Speaking

Unwritten Rules

Your organization and industry each run on a unique set of unwritten rules that have everything to do with what gets prioritized, who gets promoted, and how change happens. These invisible forces evolved alongside humans over thousands of years, which means they're far more powerful than anything we write down, like policies, procedures, or even laws. In this talk, we'll explore how to surface these unwritten rules and leverage them to navigate your organization's politics, be a better leader, and drive innovation.

Other Topics

United Nations SDGs (World Government Summit - Dubai, Wilton Park - West Sussex, England, Singapore Embassy - Washington DC), Arts Leadership (International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Future of the Internet (Project Liberty - Cambridge, MA, PCMA - Washington DC and Nashville), Social Impact Design (AIGA - Virtual, Amadeus - Virtual), Empathy (Association of Performing Arts Presenters - New York City), Innovation (IIT-Kent Law School - Chicago, Akerman - Boca Raton, FL)

The New Idealism (In Development)

The people we admire most – today and throughout history – share a trait: they're idealists. This hidden power enables them to see possibilities no one else can see, solve seemingly impossible problems, and build powerful support - particularly in times like ours of cynicism and increasingly small thinking. After spending my career as an idealist trying to tackle challenges others said were impossible, I've had to figure out how to recapture and maintain idealism in a world that celebrates it in theory but tries to crush it in practice. In this talk, we'll explore what I've learned about how you can do what other people can't even see.

Speaking Venues

Harvard Graduate School of Design (Cambridge, MA), Stanford d.school (Palo Alto, CA), Facebook (San Francisco, CA), Microsoft (Seattle, WA), AT&T (Atlanta, GA), Coca-Cola (Atlanta), MetLife (New York City), US General Services Administration (Chicago), University of Southern California (Los Angeles), Loyola University Law School (Chicago), CoreNet Summit Europe (Madrid, Spain), CoreNet Summit Americas (Boston, MA), Kellogg Innovation Network (Evanston, IL), TEDx Lake Forest College (Lake Forest, IL), Business Innovation Factory (Providence, RI), American Dental Association (Chicago), Gensler (San Francisco, CA), Gensler (Chicago), NBBJ (Seattle, WA), Cannon Design (Chicago), Cambridge Innovation Center (Boston, MA), Wiggin & Dana (Greenwich, CT), Vacation Rental Management Association (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA), Interior Environments (Detroit, MI), Interior Environments (Denver, CO), Henricksen (Chicago), Henricksen (New York City), Henricksen (Minneapolis, MN), Stantec (Chicago), NAIOP (Boston, MA), CoreNet (Phoenix, AZ), Inside Source (San Jose, CA), Inside Source (San Francisco, CA), Inside Source (New York City), Total Office (Boston, MA), ASI Canada (Toronto, ON), ASI Dallas Field Sales (Dallas, TX), ABI Conference (Cedar Rapids, IA), Sandnow (Chicago), Interim Execs (Chicago), Workplace Anonymous (Boston, MA), WEHub (Los Angeles, CA), Parron Hall (San Diego, CA), CBI (Newport, CA), Office Creations (Atlanta, GA), Office Images (Washington, DC), Cofco (Washington, DC), Cofco (Baltimore, MD), Cofco (Philadelphia, PA), Duplers (Columbus, OH), Junto (virtual), Hatch (Bozeman, MT)

What People Say

Esther Lee, Global CMO, MetLife: "Jeff's talk on unwritten rules was as insightful and thought-provoking as it was entertaining and engaging for my global marketing organization. It has inspired us to think more deeply about how we can successfully drive cultural change to better prepare us for success in the future."

Yarrow Kraner, Founder & CEO, Hatch Global: "Jeff has a rare combination of gifts that weaves years of experience, razor-sharp intelligence, empathy, and the ability to provoke and instigate so that passive listeners are ready to take action. Regardless of the challenge, Leitner ignites those around him and dares them to think beyond what would otherwise seem possible."

Deborah Knupp, Managing Partner, GrowthPlay: "Jeff superpower as a speaker and facilitator is the ability to communicate NASA-level constructs with sharp wit and refreshing insight that are totally consumable for the audience and that activate the audience's genuine desire to keep learning well after the program has concluded. Trust me."

Robert Jordan, Founder & CEO, InterimExecs: "Jeff gets to the heart, soul and guts of what it takes to make organizational change stick, by first taking us through the many clever and cute ideas that sound good – but don't actually work. He had our audience of corporate executives riveted and wanting a lot more of Jeff."

Raman Chadha, Founder & Managing Partner, The Junto Institute: "We keep inviting Jeff back to facilitate or speak because he has an extraordinary talent for engaging an audience. He masterfully combines intellect with humor, thinking with doing, advocacy with contrarianism, and ideas with stories."

AJ Paron, Executive Vice President, Design Futurist, Sandow Design Group: "Jeff's talk hit the nail on the head of what designers need to solve for and how to go about doing it. His fresh thinking and new mental models were the most talked about ideas at our conference. He was insightful while being entertaining. Our attendees wanted MORE JEFF! That was our biggest feedback we have from the whole conference."

Becky Binder, Vice President, CoreNet Global: "Jeff Leitner is a highly skilled and gifted speaker. He goes beyond bringing knowledge and expertise. He brings character, integrity, energy, and ability to connect with his audience. In 2018 Jeff was rated in the top 10% of all Speakers at the CoreNet Global North American Summit and is a recipient of the Luminary Award for Excellence in speaking."

Scott Curran, Professor, Chicago Kent College of Law: "Jeff Leitner has consistently inspired and enlightened law students in my class 'Lawyers as Social Innovators' with his deep substantive knowledge and relatable delivery of dynamic content. He regularly ranks as the students' favorite guest lecturer every year."

Shannon Merz, Director of Marketing & Business Development, Wiggin & Dana: "Jeff recently gave a presentation to a group of partners. His presentation was very engaging and got the group talking and thinking about ways to address and improve upon some inner workings of the organization. Jeff was able to guide the tough conversation so that it was productive and meaningful. The feedback we received afterwards was very positive and everyone really enjoyed Jeff and his approach."