PROFILE
Michelle Ray is a Hall of Fame business keynote speaker. A sought-after international leadership and change expert. An entrepreneur, an author, and an educator.
Most importantly, Michelle is a person. A passionate, deeply caring person. A fearless leader who’s not afraid to challenge the status quo. She’s the kind of person who’ll do what it takes to help her team get outrageous results, even in a down economy.
After a successful career in media and advertising in Australia, Michelle shifted gears and accepted a leadership role at a global non-profit youth organization. She facilitated enduring partnerships between youth, entrepreneurs, and educators, preparing future generations to thrive in tomorrow’s business environment.
Michelle encountered a total contrast of leadership styles during her career, both good and bad. These experiences sparked her desire to help leaders not only master the fundamentals but also become the best versions of themselves. She seized the opportunity to venture into the speaking world and has since shared these messages with audiences around the world.
With more than 25 years of experience researching leadership, accountability, change, and workforce trends, Michelle has a deep understanding of new realities demanding the attention of leaders. Specifically, a dramatic shift in where and how we work, generational dynamics, talent shortages, and managing disruption while keeping the “human factor” of leadership top-of-mind.
A credit to her Aussie roots, Michelle engages audiences with her down-to-earth, tell-it-like-it-is style. As a respected thought leader, she has worked with some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including Microsoft, the FBI, TD Bank, PayPal, and an array of Fortune 500 companies.
SPEAKING TOPICS
How to be Ready, Responsive and Relevant in a Radically Changing World
As the world of business changes at an unprecedented rate, leaders are finding themselves in unchartered waters as they look for new strategies to evolve, adapt and succeed on the fly. When challenges of change and uncertainty strike, leaders must be ready to lead, even when the answers aren’t immediately at their fingertips.
Leadership used to be more about the “long view”, i.e., looking out on the horizon to determine the future direction of our organizations. Recent events have shown us that leadership has become much more about the present moment. The pandemic, tech disruptors, generational change, remote work and the gig economy have compelled leaders to take action in the now, or in real time as we often refer to it today, rather than expending energy worrying about a future that we cannot control.
During this highly engaging, dynamic and thought-provoking keynote based on Michelle’s new book, Leading in Real Time, your leaders will learn how to actively expand and shift their thinking around leadership practices from fixed to flexible, so they can be effective in real time. Her three-step process is practical, purposeful and powerful as she helps leaders remain ready, responsive and relevant in a radically changing world.
How to Attract and Retain Talent in the New World of Work
Today’s highly sought-after new wave of talent is not only more informed than any other time in history; they also have their collective fingers on the pulse when choosing their employer.
This savvy group expects to work with forward-thinking organizations that truly understand what motivates them, as well as self-aware, accountable leaders.
Meaning and purpose are the new currency. That’s why leaders need to focus on building deeper relationships with their employees in order to attract and retain them.
As workplace demographics change, so do employee expectations. Today’s workforce sees themselves as citizens of the world who are passionate about making a difference. It’s now in your hands to create an environment where they will thrive.
How this keynote can help your organization:
This presentation is for leaders, managers, and HR professionals who want to move the needle on their talent strategies to effectively attract and retain top talent in the new world of work.
How to Increase Your Leverage, Strengthen Your Impact and Energize Your Business Relationships
There has never been a better time for leaders and managers in all industry sectors to elevate their influence. A higher percentage of senior leaders and CEOs now recognize the importance of including leadership perspectives from a variety of departments regarding overall business strategy. By increasing your visibility and impact, your career flourishes and your organization benefits by having your ideas heard, understood and acted upon.
How can you leverage your position of strength and captivate attention and imagination of individuals with whom you have key relationships? The solution lies in demonstrating that you understand their positions, their perspectives and their interests, prior to introducing your own suggestions. By acknowledging others first, you are ideally positioned to make the difference; for yourself and your organization.
When others connect with your ideas, you have achieved “buy-in”. It is much easier to put your own agenda forward by listening to others first. Synchronicity is achieved by acknowledging others, even when we may not agree.
During this informative, interactive and dynamic keynote session, you will learn how to communicate your vision in a way that gets noticed. You add value to your organization and yourself when you are able to demonstrate the bottom line benefits to your leaders and stakeholders by speaking their language. As business necessitates human interaction, articulating your goals purposely and powerfully begins with you. You will leave with new ideas and strategies to energize workplace relationships at all levels…with tangible, long-term results.
Rethink, Respond, Rebound: Three Essential Strategies for Success
What makes a person resilient? Can resiliency be taught or are some people better able to rebound from adversity than others? The answers lay in how we first choose to interpret events that are outside of our control and the manner in which we respond to the inevitable peaks and valleys of life. In order to rise above challenges of any description, we need to focus on developing a mindset of managing rather than coping.
Resiliency is the cornerstone of our emotional and psychological survival in challenging times. During her Staying Power! Keynote, Michelle teaches the three essential strategies required to hone a resilient mindset.
Rethink
Stop dwelling on destructive beliefs. Make room to expand possibilities, exercise greater resilience, and move forward.
Respond
Learn to adapt to discomfort by responding, rather than reacting. Take a step back and ask yourself, “Is there another way?”
Rebound
Grow from adversity and become more resilient by recognizing challenges as opportunities for greater insight.
During this thought-provoking and interactive keynote, attendees will learn how to access their resilience “DNA” and will leave the event with new ideas to bounce back with greater confidence in the face of future challenges.
