The Leading Speakers Bureau

Expert on the Middle East and Former Israeli Deputy National Security Adviser

Professor Chuck Freilich is a highly respected specialist on the Middle East. As co-director of a Middle Eastern affairs consultancy, his primary areas of expertise are US-Mid East policy and Israeli national security policy. He teaches political science at Tel Aviv and Hebrew Universities and is also a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he is writing a book on Israeli national security decision making.

“A revitalized U.S.-Israel strategic dialogue is more vital than ever”

[expand title=”In detail”] Professor Freilich was Israeli’s Deputy National Security Adviser and a Senior Analyst at the Israel Ministry of Defense, focusing on strategic affairs. He was Policy Advisor to a cabinet minister and a Delegate at the Israeli Mission to the UN. He was also the Executive Director of two non profit organizations and served in the Israel Defense Forces for five years (reserve major). Prof. Freilich earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Few are better positioned to talk in depth about the current state of the political and economic situation in the Middle East than Chuck Freilich. With a wealth of hands on experience he offers an insider’s perspective to businesses, not only of US/Middle East relations but also of the opportunities that will present themselves to the region in the future.[/expand]
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Olympic Coach and Gold Medal Winning Rower

Few Olympians have made the transition from athlete to coach as smoothly as Tim Foster. After achieving his goal of winning a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 Tim Foster retired from international rowing. Continuing to be involved in the sport at the highest level, Tim joined the UK Sport-sponsored Elite Coach Programme in 2004. In January 2007, he became the Head Coach of the Swiss national rowing squad.

“Tim Foster is one of the UK’s most determined and dedicated athletes”

[expand title=”In detail”] Tim Foster began rowing at Bedford Modern School and competed in the Junior World Rowing Championships in 1987 and 1988. In the latter he competed in a pair with a Matthew Pinsent. He became the first British rower to win gold medals at two consecutive Junior Worlds. From there he proceeded into the senior squad.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]The quintessential Olympic champion Tim is a great motivator and using the lessons he learned on the way to achieving his Olympic gold medal, he shows audiences how to achieve their own goals and sets them on the path to winning ways both on a professional and personal basis.[/expand]
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Shipping Analyst

Martin Stopford joined Clarkson’s in 1990 and was previously a Vice President at Chase Manhattan Bank and a Director of British Shipbuilders. He was appointed to the Board of Clarkson’s in September 2004. Clarkson’s, the world’s leading shipping services provider, is a dynamic organisation at the forefront of change within the industry, an industry estimated to be worth in excess of $100 billion p.a.

“The UK’s leading expert on the Shipping Industry”

[expand title=”In detail”] At Clarkson’s Martin is proud of his ship broking heritage and the combination of experience with a high level of energy has spawned a number of new ideas and initiatives which are propelling the group towards broadening its range of shipping services. These new initiatives include both ship owning and ferry operations within a newly formed logistics division.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Martin offers audiences great insights into industry leading research and consultancy. He talks in great detail about his work partnering core strengths with the innovation of his project and development section resulting in his unrivalled position as an adviser to the Shipping Industry and the first port of call for large corporate entities[/expand]
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British Politician and Renowned Businessman

From 1991 until 2000, Archie Norman was Chief Executive and then Chairman of Asda, the large supermarket chain, and was credited with turning it around and making it the second largest in the UK, before its sale to Walmart in June 1999. He helped form the think tank Policy Exchange. In 2002 he joined Energis as Chairman having led a consortium of banks in the purchase and refinance of the UK arm from the administrators of Energis Plc.

“Archie is without doubt one of the UK’s most respected retail executives”

[expand title=”In detail”] Mr Norman was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Tunbridge Wells in the 1997 general election. Whilst in Parliament he served as a shadow minister from 1999 until 2001, when he returned to the backbenches. He stood down as MP at the May 2005 general election. He has also previously been a Member of the HM Government Deregulation Taskforce (1993-1997) and a Member of the Anglo-German Deregulation Taskforce in 1995. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]A remarkable and successful businessman, Archie has held a number of prestigious positions for major blue-chip companies. Drawing on his experiences he is able to show decision makers how to design effective business strategies to improve performance, to successfully motivate the workforce and to effectively deal with change.[/expand]
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Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School

Prof. Tarun Khanna is the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor and a Novartis Fellow at Harvard Business School. Currently, he teaches in Harvard’s comprehensive general management executive education programs. His current research focuses on understanding the drivers of entrepreneurship worldwide.

In 2007, he was nominated to be a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum

[expand title=”In detail”] Prof. Khanna has served as course head of the strategy course in the Harvard MBA program, and chaired the executive education program on Strategy, Leadership and Governance. He is actively involved in mentoring startups in Asia. His scholarly work has been published in a range of journals over the past fifteen years, he is also serving as a co-editor of several prestigious economics and management journals. His first book, ‘Foundations of Neural Networks’, has been translated into Italian and Japanese, and is widely used as a reference text in engineering and applied science departments.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Serving on the advisory boards of several multinational and emerging market companies in the financial services, automotive, life sciences and agribusiness sectors, Tarun Khanna has experience in a wide variety of industries. Providing valuable insights into emerging markets, strategy and leadership and business in China and India, Professor Khanna is in great demand with audiences worldwide.[/expand]
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Author and Leading Authority on Creative Problem Solving and Lateral Leadership

Paul Sloane is well known as a thought provoking, entertaining and motivational speaker. He is the author of 17 books on lateral puzzles, creative problem-solving and lateral leadership. He was described in the Independent as the ‘King of Lateral Thinking Puzzles.’ He is the founder of Destination-Innovation, a consultancy that helps organisations gain competitive advantage through innovation.

