After a boy threatened to kill her with a machete, Lynne Franklin started learning all she could about persuasion. She’s a neuroscience nerd: translating how the brain works into practical, easy-to-use communication tools. Leaders and teams work with Lynne to advance their careers by building more rapport, creating more trust, and attracting more opportunities. Her TEDx Talk, on how to be a mind reader, went viral with about 4 million views.

An international speaker, and past president of the National Speakers Association Illinois Chapter, Lynne wrote Getting Others To Do What You Want. For fun, she writes and sings song parodies about the pandemic and posts them on her YouTube channel (www.youttube.com/c/LynneFranklin).

When Project Managers Receive More Respect – It’s Strategy

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez is, among many other roles, the global champion of project management. His work, featured by Harvard Business Review, has transformed project management into one of the central issues on every CEO’s 2030 agenda. Antonio’s research and global impact has been recognized by Thinkers50 with the prestigious award “Ideas into Practice” and is ranked 17^th in the global gurus Top 30 as well as being part of Marshall Goldsmith 100 coaches.

His interest in leadership in project management is reflected in his work as the global Chairman of the Project Management Institute in 2016 and his co-founding of the Brightline Initiative. Most recently Antonio’s focus has been directed to the foundation of the Strategy Implementation Institute – an organization designed to help project managers and managers develop competencies to become strategy implementation professionals.

Antonio is the author of “Lead Successful Projects” (Penguin, 2019), “The Project Revolution” (LID, 2019) and “The Focused Organization” (Taylor&Francis, 2014), and is currently writing on the Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook.  He has, in particular, been working with executives on frameworks for focused and effective organizations. While contributing to seven other books, he has also actively engaged in educating and coaching senior executives in the art and science of strategy execution and the relationship with project management. Antonio is currently a visiting professional at Duke CE, Instituto de Empresa, Solvay, Vlerick, Ecole des Ponts, and Skolkovo.

A global champion and internationally renowned speaker, Antonio has, as a sample, presented at European Business Summit, Strategy Leaders Forum, Gartner Summit, TEDx, and EU Cohesion Policy Conference with EU President Donald Tusk; to name a few where he has delivered inspirational keynotes and is frequently rated the best speaker of the event.

What to Do When Your Biggest Challenge is Your Most Important Stakeholder

Andy Kaufman, PMP is an international speaker, author, & executive coach, and President of the Institute for Leadership Excellence & Development Inc. Andy works with organizations around the world, helping them improve their ability to deliver projects & lead teams.

Andy brings a rich background of over 25 years of experience in executive management, technology, team leadership, project management, consulting, & coaching. The wisdom gleaned from all of this is distilled into keynotes, workshops, and conference sessions worldwide.

Andy is a certified trainer and author of “Navigating the Winds of Change: Staying on Course in Business & in Life”, “Shining the Light on The Secret”, and an e-book entitled “How to Organize Your Inbox & Get Rid of E-Mail Clutter”, all published by Zurich Press. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI®).

Andy is the host of “The People and Projects Podcast” (http://PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.com or any podcast app) which provides interviews and insights to help listeners lead people and deliver projects. The podcast focuses on the intersection of People and Projects–where work gets done in the real world.

Find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/PeopleAndProjectsPodcast.

Andy is a recognized expert on topics related to leadership, project management, managing conflict, networking, relationships, time management, team-building, and delivering results.

On the Front Porch Leadership

Shanita Baraka Akintonde has been a professional speaker since she first learned to spell her bologna’s first name.

This #1 Michael Jackson fan has danced her way to the helm of three of the most prominent Leadership and Professional speaking organizations in the world: The International Leadership Association (ILA), The National Speakers Association (NSA) and Toastmasters International, Inc. (TM).  She is and Immediate Past Youth Leadership Chair for ILA, President of ViewMasters TM Club and is a Board Member and  Marketing Director for NSA-IL.  Shanita has documented her climb to top as a contributing author in three books: Unleash the Leader Within You,  Leading from the Heart and Epic Failures in Leadership.

Drawing on her experience as a 20+ year experience as a motivational speaker, professor, diversity expert and former advertising and PR executive, Shanita ‘sizzles’ around the globe showing audiences how to become notable and quotable.   In addition to writing books, she is a newspaper columnist, blogger and podcast host.   She has traded bologna sandwiches for champagne, steak and lobster.

Reach out to her on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanitaakintonde/ or follow her on Twitter @SHAKINTONDE.

Her podcasts can be found here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/marketing-insights/id1378417469?mt=2 

Leading Through Change Management

Gina Abudi, MBA has 25+ years’ experience providing management consulting services and training/educational programs for mid- to large, global organizations.

Gina is President of Abudi Consulting Group, LLC., a woman-owned small business. As lead facilitator, consultant and change leader, Gina has led a number of projects, including 360 assessments, change management initiatives, facilitation of team meetings and executive strategy sessions, facilitation of sessions with executives to solve business issues, facilitation of leadership programs, and development of mentoring and onboarding programs.

Gina is lead author of Best Practices for Managing BPI Projects: Six Steps to Success (J Ross Publishing, 2015) and author of Implementing Positive Organizational Change: A Strategic Project Management Approach (J Ross Publishing, 2017.)

Pillars of Leadership in the Technology Profession

Jolanta Pomiotlo, a Senior Director of Technology at PRA (www.pra.com), is an accomplished IT executive with many years of distinguished performance in a multitude of industries. Portfolio of achievements includes managing innovative million dollar technology initiatives aimed at reducing operating costs, improving profit, and growing revenue. 

She helps organizations manage their technology departments and has focused her professional career on assisting companies to leverage technology to meet their ever-changing Business demands. Jolanta has extensive experience optimizing technology projects for cost, quality, and timely delivery. 

Throughout her career in technology, Pomiotlo has had the opportunity to work at many exciting companies including Gateway, Cardinal Health, Kaplan, Groupon, Abbott, and PRA Events.  She keeps abreast of the latest innovations in the technology field and closely follows market trends in the business community.

Using Your Voice as a Leadership Tool

Mrs. Anar Umurzakova, Director and a Trainer at GOPM startup consultancy firm in Greater Washington Area, with over 14 years of professional PM experience in various organizations such as Accenture, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and GOPM consultancy. Presidential Scholar of the Republic of Kazakhstan, who graduated with MS in PM from The George Washington University, PMP and PRINCE2 Practitioner. Currently, she focuses on helping executives and PMs create winning harmonious teams and increase productivity through improving morale. She is also a host of podcast “Open School of Business”, where she interviews prominent figures in business and entrepreneurship.

What’s In It For Them?

Steve Warnek has had numerous roles during his twenty year career at what is now presently known as Nokia Bell Labs.  Starting in Windows and UNIX systems administration, he expanded his skills into telecommunications and laboratory operations management.  Steve’s project management experience began with network level verification testing and more recently has continued toward the support of public sector solutions – working as PM and field engineer in support of NYC Transit, NJ Transit and Hawaii HART. 

Steve’s other career spans television and film after a ten year odyssey as freelance writer for the Star Trek television series from 1995 to 2004 – where he worked as staff writer on Star Trek:Deep Space Nine’s third season “Dominion” story arc.  Steve is currently developing a science-fiction series called HELIOS with partners in London and Los Angeles. 

Steve has been a proud Board member of PMIs New Jersey Chapter since 2017, where he maintains his present duties as Vice Chair of Marketing and Business Strategy.  

He spends his time travelling between his homes in New Jersey and the “Space Coast” of Florida.  His great loves are fine food and wine, art and photography, music, science – and rocket launches!  

He currently holds his PMP and CSM certifications.  He is a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA).

How Your Body Displays Your Leadership – or Lack Thereof

Agnieszka is an energetic multi-lingual consultant, trainer, coach and mentor with 20 years’ international experience in the project management profession. She is a very creative coach, trainer and consultant who uses innovative skills to support clients in designing and delivering project management, leadership skills courses together with coaching sessions. She has a long experience in working with clients from private, public and academic organizations. Her strong interpersonal and communication skills   allow her to build very good relations with clients across all levels and in different languages due to her fluency in English, Spanish, Italian, Polish and conversational German and Russian. Agnieszka has delivered successful complex programmes across Europe and USA, Latin America and Australia.

The Power of Uncertainty

Sherrin Ingram is CEO and Chief Strategy Officer of the International Center for Strategic Planning, a consulting firm focused on sustainable scaling for aggressive growth companies and comprehensive restructuring for distressed companies. In her role as CSO, she oversees the development and support of all strategic initiatives for all clients. She currently serves as Chairman of the Board of DHA Management, Inc. and Chairman of the Board of the DuPage Housing Authority. She is also an attorney and an accomplished best-selling author with numerous published books, proprietary training systems and articles on strategic planning, strategy execution, and corporate culture development.  During her career, Ms. Ingram has served as a Trusted Advisor to CEOs, investors and entrepreneurs in various industries, and a frequent keynote speaker on strategy development and leadership topics at business meetings and conferences around the world.

The Business of Project Management

University studies in Stuttgart, Liverpool

Degrees:

• Master of Science in Project Management
• Approved Consultant & Educator in Project Business Management (ACE)
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Authorized Training Partner Instructor

PM practitioner (since ~1983), trainer (since 1995)

Assignments in Europe, Asia, and USA

Active at Project Management Institute (PMI®), Member (since 1998)

Volunteer in various roles (since 2001)

President of the PMI Southern Germany Chapter e.V. (2013 – 2018)

Why Branding and Marketing Matter in the Project Economy

Aidan Crawford is the owner of Short Circuit Media. Aidan has presented programs in person and virtually to groups across Canada and the United States. 

He helps professionals build credibility within the community of those they need to influence. 

He loves getting his hands dirty and is always trying out new marketing tools – often before anyone else has. He will show you technical and strategic hacks that save time and increase your impact. 

Aidan is the author of DIY Marketing for Consultants, Trainers and Professional Speakers: The Non-Guru Guide to Getting it Right and two online marketing courses.

Cultivate Career Agility, Don’t Fight It

Marti Konstant is a workplace futurist and the best-selling author of Activate Your Agile Career. She has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and is a former technology executive that has worked in Silicon Valley.

As a Top Career Influencer, she has been featured in media outlets such as NBC Chicago, Forbes, and The Muse, and has worked in companies like Samsung, Dow Jones and Apple.

Marti is an expert in applying agile principles to workforce development.

The Fallacy of First Impressions

Elaine Law and Ken Grady  discuss the issue of ‘image’

Elaine Law has 20+ years of experience managing information technology initiatives for companies in the Pharma, Biotech, Retail, and Automotive industries. Elaine’s experience spans from traditional project management to specialized agile practices.

Elaine holds a BS in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of the Pacific, and possess her CSM, PMP, and PMI – ACP certifications. Elaine believes strongly in supporting the Project Management community and has served for over 8 years as a volunteer leader with Project Management Institute. Elaine recently returned to UC Berkeley Extension in a teaching capacity for Agile Product Management.

Elaine is an avid public speaker within the Project Management professional community. Her hobbies include fashion, cars and dogs. 

The Seven Voices in Your Head

Bill Guertin is the leader of the “7 Voices” Movement, whose purpose is to hear, recognize, and minimize the effects of the negative Voices inside people’s heads and to implement simple strategies to make positivity a life choice every day.    

He understands the pressure leaders at every level are facing, especially those in sales, customer service and leadership whose lives are in the midst of uncertainty, and brings simple strategies to improve their results.   

His strategies are in use in the ticket sales departments of over 100 professional sports teams throughout the US, Canada and Mexico, and he serves as Chief Learning Officer of ISBI 360, a virtual training network specifically for executives in sports and entertainment.  

Bill has over 30 years’ experience in sales and leadership, including 20 years in broadcast media as a sales rep, sales manager and General Manager of radio properties in the Midwest.   

When he is not working, Bill spends quality time with his wife, Sherri, their three grown boys and their families who enjoy Sundays together watching the Chicago Bears.  He serves as a Board member of the Baylor University Center for Sports Strategy and Sales, and volunteers for the Kankakee County Humane Foundation, where he and Sherri have made forever homes for several very spoiled dogs.   

The Case for Curiosity

Ebony Nicole Brown is currently the SVP of Organizational Effectiveness and Program Management at Jellyvision. She has extensive experience as a strategic organizational transformation leader leveraging her technology, business, psychology, and change management background to strategically solve for opportunities in the organizational system that impede the delivery of value to employees and customers. A strong driver of end-to-end transformations with impacts spanning across an organization’s operating models, she has helped companies exceed expectations in quality, customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and ROI. She has worked with companies across the globe from startups to Fortune 10 companies across all levels and functions of the company.

Always looking to broaden her knowledge, she holds memberships and certifications across the Society for Human Resource Management, Prosci, The Association of Change Management Professionals, Myers Briggs, ScrumAlliance, Project Management Institution, ICAgile, Scaled Agile, and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She is currently completing her thesis for her master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. 

Reflections on Leadership in Project Management

John Quigley’s career has an impressive list of titles.  He’s applied his personal brand of leadership to work with organizations in roles like VP of Engineering, Mobile Transactions at NXP Semiconductors – his current role. He has held a myriad of senior level titles at organizations like Motorola, Airgo Networks, and several more as well as continuing an active role as a partner at Grey Matter Partners. 

John’s greatest strength lies outside of his titles. It lies squarely in his unshakable belief in the power of teams who are both empowered and responsible. He executes on the belief that teams who have true ownership are comprised of individuals who have a high will to commit and the high levels of skill required to both execute and adjust to changing conditions. 

It is possible that John’s enlightened perspective came from the early schooling in philosophy and his continuing studies in Zen Buddhism.  It’s also quite possible that this enlightened perspective, the foundation of a core of team members who would follow him through hell and back, is the result of practical application, a humane philosophy of team leadership and organizational responsibility. 

Of course, as John might say, it could be both. 

Join John and me as he shares some of his thoughts and perspectives on effective leadership and hear his one recommendation for becoming a stronger, more effective leader.

Crossing Oceans and Crossing Cultures, A Leadership Journey

Andrew Neuman’s expertise and explorations have taken him from the midwestern part of the USA to the San Francisco Bay Area, where a mutual friend, Ray Ju, introduced us at one of my speeches, to Japan.  He and what we call his international family now live in Tokyo where Andrew is part of a relatively small number of Americans in the business community.  Andrew has immersed himself in learning about a land and a culture very different from his own with enthusiasm and intelligence.  He has brought his commitment to the benefits of project management to students from schools to corporations where ever he has gone.