Biography

After decades of standing in the fire with leaders of high-performing organizations, Peter Sheahan has come to believe that an organization will only go commercially where its leaders first go personally.

Having grown his own companies by accelerating the growth and transformation for clients that include: Apple; Chick-fil-A; DeBeers; and AT&T — Peter will provoke you to get bigger, by getting better! When leaders are true to their purpose, they gravitate towards doing work that matters and solving higher-order problems. The journey to get there requires that they have the courage to tell themselves the truth, take intelligent risks, and assume ownership for driving the alignment necessary to build an organization which behaves in ways worthy of its leadership position.

In being true to his own ambitions and relentless pursuit of growth, Peter has published seven books, built three global companies and delivered more than 2,500 presentations in 40+ countries. Today he and his team at Karrikins Group are focused exclusively on inspiring leaders to do the hard work required to accelerate growth and transformation.

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Human Capital [R]evolution

Beyond supply chain, the major constraint to post-pandemic growth are labor shortages and the war for talent. The good news…. This may be new for the US, but it isn’t new for other parts of the world, and there is a proven playbook for alleviating this problem in the short term and solving it for the long term.

The hidden gift of this crisis is a unique window of opportunity to make long-needed changes to the way we attract, engage, and retain the human capital we need to do business. Now more than ever you have permission to take a new approach, and a willingness to accept progress over perfection.

Drawing on case studies that span from Mining to the Military, and from Restaurants to Removalists, this highly practical session will teach your leaders / managers how to:

1. Go beyond wages / salary to drive attraction and retention
2. Manage the risk of burnout and Covid-19 fatigue
3. Lead in ways that increase engagement and retention
4. Creatively solve the hidden obstacles to better management and labor relationships
5. Build a compelling employer brand
6. Deliver a brand aligned employment experience
7. Embrace the mindsets, practices, and behaviors necessary to create sticky cultures

Turn Challenge Into Opportunity and Change into Competitive Advantage

2020 was tough. 2021 and 2022 will be harder again. Supply chain constraints, talent and labor shortages, and the continued onslaught of technological disruption are just the beginning. Now more than ever we need to build resilient leaders, agile organizations, and high performing teams – no matter the uncertainty.

In this hard-hitting and highly directive keynote, your leaders will learn to:

1. Increase agility by telling themselves the truth and take ownership in the new reality. There is no going back and there will be no more certainty
2. Differentiate between temporary and permanent change and respond accordingly.
3. Turn a burning platform into a burning ambition that inspires people to continue to give their discretionary effort
4. Accelerate change without burning their teams out by eliminating friction and increasing alignment
5. Embrace progress over perfection to avoid paralysis as they do their best to manage ambiguity

Accelerating Growth Through Transformation

To meet growth expectations, we must transform ourselves and our teams at a faster rate than the external environment is changing or else we risk a slow decline into irrelevancy. Given change isn’t slowing down, this is harder to do today than ever before. The path forward is to build organizations and teams capable of risk-taking, letting go of past successes in pursuit of a new, more vibrant future, and successfully navigating the business from one competitive advantage to the next.

In this engaging, case-study rich session, we will unlock the keys to accelerated transformation and growth by helping your leaders understand that:

1. Increasing agility is not about force or more communication, but about compressing the time between awareness of change and acceptance of change
2. Creating a burning ambition over a burning platform is the key to sustained investment of their teams’ discretionary effort
3. Successful transformation is not a by product of ambition and strategy, but of alignment. Leaders must change first because as goes their behavior so goes the rest of the organization
4. Culture is a science, not an art and that they must intentionally pull the levers that create a growth-enabled culture defined by innovation, excellence, and accountability
5. They must create the psychological safety that encourages risk-taking and helps their teams embrace progress over perfection

Winning on Value Not Price

As the pace of commoditization accelerates and the emergence of technological disruption threatens our existing business models, we must find ways to remain relevant and differentiated in the hearts and minds of our customers! This inspiring, case-study rich session will show you how to find opportunity in disruption to reverse the downward spiral of commoditization, move beyond the competition, and become the obvious choice for your customers.

