Keynote speaking

Bob brings a reverse engineering mindset to his keynotes, ensuring they resonate deeply and create value for both the organizers and the audiences. Drawing on his corporate experience of organizational culture assessment, Bob’s preparatory conversations with clients cover a lot of ground:

• goals of the conference or organization
• the state and “climate” of the relevant industry or ecosystem and how that impacts attendees
• specific concerns or barriers attendees are facing
• the work to be done or decisions to be made at the conference or in the organization
• what takeaways attendees would find most valuable
• the desired “vibe” of the keynote

From these assessment discussions the throughline and the themes are established, then supported with a narrative drawn from Bob’s adventures and rich work history as a public servant, musician, entrepreneur and corporate consultant. Add an engaging narrative arc, then sprinkle in humour and listener connecting points throughout, and the reverse-engineered keynote is set up to deliver the desired, impactful takeaways.

Keynote speeches

Embracing Change - How does one deal with the relentless pace of change buffeting their personal and work lives?  How can one thrive, let alone survive, when facing a wall of the unknown? What does it take for an individual and an organization to create a sense of certainly and motivation to navigate the future in these uncertain times?

Bob helps attendees reframe change from something we are hard-wired to fight and fear, to something we can disarm, embrace and even initiate! Through heartfelt stories, Bob connects the audience with the universal truths that guided him, and can guide them, to successfully navigate Change in their personal and work lives.

Audiences will learn:

• the steps to building a workplace culture of positivity and support to effectively navigate the challenges of change
• how strategic focus can create a cascade of positivity that benefits them and their work colleagues
• how to stay grounded and emotionally nourished amid the mayhem and clutter of everyday life and work
• how to channel fear of the unknown into a positive and energizing force

Reimagining Resiliency - The need for sustained focus and energy in the workplace has never been greater.  Leaders understand Job One is to keep employees engaged and committed to delivering results. This is no small feat given employee burnout, retention issues, and the changing values and priorities of the workforce. Fortunately, Resiliency is a skill that can be learned.

Bob’s Reimagining Resiliency keynote chronicles his hard-won battles, many of the same battles the audience will have experienced. The survival techniques and tools he developed to thrive can spark employees and teams to reimagine their challenges, to create a more satisfying and productive work environment for all. The foundations of Resiliency revealed in Bob’s journey will be explored with the audience as they engage in reflective micro-exercises during connecting points in the keynote.

Audiences will learn:

• how the principles of Resiliency can be integrated into their workplace cultures
• practical steps for learning individualized Resiliency-building techniques
• the value of “creative perspective” in building more positive work relations and a more supportive organizational culture
• how the simple technique of “clearing the clutter” improves focus and energy, creating a pathway to achievement

Teamwork 2.0 – At the heart of any business success you will find teamwork and collaboration. The fuel that powers that teamwork is relationships.  In the current turbulent, rapidly-changing work environment, relationships are under assault by many forces – increasing customer expectations, poor communication, differing personality styles, competing priorities and a lack of trust (to name a few) that compromise the effectiveness of employees and their work units. The answer to better Teamwork and more productive collaboration lies in strengthening relationships.

The Teamwork 2.0 keynote explores the relationship-building that has been critical to Bob’s success throughout his careers as an entrepreneur, fundraiser, public servant, corporate consultant and musician. As he weaves insightful stories and anecdotes, listeners will be invited to reflect on their own relationships, and to view how integral Teamwork has been to their personal and work successes. This keynote reveals that more collaborative relationships are well within the grasp of employees and work units.

Audiences will learn:

• how to create a team-centric environment that is self-reinforcing
• the small daily actions that will enhance collaboration with colleagues and customers
• practical steps for prioritizing relationships

Keynote assets

Bob’s unrivalled breadth and depth of experience ensures each keynote is memorable and hits its mark. Highlight experiences include:

As a corporate consultant - With a Master’s degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology, Bob specialized in Employee Attitude research and Organizational Culture assessment, rising to Vice President of a boutique consulting firm. Succumbing to greed, he joined a multinational firm as the new “golden boy.” After a year, he failed and was fired, ending his career.

In the wild - Bob’s firing led him to spiral down into depression, denial, addiction and bankruptcy. In his darkest hour, a single sentence from a ragged, homeless stranger begging for spare change literally saved his life and set him on the path to rebuild it.

As an entrepreneur - From the trunk of his car on a gravel parking lot on the south side of Chicago, Bob built a guitar repair business brick by brick, repair by repair, into the largest volume independent repair operation in North America (130 repairs/week). His client-centric approach transformed the industry and led to an offer to franchise coast-to-coast. Thirty-five years later, the operation is still in business.

As a musician - Over a 22-year music career, Bob has had life-changing conversations with Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris and Keith Richards and performed for Prime Ministers, at the Olympics and for the troops in Afghanistan. He’s recorded on over 100 albums including for the Tragically Hip, the Cowboy Junkies and Blue Rodeo, and received the Governor Generals Award, multiple Juno awards and inductions into three Halls of Fame.

As a public servant - Bob left the music business to honor a long-ago made vow to “give back.” With a goal to remove barriers and create opportunities, he fundraised hundreds of thousands of dollars to build audio recording studios in a public library (available at no cost to the community) and instituted a 250-instrument lending library (also at no cost). He also aligned community partners in tech, construction, real estate development, financial services and social services to support innovative music and film programs for underserved youth.

Workshops and breakout sessions

Bob has considerable experience as a facilitator and focus group moderator from his days as a corporate consultant. Through his special interest research and reading, he keeps informed about organizational topics such as change, resilience, leadership, teamwork, motivation and is well-equipped to conduct workshops and breakout sessions to add value to his keynote speaking.