Description:

For millennia in the real world, humans have connected to each other's hearts and minds, and inspired action, via the power of story. But in the business world, we're taught to communicate with soulless spreadsheets and slide decks. As a result, the ability to tell a clear, compelling story has been lost, and things like our pitches, marketing, and talent recruiting have all suffered for it. In this talk, we'll explore what we lose when we ignore the power of story, and what we gain when we embrace authentic connections to the emotions of our customers, colleagues, and markets. You'll come out with an understanding of the basic architecture of what a story is (in fact, this very blurb uses it), and how to apply it in a business setting.

SPEAKER:

Teaque Lenahan is an accidental designer, recovering MBA, and lifelong storyteller who has advised more than 40 companies and hundreds of executives over a nearly 30-year career at iconic firms like Frog, Prophet, Fjord, and Zillow. His toolkit of human-centered design and innovation, combined with a leadership style his teams have described as charismatic, inspirational, and driven, enables him to lead teams in determining the "true problems to solve" and creating remarkable solutions. 

Organizational and behavioral change are often at the heart of his work, as he collaborates with clients such as The Federal Reserve, Target, T-Mobile, GE Aircraft Engines, 7-Eleven, Honda, McDonald's, Samsung, Microsoft, and Nike to operate more nimbly, with greater flexibility and energy, while minimizing risk. Teaque earned his B.A. in Literature from Middlebury College, and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern.