Free Business Topics in Chicago

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Now the speaker will contact you in the next few days to coordinate details.

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  The China Trade War: Trade, Tariffs and Supply Chain Considerations

  Lauren Pittelli, Principal, Baker Logistics Consulting Services Inc.

  Global Supply Chains have always had their intricacies, and with international trade and the global economy in flux it is vital to understand the complexities of trade relations. What's the status of the trade war? Will it end soon - and if not, what should we expect in the future ...and most importantly, what should U.S. companies be doing today to address these uncertainties? MORE >

  If you are currently doing business in China you should not miss this presentation and if you are not currently doing business in China you still should not miss this presentation - because you and your business are likely to be affected by what happens with trade between the U.S. and China.

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  The Three Most Powerful Actions of Value-driven Leaders

  Susan Neustrom, Ed.D., Leadership Coach, Author, Speaker, Educator, Leading to Action

  Leadership is hard work because the need to be socially connected at all time is a necessity for leaders to influence, impact, and direct organizations, people, and change. Business challenges require fast, direct decisions, therefore, leaders are relentlessly communicating with multiple stakeholders through email, phone, and technology. Yet, the most powerful leaders understand the demands of being a leader and create a mental space to be alone with their thoughts emotions, and values. MORE >

  In this presentation, Dr. Susan Neustrom will demonstrate how solitude, silence, and reflection can actually enhance social interaction and increase authentic and ethical leadership behavior. She will provide strategies to create a personal sanctuary for leaders to renew, reevaluate, and reorient your moral compass for more effective, ethical decision making.

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  Insecure, unsafe & slow: 10 ways to improve your WordPress website

  Lisa Ghisolf, President & Founder, Gizmo Creative Factory, Inc.

  There are thousands of plugins and tips out there – many free, but how do you narrow them down? I’ve been designing and developing WordPress sites since 2008, and I also work with corporations, nonprofits and bloggers. No matter how popular they are, I still spend a lot of time fixing hacked sites and maintaining and improving them. I’ll share the same tips I use with them to improve your site. We’ll talk social, security, speed, design and more. You’ll leave with an action plan and stronger understanding of your WordPress site.
  MORE >

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  Rearchitecting Work: POSSIBILITY PARTNERS UNLEASHING POTENTIAL

  Dianne M. Michels, HR Possibility Partner, Author, Rearchitecting Work Speaker, possibilitypartners.org

  A Blueprint for "Unlocking the Power of Human Resources to Unleash the Potential of Human Beings" . . . enabling organizations to set bold goals that can be achieved with more PREDICTABILITY, INNOVATION, and EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT! MORE >

  Learn about the key paradigm shifts that provide the foundation for the changes in conditions, relationships, cultural norms, and leadership approaches that can transform people's relationship to work from a burden to survive to a possibility to thrive . . . while producing results that meet or exceed revenue, profitability, and growth goals of the enterprise.

  You will be introduced to the 10 design principles that support the paradigm shifting changes in assumptions, beliefs, and behavioral practices that enable people to go beyond learning new skills to expanding their adaptability, flexibility, resiliency, and self-directedness in a world that is increasingly more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.

  The 10 design principles include:
  Ch. 1 Alignment between HR and the CEO
  Ch. 2 Unlocking the Power of HR to Unleash the Potential Within Your Workplace
  Ch. 3 The Power of Possibility - "There are no mistakes; only possibilities" Tina Fey
  Ch. 4 Leadership Beliefs and Behaviors that model mutual respect, trust, transparency . . .
  Ch. 5 Inspiring Ownership for Results vs. Holding People Accountable
  Ch. 6 Igniting Results: Expressing Our Value vs. Proving Our Worth
  Ch. 7 Participating, Contributing, Self-Expressing vs. Checking Off Our To Do Lists - "Only do what your heart tells you." Princess Diana
  Ch. 8 Celebrating Diversity as a Competitive Edge!
  Ch. 9 Recruiting: Creating Raving Fans - "Transforming often dreaded interview interrogations into life-affirming conversations.
  Ch. 10 Communications: Creating Psychological Safety so People can Speak Candidly With One Another Regardless of the Hierarchy -
  "Relationships determine the quality of our lives, and conversations determine the quality of our relationships."

