Mike Desjardins

Corporate communications are the killer of authenticity I will give that a moment to sink in. Authenticity really matters when you are a leader. It isn't what you say 'on the stage'. We know you are a trained parrot on the corporate message. It is what you do, or don't do or say off it. In the private, unguarded moments. To be authentic, you need to have normalised yourself to any change that you are being asked to lead. You need to have built the mental model (story) in your head of what it means to you, your team. Why it is important and why now. Most leaders don't give it the time. More worrying is the number of AI applications which are offering to sit in your leaders Outlook, Slack or Teams feed to nudge and suggest 'improvements' to what they write, so that they sound more inclusive, give more context when Leaders are writing messages. Can these work - well it depends. Like many AI applications, they may not replicate the leaders voice in their suggested text, in which case their teams Bullsh!t meter will go off pretty quickly, killing any intent from the message. Does it 'nudge' the leader that it is a good idea to include something human in their message - yes, and with practice they may become a better communicators. One of my favourite bosses once admitted that he knew he wrote emails in a transactional 'get it done' way - so he trained himself to go back and add in the 'Hi how are you' niceties to soften and connect. It worked. Corporate communications are the killer of authenticity. AI is the killer of leadership - it is coming for the leadership roles as much as it is coming for the workers. If you would like to hear more about why we think this, join our Irrational Change webinar on Nov 20th. Register here: https://lnkd.in/e5Vq8fe4

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Board opportunities rarely come from resumes alone. They come from demonstrated judgment. On March 18, our Private Directors Association®-Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Chapter is offering a rare opportunity to experience what board service actually feels like before you’re sitting in the seat. This Boardroom Simulation Workshop places you inside real governance dilemmas including CEO succession, crisis management, compensation decisions, strategy shifts, and transformation challenges. You will work in a small group, evaluate a live scenario, make decisions under time pressure, and present your board’s thinking. This is not a lecture. It is a working session designed for those serious about strengthening their readiness for board roles. Naomi Kent, CEO of The Boardroom Company and author of Wanted: A Board Career, will facilitate the experience and close the evening by sharing three practical actions you can begin taking immediately to increase your chances of being selected for a corporate board this year. Additional value for attendees -Case materials distributed in advance -Peer level discussion and learning insight into how modern boards think -Complimentary professional headshot for the first 15 registrants If board service is part of your future, this is a practical step toward it. Register now to secure your place.

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A big difference between a keynote and a workshop: (Which most newer speakers don't realize) A keynote needs an EVENT for it to even be happening: - a conference - a summit - a learning day - an association meeting - or a retreat There are only 1500 of these events per year in Toronto (for example). (Toronto Canada btw, not the US town in Jefferson Country, pop. 5303,  which (obviously) is part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area, in case you were wondering) In any case, 1500 might SEEM like a lot of keynote opportunities, but most of them won't even be your target audience, and of those left, there's the "keynote competition." If you're not: a) (semi-)famous b) a bigwig at a big company c) or someone who has a crazy story / CV that makes the rest of us feel like illiterate 4-year-old losers who have never accomplished anything You're unlikely to win the keynote competition. HOWEVER (dramatic shift): You can do a WORKSHOP, at ANY TIME! I shall say that again, good sir/madam: You don't need to wait for the perfect event, with the perfect theme, to deliver your workshop. You can approach a company, who may or may not have upcoming events, and tell them who it's for: - VPs - sales reps - the Talent Acquisition team, etc And, if they see the value, a team lead, or someone from L&D or HR can CREATE an event in everyone's calendar, for you to come in either virtually or "IRL" (ugh, shoot me) and deliver your workshop. So, if you're a newer speaker, who's not (yet): a) famous b) a big-company bigwig c) or the kind of person whose story is INSANELY cool ON PAPER ... why are you trying to be a KEYNOTE speaker? Why not focus on WORKSHOPS instead?? (Or even a "Signature Workshop", if you will....) (*hint hint* *read my banner* *and other posts I've made on this topic*) Hm? P.S. Fight me / fight each other / engage in the comments below to signal to the evil, impersonal algorithm that this message is worthy of signal-boosting P.P.S. What a horribly cynical call to action, I'm sorry about that. It's just, Mondays, ya know? During the collapse of modern civilization and the death-rattle of late-stage capitalism? Ya feel me? P.P.P.S. This is me doing what I said in the post, last year for Axonify. They were awesome, and thanks again to Omar S. and Mike Ellis for having me :)

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