Persuading the Bear: How to Influence Without Authority

When an employee is asked to take the lead on a project without the personal authority that comes from being part of the senior executive team, it can feel like they are trying to persuade a Grizzly Bear! Being able to effectively build enthusiasm, delegate tasks and deal with conflicting agendas – often with little or no reward for themselves – requires the skills to influence rather than the power of command.

In this practical and insightful presentation, the audience will learn best practices for leading and influencing without authority, giving them the skills they need to effectively persuade others, lead diverse teams, and get projects done on time.                    

The Secrets of Silent Influence: Using Body Language to Persuade Others

Every sale, meeting and business interaction involves exerting influence. A person can deliver great points but if they are unable to read the body language of their colleagues, they are missing vital cues as to whether the listener will follow through or not. As a result, indecision rises, sales are lost and the listener feels unheard which causes friction. Understanding how to read people and respond effectively helps create quicker buy-in, builds confidence in solutions, and reduces lost time in meetings.

In this interactive presentation, the audience will learn how to significantly increase their powers of persuasion by using silent influencing techniques that will help them negotiate and collaborate more effectively - helping organizations save both time and money.

Breakthrough Consumer Experience: Boost Your Bottom Line By Delivering The Products Your Customers Want
In order to stay current, organizations invest big money every year developing new products and features. But how many of those expensive features make an impact on the bottom line? Today, the key to fighting digital disruption, reducing waste and increasing sales is understanding the consumer experience, and building valuable solutions that serve them.

In this impactful talk, the audience will take away specific strategies that will help them understand what their potential customers really want, and how to  streamline end to end delivery, thereby increasing sales, and saving time and money.

The Agile PMO – Practical Value Driven Change Leadership in Projects and Portfolios

Approximately 50 percent of Project Management Offices (PMO) are terminated in 2 years. Yet, the same mistakes are repeated in the implementations! We use generic, project control processes to stifle project and product delivery; focusing on cost time and scope, rather than leading our projects to deliver value.

In this presentation the audience will learn an alternative model for a value driven PMO as an integrator, enabler, differentiator, and change agent in business, development and the organization.

Michael Nir is a Keynote Speaker, Best Selling Author and Lean Agile Inspiration Expert; known for his passion, creativity and innovation.

His Masters in Engineering, certification in Project Management and training in Gestalt balance his technical know-how with emotional intelligence. He inspires people and teams to change, experientially and emotionally, while climbing the hill AND reaching the summit.

The author of nine books on influence, consumer experience, and Agile project management, Michael delivers practical skills gained from eighteen years of experience leading change at global organizations in diverse industries such as: Intel, Philips Healthcare, United Healthcare, DnB, Volvo, JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Unilever and many others.  He is masterful at connecting the dots between human behavior, business systems and work environment to drive highly productive teams and lead individuals to communicate effectively.

Michael draws on unique personal experiences that provide him with valuable insight. During college in Israel, he led groups of adolescents on excursions through the desert, observing natural leadership behaviors in team settings. Later, on a hike to Alaska, he had to face down a 250 lb Grizzly Bear - giving him a dramatic taste of what it’s like to influence a powerful and threatening personality using wits alone.

Michael was born in Los Angeles and resides in Boston. He travels extensively to Europe and East Asia providing consulting and facilitating training. He understands people, organizations and cultures and is comfortable leading cross-functional and cross-cultural workshops.

A passionate guide and mentor for organizations undergoing change, he has also developed lean startup training and delivery programs as well as gestalt team-building and conflict management workshops.