Keynote Addresses and Presentations

Strategic Solutions Group provides Keynote Addresses and Presentations for groups around the country. Regardless of the size of audience or industry represented, we can help you maximize the experience for all attendees. Listed below are samples of the type of topics we can present. If you do not see a topic that fits your needs, just ask! We can modify or develop a topic customized for you.

Hiring and Managing by Design:
Attracting, Developing, and Retaining "A Players"

Have you ever hired someone that didn't meet your expectations?

Have you ever been frustrated by the inability to get others excited about doing what it takes to reach the goal?

Have you ever wondered why some people seem more motivated than others?

In today's competetive and economic environment, it is critical that organizations attract, develop, and retain "A Players." This discussion will provide an opportunity to explore the challenges with antiquated hiring practices, evaluate effective ways to hire and develop the right individuals, and most importantly, create and maintain a motivational climate in which to retain "A Players."

Communication Style-Flexing

Interpersonal communication is one of, if not, the most critical skills that determine our success both personally and professionally. Managing client relationships, business relationships, and projects require the ability to communicate effectively. Unlike riding a bicycle, frequency of communication does not increase ability. Successful interpersonal communication requires skills and abilities that help individuals tailor their message to their specific audience. Each of us has a unique style in which we communicate. This session is an opportunity to learn more about the characteristics of each behavior style, and to learn how to consciously make the decision to modify your style in order to create win-win opportunities in your personal and professional life.

In this session, participants will learn to:

• Identify your behaviour style and the characteristics associated with it
• Identify the behavior styles of others
• Modify your style for maximum communication effectiveness

Building Long-Term Relationships through Marketing

The old saying "that nothing happens until somebody sells something" is a reality that many people in business must embrace and implement. The key is to create a process that will allow you to "grease the skids" so that the process works for you rather than works against you. We will explore the attitudes, actions and skills required to turn marketing activities into very real and viable opportunities for doing business. After the session, you will be able to identify the challenges you face and develop strategies to overcome them in order to create a culture and mindset of marketing and sales.

Key Areas Covered:

• The Difference between Sales and Marketing
• Target Marketing: The process
• Creating a Plan of Action for Success
• Developing a Marketing Awareness
• The Four Challenges to Marketing
• Secrets and Tips for Successful Marketing

Creating and Maintaining a Motivational Climate

During this session we will help you to develop a working knowledge of human behavior. We will help you gain a deeper understanding of how to create a motivational climate that will sustain itself when the leader moves on or is not present. All behavior has a reason, and all people are motivated. The challenge is that different people are motivated by different things in different ways. This session will give you the keys to successfully motivate yourself and provide a motivational climate for others.

Key Areas Covered:

• Understanding human behavior
• Identifying the three human motivators
• Creating a motivational climate
• Behavior styles and motivation
• The ABC empowerment model
• Maintaining a motivational climate

Strategically Growing Your Organization

This session will provide an opportunity for Senior Managers and Owners to identify and begin implementation of strategies to strategically grow and increase the profitability of their businesses. In the session, we will identify gaps between where we currently are and where we need to go in order to ensure that our leaders, our businesses, and our people are operating as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Discussion and hands-on application will center around the following:

• Identifying, finding, hiring, and keepig the right people
• Developing your people to their full potential
• Responsible leadership
• Creating and communicating your organizations vision and goals
• The importance of a strategic plan
• The components of a strategic plan
• The secrets to growing your business successfully
• Getting started

Managing Multiple Priorities

In a time when every priority claims itself as the most urgent, it is essential to understand the attitudes, activities and skills required to become effective and efficient at utilizing the resources at our disposal to handle multiple tasks and priorities. Participants will learn how to maintain balance, build relationships and accomplish their goals in today's business environment. Most importantly, participants will learn how to work smarter, not harder.

Key Areas Covered:

• The defination of success
• The rold of attitude on time management
• Characteristics of highly successful people
• Identify high payaoff activities
• Establish a model for work/life balance
• Plan and prioritize
• Learn how to say "no"
• Cope with fires and emergencies
• Deal with interruptions
• Work smarter, not harder
• Track and measure goals and success

The Art of Leadership

What sets leaders apart from managers? How do you create and maintain a motivational work environment? Those who have received formal leadership training know that it is an on-going process, and that there is a constant need to update and refine those skills to be effective. This session provides a fundamental understanding of the various characteristics that make an effective leader. While management is often denoted by title, leadership is an art and may be seen at any level of the organization. This interactive workshop will help you understand how to take your leadership skills to the next level.

Key Areas Covered:

• Identify the differences between management and leadership
• Recognize essential leadership qualities
• Create and maintain a motivational work environment
• Delegate effectively
• Empower the team
• Creating and maintaining a culture of accountability
• Develop coaching and feedback strategies
• Identify communication strategies that build the team
• Identify and overcome common management and leadership challenges

Creating a Culture of Service

In today’s challenging economy, experts agree that customer service is a critical defining factor of successful organizations, regardless of industry. Whether it is to retain employees, vendors, or other customers, this session will provide insight into how to provide personalized service and deal with challenging situations that often leave customers feeling dissatisfied with the service they receive. Through practical application tools, discussions and activities, participants will learn to create and maintain a customer service culture that will consistently exceed the expectations of both the internal and external customer.

Topic areas will include but are not limited to:

• Define a customer service culture
• Develop and articulate expectations in a service culture
• Identify the internal and external customer
• Provide personalized service
• Deal with difficult customers and situations
• Enhance communication among team members
• Maintain a service culture of accountability

Creating and Maintaining a Culture of Accountability

The ABC Development and Empowerment Process is an opportunity for individuals to identify the specific attitudes, behaviors, and skills that allow for individual and organizational success. This interactive and team based discussion provides an opportunity for participants to embrace their own personal strengths and opportunities in order to lead more fulfilling and successful lives, both personally and professionally. We find that many people are not aware that some behaviors lead to success, some to status quo, and others to potential failure. If these behaviors are not recognized, there is no chance for ownership or personal accountability in the process. This session is designed to help the participants identify and define very specifically the profile of the different types of behaviors a person must exhibit in order to be successful. It will also help the team understand what their responsibilities are in the process and how to communicate with each other, their peers, and the individuals that they report to in a very clear and precise manner. It then allows everyone to become empowered to choose for themselves the path they are on, and ultimately the destination they choose to reach.

Going from Good to Great

This interactive session will provide participants an opportunity to identify and learn specific skills, behaviors, and strategies to take themselves and their team to the next level. We will discuss the following:

• The role of attitude in successful leadership
• Creating and maintaining a motivational climate
• Developing a culture of personal and team accountability
• Setting and communicating clear expectations
• Creating Team buy-in and ownership
• Communicating effectively as a leader

Strategic Thinking

This insightful session will hit the heart of what challenges leaders in organizations most. Participants will learn how to step outside of the day to day operations and look beyond the horizon to think without limits. The future of any organization is first established in the mind of the leader before it ever exists on paper. Leaders today must have the ability to create a mental vision that can be planned, communicated and executed by each individual in the organization. This session is about the attitudes, activities and skills required to think at a very high level and make the future in the mind of the leader a reality in the marketplace.

• What is strategic thinking
• The value of strategy
• How to communicate strategically
• The challenges of strategic thinking
• The steps tostrategic thought alignment
• Developing a clear direction
• Putting it all together