Speaking

The basic formula for diversity is rapidly evolving. It is no longer simply a matter of creating a diverse workforce, but also using that workforce to create the innovative products, services, and business practices that can set a company apart and give it a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Companies should no longer view their diversity and inclusion efforts as separate from their other business practices, for doing so can be detrimental to a company’s brand and their bottom line. It’s a critical business imperative that senior leaders recognize that a diverse workforce can differentiate them from their competitors, generate revenue and help capture new customers or clients. This talk provides insight on how a diverse and inclusive workforce can drive innovation, foster creativity, increase market penetration and customer loyalty.

• Ranked as one of the Top 10 Talks for Talent Management Alliance Conferences in 2013
• Chosen as the #1 talk of IPQN’s, CHRO Exchange and Argyle Executive Forum HR Exchange conferences

Over the centuries, leadership has been recognized as a difficult task, but the leadership challenge this century presents is unlike any other. The world today has been enveloped in a climate of fast-paced change, which leaves little to no room for ineffective leadership. Yet, across the globe organizations and governments still operate within the centenarian context of the industrial age. This talk provides a fresh approach to leadership that is appropriate for the challenges leaders face in 2021. This talk also provides the ingredients for what it takes to be an effective leader that can inspire engagement and action in today's workplace. This is done by examining the success of effective leaders of the past, then aligning those characteristics with the tumultuous times we face today in the 21st century. Listeners will leave this talk enlightened, informed and deeply inspired to become more effective as a leader.

• Ranked as one of the most influential Talks for Argyle Executive Forum Conferences of the decade.

The challenges for an HR Leader today are exponentially greater and more complex than the challenges of an HR leader two or three decades ago. Yet, the profile and competencies of what makes an HR Leader successful has not changed. This talk will address the deficit of effective leaders in today’s marketplace, and how HR professionals can begin assisting their organizations in developing and acquiring leaders that can make a difference in the 21st century workplace. This session will also identify the competencies that every HR professional should develop to better influence their business and its senior leaders.

• Learn how to navigate the changing landscape of your business, by identifying trends proactively and becoming a strategic arm of your business.
• Better understand how the 21st century has influenced and will continue to influence HR Policy.
• Gain insight on how performance management and leadership development will predict an organization’s ability to succeed in an era of rapid change.

This talk provides an inspirational perspective into the lives of a number of well-known African-American heroes over the last century. Harris takes an intimate look into the lives and psyches of a number of successful and influential Black leaders like Frederick Douglass, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Booker T, Washington, Dr. Ben Carson and our current president Barack Obama. Harris brings his dialog to life by drawing from his own experiences as an executive leader and certified ontological coach, extracting the attributes and characteristics of these great leaders with a simplicity that ensures every listener can walk away with tangible steps they can take towards creating their own success.

The world is changing at a fast pace. This reality complicates creating visions and strategy that can remain intact, despite the shifting landscape of the 21^st century. Furthermore, many mature leaders still haven’t recognized that what they considered normal a decade or two ago is gone forever. We’re 13 years into a brand new century and nearing the end of the information age and very few people relate to 2014 in that way.

In this talk Harris provides five tangible areas where visionary leaders should focus their attention to ensure they and their teams are adequately prepared for the challenging, yet exciting future that awaits them.

The 21st century workplace has a number of external challenges. They include:

• Globalization has changed how our companies think about going to market.
• Economic volatility has created enormous financial pressures.
• Increased connectivity has decreased the possibility of true secrecy.
• Intellectual property security and social media has taken every corporate brand as a hopeless hostage.

As senior leaders and executives grapple to understand and navigate the ever-changing and complex consequences of the external marketplace, a new internal challenge has materialized. For the first time since the dawn of the industrial revolution, four generations are working side by side. Each generation can assist with ensuring we understand and thrive in this new marketplace, but more than likely the generation that is the most misunderstood and under-utilized can help the most. That generation is the millennials.

In this talk participants will learn:

• Who are the millennials?

•What and who do millennials influence?
•What is the Gen-Y view of the world?

• How do you create an inclusive workplace for Gen-Y employees effectively?
• How do you recruit and retain millennials?
• What does it take to effectively lead Gen-Y employees?
• What is the frightening cost of ignoring the millennial generation?

Many of us continue to set resolutions and goals every year, but don’t really understand the underlying reason why our personal goals and resolutions typically fail. If you’re like most people, the goal to get fit and lose weight, or that goal to change jobs never seems to gain sustainable traction. You are not alone. The average North American stays committed to their New Year’s Resolution for fourteen days.

In this talk, Harris combines his ontological coach training and leadership experience to explore why we as humans become exhausted and quit, right before we strike gold and offers a unique perspective on how we can exercise personal efficacy to ensure the gold we seek doesn’t continue to elude us in the future.