Arkadi Kuhlmann

Founder of ING Direct

Arkadi Kuhlmann , keynote speaker
Arkadi Kuhlmann , keynote speaker Authors@Google Talk Arkadi Kuhlmann , keynote speaker
The model of top-down corporate leadership is obsolete. Drawing on his influential work at ING Direct, rebel CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann offers a fully-realized vision of what he calls the culture-driven leadership—the rollicking new force behind bottom-line success. It's not leaders who drive business; it's the culture they create, and sustain, that drives it. Book Speaker

Arkadi Kuhlmann’s vocation and avocation have been to reinvent and revitalize consumers’ relationship with their money.

Arkadi introduced the world to direct banking with a simplified customer focus when he founded ING DIRECT Canada in 1996, creating the brand strategy and growing the bank during 1996-2000 to a successful market position while serving as the bank’s President and CEO. He repeated this process in 2000, founding ING DIRECT USA and as the bank’s Chairman, President and CEO led its growth to become the nation’s largest savings bank and number one direct bank, with more than $84 billion in deposits and 7.8 million customers. Arkadi’s customer focus led to fanatical loyalty and industry-leading customer promotion scores and branded him affectionately as the ‘CEO of Savings.’

Prior to ING DIRECT, Arkadi engineered an organizational and systems restructuring as the President of North American Trust. The execution of Arkadi’s tactical business plan along with new product development resulted in a transformation from a $10M operating loss to a $17M operating profit.

As President and CEO at Deak & Co. and Deak International (1985-1993), Arkadi restructured Deak International’s operations, launching a revitalized company in April 1986, and expanding the company from 52 to 192 branches and 350 to 1,500 employees worldwide, achieving revenues of $1B wholesale and $2.5B retail, and income of $70M. Arkadi oversaw the successful divestiture of Deak International in 1990.

From 1977-1984, Arkadi served as Vice President, General Manager and Manager of Royal Bank of Canada. Before that, he served briefly as a consultant for the banking industry and as an Assistant Director of the Institute of Canadian Bankers.

In addition to his corporate successes, Arkadi demonstrated his passion for teaching as a professor of International Finance and Investment Banking at the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Phoenix, Arizona. He shared his philosophy on leadership, culture and innovation by penning Rock then Roll: The Secrets of Culture-Driven Leadership and The Orange Code: How ING DIRECT Succeeded by Being a Rebel with a Cause, as well as several books on finance and numerous business cases. His thoughts on banking, leadership and innovation have appeared in major newspapers including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and New York Times.

Arkadi received the Honors in Business Administration degree and an M.B.A. from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, Canada and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) in 2010 and the Ivey Distinguished Service Award in 2007.

Arkadi was honored as American Banker’s 2006 Innovator of the Year and was the recipient of the ING Business Award (Revenue Growth Category) in 2005, Delaware Business Leader Award in 2006 and 2008, Habitat for Humanity Leadership Award in 2007, and was honored with the Council for Economic Education’s Visionary Award in 2010 for his life-long advocacy in teaching adults and children about responsible money behavior.

  • The Orange Code

    Following the immense success of ING Direct with his book The Orange Code: How ING Direct Succeeded by Being a Rebel with a Cause, Arkadi Kuhlmann is one of the world's leading experts on corporate culture as branding. ING Direct's message is clear: "save your money". They reflect this mantra in everything they do. If you build your company to stand for a purpose, customers will notice -- and they'll remain loyal. From advertisements, to product lines to turning away customers who do not fit their vision, ING Direct is a proven example of brand strength. Kuhlmann, with frank honesty and unrivaled experience, explains that a business can be so much more than just a provider of services. It can be an idea, a cause -- and a force.

  • Rock Then Roll: The Secrets of Culture-Driven Leadership

    In this talk, Arkadi Kuhlmann provides a roadmap to the new culture-driven business world. The traditional model of top-down corporate leadership is obsolete. In an interconnected and ever-changing marketplace, business creativity is now the driving force behind bottom-line success. Only by creating a unique business culture, says Kuhlmann, can you spur innovation and inspire leadership in everyone from C-level to entry level. How can you exploit the power of disruptive ideas? What are the true catalysts for creating leaders from within? How can you create--and most importantly, maintain--a unique business culture that attracts both customers and talent alike? Drawing from his experiences at ING Direct, Kuhlmann's message can help business people of all experience levels--from CEO's to start-up entrepreneurs--create their own culture to drive leadership, increase employee satisfaction and achieve business success.

  • Rock then Roll: The Secrets of Culture-Driven Leadership Rock then Roll: The Secrets of Culture-Driven Leadership

    It's a new jungle out there. Are you prepared to rock your business? Or will you be rolled? The world has changed. Leadership is not top-down. Not anymore. Today we live in a seamlessly integrated world where technology, business, entertainment and life overlap and merge. Positives can go negative in an instant; making the right decisions means creating and sustaining the right culture. The new reality in this culture-driven environment? We all need to be leaders.

    Rock then Roll: The Secrets of Culture-Driven Leadership is a roadmap to this new culture-driven world from one of North America s most respected CEOs. Culture-based leadership is essential to adopt innovative business strategies and exploit the creative power of disruptive ideas. Rock then roll! So in the new jungle, will you be Tarzan? Or will you get out of his way?

  • The Orange Code: How ING Direct Succeeded by Being a Rebel with a Cause The Orange Code: How ING Direct Succeeded by Being a Rebel with a Cause

    How championing consumers led to ING Direct's revolutionary rise in the banking industry In an industry dominated by big banks with little patience for their customers, ING Direct has always strived to be different-a rebel with a cause, if you will-and in doing so, they've become the most successful online banking venture in history. The Orange Code recounts ING Direct's intriguing story, explaining the philosophy of its founder Arkadi Kuhlmann-who believes in the power of individuals to control their financial destiny-and his long-running partnership with Bruce Philp, the branding consultant who helped him make ING Direct a cause to its own people and a household name across North America. The level of success achieved by ING Direct holds some important lessons and offers some much-needed inspiration to a business world that could use a little of both right now.

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