Dr. Kevin Freiberg
Blow the Doors Off Business as Usual

Thought Leader. Recently named one of the top "30 Best Minds on Leadership" by Leadership Excellence Magazine, Dr. Freiberg is among the most influential voices on the speaking circuit today. He is also among a select group of thought leaders working with Collective IQ, the top corporate venture advisor and platform in the world, to bring growth and innovation to their clients. Kevin has made a career out of understanding the core values and unconventional strategies used by world-class leaders. His book NUTS! was hailed by the Financial Times as one of the top five global business books of the year.

Dr. Freiberg has appeared on CNBC, CBS Sunday Morning, and the CBS Morning News for his views on the critical links between leadership, corporate culture and exceptional customer loyalty. Kevin also appeared on the television series, Lessons in Excellence for CNBC, India. His articles and interviews have been published in the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Investor's Business Daily.

Entrepreneur.  As the founder and CEO of the San Diego Consulting group, Inc. and its professional speaking firm, freibergs.com, Kevin helps business leaders translate the winning strategies from enduring great companies into their own models of success. He is widely acknowledged for his expertise in helping clients build strong, purposeful cultures where:

• People have fun and do heroic work that matters;
• Everyone leverages technology to get smarter, better, faster;
• Gutsy leaders excel at hiring, retaining and unleashing world-class talent;
• Customer-centric employees turn knowledge, service and hospitality into life-long loyalty;
• People take charge of their lives at work and assume responsibility for growing the business;
• Courage, risk and innovation enable the firm to establish the rules by which others must play the game;

Executive Coach. Dr. Freiberg helps business leaders better understand the impact of their choices, attitudes and behaviors on corporate culture and organizational performance. He has challenged corporate leaders all over the world to create unmatched productivity, customer service, and profitability by becoming faithful, devoted, hardworking servants of the people they lead. Kevin has a global practice working with firms in South East Asia, Europe, Japan, India, the Middle East, Central and South America, as well as companies throughout the United States and Canada.

Kevin Freiberg has worked with some of the world's most admired companies-companies on the forefront of a revolution driving the new economy. A partial list of the firm's clients include: American Express, Bank of America, Business Consultants-Japan, Caterpillar, Century 21, ConcoPhillips, Coors Brewing Co, Cox Communications, Eli Lilly, Ernst & Young, FedEx, Federated Department Stores, General Electric, General Motors, Infosys-India, Jack-in-the-Box, Kuwait Gulf Link, Inc, Major League Baseball, Merrill Lynch, Minolta, NCR Japan, Nestle, Otis Elevator, Southwest Airlines, Sprint, Staples, State Farm Insurance, Tata Motors-India, Unisys, U.S. Marine Corps, and Universal Studios.

Professor.  Before becoming a full-time speaker, executive coach and consultant, Kevin taught for eight years at University of San Diego and San Diego State University. He has a masters degrees in communication from San Diego State University and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of San Diego.

Extremely Fortunate Parent.  The Freibergs live in San Diego where they sprint to keep up with three active children: Taylor-Grace, Aubrey Hope, and Dylan. These three children are their reason for hope and their cause for celebration. Kevin and Jackie are determined to raise their son and two daughters in such a way that they won't need to be fixed as adults. They are active supporters of Voices for Children, an organization dedicated to defending foster children in the courts and Monarch High School, a first-of-its-kind high school for homeless children.  Kevin and Jackie are working to help make this prototype school a model for other cities across the United States.

Speaking programs include....

Depending on time and objective, their presentations will include some of the following:

Gusty Leadership

Creating a workplace that explodes with Productivity, Passion and Profitability.

The challenges facing companies in a global economy will demand more than conventional thinking and business as usual. The world is not changed by those who are unwilling to take risks. No Wimps! It takes GUTS to move an organization in bold new directions. It takes GUTS to get out on the lunatic fringe where new breakthroughs are found. It takes GUTS to come down from the Ivory Tower and talk to people in a human voice that's intimate, inviting and authentic. It takes GUTS to blow up the old rules and free smart people from dumb processes that limit their potential. It takes GUTS to lead with love and trust rather than manage by abstract authority and fear. It takes GUTS to make work fun and not take yourself too seriously. It takes GUTS to be accountable.

Embrace Change Courageously

Maximize your strength by focusing your power, resources and assets on what is IN your CONTROL.

It used to be the BIG that ate the SMALL. Now it's the FAST that eat the SLOW. The world has changed—radically. Those who capitalize on the opportunities that come with change will move with speed, agility, and adaptiveness. The winners will be those who learn how to learn faster. But this requires a level of confidence that is foreign to many. This segment is designed to get people to brand themselves as champions of change rather than shrinking from it.

