts and conversations to lead more
  effectively in the face of change and uncertainty.

• How to help your organization take action and approach the pressure associated with change and
  disruption with more confidence and enthusiasm.

Performing Under Pressure:
The Science of Doing Your Best When it Matters Most

Why are some people able to deliver under pressure while others fall apart? This program, based on
the ground-breaking New York Times bestselling book, Performing Under Pressure, The Science of Doing
Your Best When It Matters Most, answers this question. After studying more than 12,000 individuals from
around the world, over seven years, IHHP learned what the top 10% performers do to succeed under
pressure.

In this innovative, case study driven program, you will learn:

• How to better manage pressure so instead of becoming a ‘derailer’
  it becomes a competitive advantage to grow your career and help your
  organization drive performance.

• Research from our study of 12,000 people and what the top 10% did to
  excel under pressure.

• Three pressure insights that will help you avoid the sabotaging effects of
  pressure.

• Stories of leaders and organizations who have managed pressure
  effectively to get to the other side of performance.

• How to build your ‘COTE of Armor’ (Confidence, Optimism, Tenacity,
  Enthusiasm) to help inoculate you against pressure and increase your
  confidence as you walk into any pressure situation.