The Sweeney Agency

About Michael J. Gelb - Expert on Creative Thinking and Innovative Leadership:

Michael J. Gelb is the world’s leading authority on the application of genius thinking to personal and organizational development. He is a pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning, teambuilding and innovation in leadership. Gelb leads seminars for organizations such as DuPont, IBM, Merck, Microsoft, Nike, and YPO. He brings more than 30 years of experience as a professional speaker, motivator, seminar leader and organizational consultant to his diverse, international clientele.

Michael J. Gelb’s publications include Body Learning: an Introduction to the Alexander Technique and Present Yourself! Captivate Your Audience with Great Presentation Skills. His best selling audio programs, include Mind Mapping: How to Liberate Your Natural Genius, and Work Like da Vinci: Gaining the Creative Advantage in Your Business and Career.

A former professional juggler who once performed with the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, Gelb introduced the idea of teaching juggling as a means to promote accelerated learning and team-building. He is the author of The 5 Keys to High Performance: Juggling Your Way to Success. A fourth degree black belt in the Japanese martial art of Aikido, Gelb is co-author with International Grandmaster Raymond Keene, of Samurai Chess: Mastering Strategic Thinking Through the Martial Art of the Mind. Michael Gelb is also a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique and the author of the classic work Body Learning: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique.

A passionate student of the Renaissance and the nature of genius, Gelb ignited the current fascination with all things da Vinci with his 1998 release How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day. How to Think Like Leonardo has been translated into 25 languages and has appeared on the Washington Post, Amazon.com, and the New York Times best seller lists. Gelb’s 2004 release, Da Vinci Decoded, and his recent Sounds True audio program The Spirit of Leonardo tap into the seven da Vinci principles outlined in How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci to show readers how to cultivate spiritual intelligence.

In 1999, Michael Gelb won the Brain Trust Charity’s Brain of the Year award; others honorees include Prof. Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, Garry Kasparov and Gene Rodenberry. In 2003, Michael was awarded a Batten Fellowship by the University of Virginia’s Darden Business School. Michael also serves as the Director of Leadership and Creativity for the Conscious Capitalism Institute. Gelb is also the author of Innovate Like Edison: The Five Step System for Breakthrough Business Success, co-authored with Sarah Miller Caldicott, the great grand niece of Thomas Edison.

What Michael Gelb Talks About:

How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci
Thinking creatively, learning faster and leading change, these abilities are at a premium in a highly competitive global business environment. What if you could call on history’s greatest genius, Leonardo da Vinci, to be your personal mentor in cultivating these highly prized elements of human capital? Anatomist, architect, botanist, city planner, chef, humorist, engineer, equestrian, inventor, geographer, geologist, military scientist, musician, painter, philosopher and raconteur, Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519) helped bring the Western world out of the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. Now, as we move from the Bureaucratic/Industrial Age into the Information/Imagination Age, his approach to optimizing human potential is more relevant than ever.

Participants will learn how to:

• Think creatively
• Cultivate independent thinking
• Improve learning ability with age
• Find opportunity in uncertainty
• Improve memory and problem solving
• Balance mind and body to reduce stress
• Nurture creativity and innovation in the workplace

Leading Innovation
This dynamic, highly-interactive program will develop immediately applicable skills for innovative thinking, and guiding/implementing a culture of innovation. Participants will learn how to lead innovation and will return to the workplace with an innovation plan for their organizations.

Participants will identify their critical innovation challenges and discover how to generate effective solutions. They will learn why people behave in the habitual ways they do.

Creative Resilience: Innovation in Tough Times
Tough times require MORE creativity and innovation. In this compelling, inspiring and energizing program you will learn how to:

• Strengthen creative resilience: How to cultivate an optimistic mindset in difficult circumstances
• Apply the example of history’s greatest minds in response to adversity
• Utilize the 5 core skills of creative problem solving
• Apply those skills to your greatest current challenges
• Communicate in a way that inspires others
• Transform stress into energy for innovation

Anyone can be optimistic when everything is rosy but it only counts when times are tough. Without creative optimism there is no innovation. And, this program is more than just an inspiring motivational exercise, it is an educational experience that will empower your group to be their best in the face of adversity.

High Performance Learning and Leadership
Twenty years ago Peter Drucker wrote, The leader of the future will be a learning guide. That future is NOW.

What are the secrets of accelerated learning and how can you apply them to your most important organizational challenges? What is a Learning Organization and how can you cultivate one? What are the essential characteristics of great leaders and how can you develop them? How can you build an organizational culture that inspires people to give their best every day?

Creative Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
This dynamic, highly-engaging program will show your people how to stay centered and choose the most creative response to a variety of challenging situations. Participants will develop new and effective ways of perceiving, understanding and responding to conflict to create win/win outcomes. The highlight of the workshop will be a demonstration of the martial art of Aikido (“the way of harmonious energy”), including audience participation (safe, fun and team-building!). This unique approach to conflict management will then be applied to specific business issues related to negotiation, inter-personal problem-solving and leadership.