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The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau

A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.

How do America’s most innovative CEOs lead? Find out—from more than 600 of them.

DECADE-LONG AUTHOR OF THE CORNER OFFICE COLUMN IN THE NEW YORK TIMES | MANAGING DIRECTOR, THE EXCO GROUP

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Corporate America is in the midst of a transformation, and there’s no going back. The twin crises of the pandemic and the worldwide push for racial justice have spurred a fundamental reevaluation of the role that corporations play in society, the nature of work itself, and the qualities that make a great leader: from strong emotional intelligence to the ability to embrace ambiguity. In his new book The CEO Test, ADAM BRYANT offers an intensely practical, forward-thinking framework for leaders navigating a shifting landscape—essential for CEOs, managers, and executives of all levels.

Adam Bryant has a unique perspective on the changing expectations of leadership, having interviewed more than 600 C-Suite executives for his widely read “Corner Office” series in The New York Times and now on LinkedIn. To succeed in an increasingly complex and volatile world, the leaders of today need to have empathy, be comfortable with uncertainty, and be able to skillfully build and lead diverse teams. In his latest book, The CEO Test: Master the Challenges that Make or Break All Leaders, Bryant teams up with Kevin Sharer—the former CEO of biotech giant Amgen, and a sought-after mentor to CEOs worldwide—to write an actionable guide to leadership, combining the breadth and depth of their experiences. Whether leaders are navigating how to transition their teams to hybrid, or rethinking when and how to take a stance on broader societal issues, this book lays the groundwork for success in the critical challenges that all leaders will face. Equal parts engaging and pragmatic, The CEO Test simplifies the sprawling field of leadership to create a shared language of what truly matters for leaders at all levels. Since its release, The CEO Test has recieved glowing praise: “The authors practise what they preach, simplifying complexity (a leadership “superpower”), steering clear of cookie-cutter truisms, and preferring readable common sense to ideological waffle or textbook dryness,” writes The Financial Times, while author Wally Bock declares, “I believe The CEO Test will become a classic on par with Peter Drucker’s Effective Executive and Kouzes and Posner’s Leadership Challenge.”

As a speaker, Bryant shares the key themes and patterns that emerge from his books and his interviews in The Times and on LinkedIn, where more than 150,000 subscribers follow his series, and shares those themes through memorable stories, compelling quotes, and instantly useful tools that all managers can put to work with their own teams. Bryant, a veteran presenter, earns consistently glowing reviews from audiences, who often say they found his talks profoundly valuable and illuminating.

Bryant’s first book, The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed, was an instant New York Times bestseller, drawing on insights from CEOS to identify the qualities that help explain why certain executives were promoted over others. In his second book Quick and Nimble: Lessons from Leading CEOs on How to Create a Culture of Innovation, Bryant collected the wisdom of hundreds of business leaders to identify the secrets to a high-performing corporate culture.

In addition to his consulting work with The ExCo Group, Bryant is the Senior Adviser to the Reuben Mark Initiative for Organizational Character and Leadership at Columbia University. He also writes a monthly column on leadership for Strategy+Business Magazine.

Testimonials

“I enjoyed my conversation with Adam Bryant for his new book, The CEO Test, that he co-authored with Kevin Sharer. As I think about the changes we’ve endured this past year and the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead, each of these tests has valuable lessons for leaders today.”

EY US Chair and Managing Partner and Americas Managing Partner
Testimonials

The CEO Test from Adam Bryant and Kevin Sharer is a must-read. As CEO of Sports Innovation Lab, I highly recommend this read for CEOs and those looking to learn about effective leadership strategies.”

Angela Ruggiero, 4x Olympian and Global Sports Leader

Speech Topics

Leadership
Master the Challenges that Make or Break All LeadersSeven Keys to Success

During the pandemic, the wall between the personal and professional came crashing down, as millions of people transitioned to working from their homes for months on end. The leaders best equipped to deal with this challenge weren’t necessarily the confident, results-driven archetype of a CEO we’re used to—but rather the empathetic and flexible leader who was able to guide their teams through uncertainty and difficult decisions. Our expectations of leaders are changing rapidly, and—in a world marked by growing division and unrest—the challenge of leadership itself is growing. Organizations are throwing out their old playbook for success and rethinking everything: how to organize their teams, how to build a culture of inclusion and belonging, and how to assess and develop new leaders from within.

Drawing on insights from his new book The CEO Test, written with former Amgen CEO Kevin Sharer, Adam Bryant presents an informative and enlightening keynote around the key challenges of leadership. He addresses top-of-mind questions for leaders now, including: What are the leadership skills that matter most? For Bryant, the answers include developing a simple plan for strategy, building teams that are true teams, learning how to manage change and drive transformation, and mastering the inner game of leadership. “The best leadership advice helps slow the game, so that you can better anticipate, understand, and label the nuanced dynamics of different situations in the moment and guide them to better outcomes,” says Bryant.

Having conducted in-depth interviews on leadership with more than 600 CEOs, Bryant shares compelling stories, memorable quotes, and practical tips and tools in an engaging style that will arm leaders at all levels with clear strategies to elevate their teams and drive results.

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