Totally Engaged Employees

Learn how GUTSY leaders create the fuel that ignites the hearts and minds of their people and inspires them to work at FULL THROTTLE.

Gutsy leaders have a bias for action. That's why we call them movers and shakers. They're not interested in the politics and formality of playing to TITLES and they’re not big on planning to plan. When things are simple they can move fast. This raises their level of satisfaction because speed is exhilarating! Yesterday's accomplishment fuels the fires of motivation for today. When things are unnecessarily complex people get bogged down. Boredom and hopelessness set in. Enthusiasm goes out the door. Great people leave and the mediocre busy themselves with activities that don't add value. Kevin will show your audience how to increase speed, lower costs, and improve service by getting employees to play at FULL THROTTLE. This theme is really about freeing people to do what's right for the company and its customers. It's about motivating your people by expanding their capabilities to get things done.

Creating a World-Class Workplace

Build a culture that attracts, recruits and retains loyal employees.

Leaders of the 100 best companies to work for in the U.S. say that the single biggest predictor of overall success is a company’s ability to attract, retain, and motivate world-class people. They went on to say that the most important lever in enhancing this capability is corporate culture.

Every organization has a culture. The question is: Is that culture intentional and purposeful or is it accidental and haphazard—established by default? When it comes to creating the culture, character and personality of the organization, great companies let nothing go to chance.

The question we will address together is: What drives culture? Answer: A community of gutsy leaders who care about the culture enough to protect, promote and reinforce it everyday. But how? Kevin will give you an opportunity to "wrestle" with the strategies employed by Southwest Airlines and other companies for reinforcing corporate culture.

You will discover some fresh ideas for driving culture as well as to affirm and intensify the good things you are already doing.

Blow the Doors Off Business As Usual

Are you worthy of employee and customer loyalty? Discover the GUTSY strategies that create it and sustain it.

Great companies have a "people first" philosophy. They know that when employees feel honored and served there is a reciprocal effect that causes them to provide extraordinary service to their customers. The message is that you can't do service well externally unless you first do service well internally. Gusty leaders breed a spirit of service within their cultures because they see themselves as servants of the people they lead. Kevin points out that many of us have a tendency to oversimplify the work of our colleagues. Consequently, he advocates the kind of walk-a-mile activities where people in one functional area develop the empathy to better understand the pressures and complexities of their co-workers in other functional areas. Jettison the kind of silo-building, turf protection, and tribalism that renders an organization sluggish and unresponsive. Trade it in for a spirit of collaboration, teamwork and unity. The result will be a seamless approach to serving your customers.

Equip People to Think and Act like Owners

Discover what happens when gutsy leaders create a sense of business literacy and get people at all levels to think and act like owners.

The great writer Robert Frost once said, "Isn't it a shame that when we get up in the morning our minds work furiously—until we come to work." In the new economy this can't be true. Everyone must come to work fully engaged and ready to make a difference. Ownership is a state of mind. It's a fundamental way of looking at the world and approaching the work we do. Ownership is about giving ourselves and others the freedom to act. It's about removing the fears that cause lack of initiative. This theme inspires people to assume ownership for serving the customer and managing costs out of the business.

Define your Business as a HERIOC Cause

It's amazing what people will do when work is defined as something heroic. Make it purposeful and then get out of their way!

What motivates people to do their best? What causes them to dedicate the totality of who they are—heart, mind, and soul—to the success of the business? This point goes beyond the extrinsic motivators (salary, benefits, bonuses, perks) to the things that move people internally. It shows the power of what can happen when people find the passion and heroism in their work.

"De-commoditize" the Business

Tired of compensating on price? Learn how GREAT Companies radically differentiate themselves from their competitors by building value around a commoditized product.

Is your business viewed as a commodity? If the answer is "yes" and you are solely competing on volume and price, you may be cutting your own throat. Gusty leaders transcend commodity status by finding unique ways to differentiate themselves based on service and value. Learn how some incredibly successful firms blow the doors off business as usual and set themselves apart by creating a unique and memorable customer experience.

Fun Pays!

Lighten up, loosen up and make work more fun.

Kevin makes a compelling argument for escaping the tyranny of the "OR"— that place where people say, "If you’re having too much fun you must not be productive." Unfounded! Flawed thinking! The evidence suggests otherwise! People are in fact more energetic and more productive when they're having fun at work. With some hilarious video vignettes and extremely funny stories, Kevin will make your audience belly-laugh as they both discover and experience how other companies lighten up. He'll outline the huge payoffs for making work fun and give your audience members permission to laugh at the off-the-wall things they do! The result? Better communication and teamwork, more creativity, higher levels of retention, and lower levels of stress and burnout.

Travel From: San Diego, CA

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