This journey will require that you:

1. Move from a mindset of value extraction to one of value creation
2. Learn at the edge of disruption and embrace the opportunities for differentiation that exist there
3. Frontrun your customers by beating them to the future in the Five Critical Dimensions that they value most during times of rapid change
4. Elevate your reputation competing on expertise and positioning yourself as a trusted adviser for your clients
5. Act in a way worthy of your desired leadership position rather than race your competitors to the bottom

Testimonials

You amaze me - Your ability and willingness to customize material that resonates with audiences and reinforces brand goals is incredible. I've hired speakers that range from ex-presidents to mountain climbers to Nobel Laureate economists. You deliver more bang for the buck than all of them! Hilton Hotels Worldwide – Executive Producer
– Hilton Hotels Worldwide – Executive Producer
From the creative's in the editing rooms of LA, to the Chairman himself in New York, Peter has had a profound impact on this company. It is very rare, to find someone who is both engaging and whose work is clearly based on ground-breaking research and genuine insight into what makes a business and its leaders successful in today's uncertain marketplace. I have no hesitation recommending Peter to any organization looking to drive innovation deeper in their company and wanting to inspire their leaders to think differently and take the necessary risk to future-proof their business.
– NEWS CORPORATION – SVP
You've been an absolute wonderful partner, adjusting to our transitions and pivots along the way. Brilliant. Agile. Trusted. Confidant. Integrity. Inspiring. These are some of the attributes I use when describing your contribution to AT&T. Thank you for what you have brought us... It is corporate life changing for us and you have left a lasting impression on the leaders of AT&T!
– AT&T – PRESIDENT
Sheahan was the best outside speaker we have had at this conference in 10 years. He added real value and he was able to put into words, what I have been feeling. His presentation was literally perfect.
– UNITED TECHNOLOGIES – CHAIRMAN
Your insights were exceptional and I appreciated the research you did and the focused attention you gave to our particular needs. Your content was spot on for this audience of global leaders and I sincerely enjoyed our time together and received many comments on the value you brought to our global managing partners meeting.
– DELOITTE – GLOBAL CEO
Peter exceeded my expectations. During our pre-event briefing Peter asked me to send him as much information as possible for our industry so that he could work that into his presentation. I took Peter’s challenge, sending a large number of reports that he successfully integrated. The surprise, was the integration was natural, done in an unrehearsed way, which was extremely credible and reflected very well on our organization.
– PHOTIZO GROUP – CEO
Peter Sheahan addressed our most senior and high performing staff as part of an ongoing leadership development program. His online sessions were high energy, very informative and most importantly, thought-provoking… It takes some real work to get an already successful group of professionals to rethink the way they build their careers, and where their future success will come from and Peter did that superbly… I have no hesitation recommending Peter to anyone wanting to fast-track the success of their key performers.
– GLAXOSMITHKLINE – TALENT & PERFORMANCE LEAD
Taking a step back and truly focusing on our purpose as a business with Peter and the team, and then creating a brand promise that is compelling and intriguing to the right people who align with that, is one of the greatest investments in my business that I have made as an Operator.
– CHICK-FIL-A – OPERATOR
OUTSTANDING. I ate lunch at my desk-side and attempted to multi-task, do other work, with headphones on. Peter's ability to deliver content was spell bounding though. I had to give my attention over more than once. Excellent. I hope every person at director level and above made time for this. Affirms we are doing the right things at GY these days. Just having opportunity to listen in on spur of the moment on talent like this speaks volumes. Thank you.
– GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY – EXECUTIVE
Motor City YPO Education Year needed a boost to get us on track with ratings in the 10 neighborhood. Peter and his intense energy, relatable storytelling and ridiculously solid content hit the bullseye! We had 60 + companies represented and there wasn't a person in the room that didn't grow from the experience. As a CEO and owner of 3 companies, I walked away with serious reflections, harsh truths, and our leadership meetings instantly changed for the better! If you're looking for a challenge, to reflect on self and business and step up your game, Peter Sheahan is the right thought leader. Peter is a bad ass and everyone is better for the time we spent with him!
– YPO MOTOR CITY – CEO & EDUCATION CHAIR

Booksby Peter Sheahan

Making It Happen

Flip

Matter

Generation Y

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