  Can be presented virtually via ZOOM.

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  LinkedIn Top 5 Tips

  Dee Reinhardt, Social Media Strategist, Time2Mrkt, Inc.

  LinkedIn is THE professional social networking tool. Are you using it to your advantage? This session talks about the top 5 things you should do with your personal profile to help drive your business forward. As a bonus, we can discuss 3 tips to employ to make your business profile top notch. All in all, each of the tips help you show up higher in LinkedIn search results and ultimately warm-up cold leads. MORE >

  This session works best in a 20-30 minute time slot.

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  Millenial Onboarding

  Bette Lawrence-Water, Founder and Principal Consultant, Spectrum Strategic Solutions

  Onboarding new employees is a secure investment that will assist newly hired employees in developing their skills, knowledge, and value within the company. It will help match the technically skilled Millennial workforce with new and emerging needs of your company, which gives your company an advantage within the market. MORE >

  Millennial Onboarding is a specialized type of employee onboarding. With Millennials we are seeing a need to tweak the onboarding process to better suit the needs of the company and new hires. It will increase productivity and produce a happier and more skilled workforce. The new hire phase is a critical time for the employee and company and having a structured set of procedures will make this time run smoother and produce a greater chance of success.

  Presentation Objectives:
  • Define onboarding
  • Discuss the characteristics of Millennials
  • Create an onboarding process for Millennials
  • Start action plans for working with Millennials
  • Learn from introspection

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  The 60-minute Strategic Plan

  Matt Kinnich, CEO, Roland, Ruth & Mitchell

  Technically, there is no such thing as a 60-minute strategic plan, but this session will provide the foundation, framework and next steps of building out your personal, team or organization’s strategies and plan. Participants will engage in the following: MORE >

  • Overview of Strategic Framework
  • What are your goals?
  • What is your purpose?
  • What does your environment look like?
  • What are my options?
  • What options are best?
  • Individual/Group questions
  • What actions am I willing to do next?

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  The Carrot and Stick are Obsolete – How to Deploy the Right Employee Incentives in Today’s Business Environment

  Mark James, Founder & President, Performance Advisors Group, Inc.

  Are your incentive programs delivering desired results? Incentives work, but you must get them right to positively impact performance and avoid wasting time and money. MORE >

  The traditional approach to improving workplace behavior was often characterized by a “lady-or-the-tiger” experience which ignored that employees are motivated in different ways and underestimated the importance of connecting personal meaning to what they do.

  This VIRTUAL OR IN PERSON presentation will reveal best practices any business can and should do to ensure employee incentive programs are working properly. Attendees will come away with knowledge and tips concerning:
  • Why incentives are a tactic, not the strategy
  • Commitment and support of leaders
  • Choosing right incentive structure
  • Audience selection
  • Goal setting
  • Communicating what, who, how, and why
  • Avoiding element of chance
  • Choosing the right recognition and rewards
  • Keeping it fresh and appealing

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  Extreme Time Management – 5 Keys to Creating an Abundance of Time

  Tom Kelly, Business Coach, Potential In Motion

  In our fast paced world, it seems that we are expected to do more and more with less and less. If you are finding that there just aren’t enough hours in the day to get things done, then this presentation is for you. In this presentation, Master Certified Business Coach Tom Kelly discusses the 5 shifts that you need to make to create an abundance of time in your life and business. MORE >

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  Small Business Ownership

  Jennifer Davis, President & Co-Founder, Davisware, Inc.

  Owning your own business can be a challenge. Jennifer, a working mother, shares the fascinating story of her startup with sweat equity and personal growth along the way. Her personal account of what works and what doesn’t, and how to balance it all, is perfect for those in business or with an entrepreneurial spirit. MORE >

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