“Really useful material presented enthusiastically and
with immediate relevance.” Syntegra

[expand title=”In detail”] Paul took a first in Engineering at Cambridge. His stellar career started in IBM where he came top of Sales School. He was part of the team that launched the IBM PC in the UK. Paul then went on to be Managing Director of the database leaders, Ashton-Tate. He became VP International for MathSoft Inc. and CEO of Monactive Ltd[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Paul gives after-dinner talks, keynote addresses, link presentations and workshops. His talks offer a unique blend of puzzling challenges and hard-hitting business messages. They are motivational, stimulating and fun but with strong takeaway themes on leadership, creativity and innovation[/expand]
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Thought Leader in Innovation, Business Design

John Kao is known as an authority on the intersecting subjects of corporate innovation and transformation, digital media, design strategy, and the future of business. He has made a career out of helping organizations go from “getting” the importance of innovation to “getting innovation done.” In addition to his other accomplishments, John is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, private investor, Tony-nominated producer, and business pioneer

“The world’s leading expert on business creativity” Klause Schwab, Founder, World Economic Forum

[expand title=”In detail”] For 14 years, he taught at Harvard Business School where he developed courses, lectures and executive seminars. He was also a visiting professor at the MIT Media Lab. From 1997-2001, he was founder and CEO of The Idea Factory, known for its innovation advisory work. He is on the boards of Lion Digital Pictures, NeoSpine, Inc., and is an honorary Vice President of Arts & Business, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art. John has collaborated with a variety of world renowned designers and his unique approach to innovation is strongly influenced by the disciplines of design.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Dubbed a “serial innovator” and “Mr. Creativity” by The Economist, John’s experience in the design field is multifaceted and he takes up the challenge of reinventing the relationship between design and business. He expertly frames the challenge faced by organisations and offers immensely practical advice on how they can regain our place as innovation leaders.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]John’s tailored speeches are famous for entertaining audiences and for their practical and original frameworks for action. John has also been known to illustrate the fundamentals of innovation (of “jamming,” in his words) by playing jazz piano in a way that provides musical examples of the innovation process at work.[/expand]
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Thought Leader of Open Innovation

As former Vice President of Innovation for Procter & Gamble, Larry Huston was responsible for the company’s global Connect and Develop program where he successfully met his objective of insourcing 50% of the company’s innovation from outside of P&G.

Larry Huston is a leading practitioner of connected innovation and is now managing partner of strategy consultancy 4INNO.

“Asking new questions is the key to truly successful innovation”

[expand title=”In detail”] Larry is recognised globally for his radical business innovation model, ‘Connect and Develop’ which turbocharged more than 250 Procter and Gamble products into the marketplace, generated billions of sales and increased the P&G’s figure of insourced innovation from 15% in 2000 to a remarkable 50% today[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Larry informs his audiences about his highly effective Connect and Develop business innovation model and he shares his invaluable insights on how to successfully revamp product innovation strategies and concept development. His extensive experience and sound advice are hugely beneficial to businesses and organisations worldwide.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Larry has a wonderfully down to earth and approachable presenting style with genuine and evident enthusiasm for his field. These characteristics mixed with his outstanding knowledge contribute to his truly unforgettable presentations.[/expand]
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Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator and Best-Selling Author

Robert Kiyosaki is an investor, entrepreneur, educator and author.

He is best known for his series of best selling motivational books Rich Dad, Poor Dad. He also writes a bi-weekly column – Why the Rich Are Getting Richer – for Yahoo! Finance and a monthly column titled Rich Returns for Entrepreneur magazine.

“With every dollar in your hand, you have the power to choose to be rich, poor or middle class.”

[expand title=”In detail”] In 1985 Robert founded an international education company that taught business and investing to tens of thousands of students throughout the world. He sold his business in 1984 and, through his investments, was able to retire at the age of 47. It was then, during his short-lived retirement, he wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Robert’s perspectives on money and investing fly in the face of conventional wisdom. He has challenged and changed the way tens of millions, around the world, think about money. [/expand]

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Leading Authority in the field of Creative, Conceptual Thinking

Edward de Bono is widely regarded as the leading authority in the field of creative thinking, innovation and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He is the originator of the term Lateral Thinking which has an official entry in the Oxford English Dictionary and he is equally renowned for his development of the Six Thinking Hats technique and the Direct Attention Thinking Tools (D.A.T.T) framework.

“Implementing creativity should double the profits of any company within 5 years ”
Dr Edward de Bono has been ranked among the top 50 most influential business thinkers. In 2009 Thinkers 50, the global ranking of management gurus, placed him among the list of most influential thinkers.

[expand title=”In detail”] He was the Chairman of the Council of Young Enterprise Europe which had a membership of 1,500,000 youngsters across Europe, Israel and Russia who set up mini-businesses whilst at school. He also established the World Centre for New Thinking which acts as a platform and channel to make visible New Thinking from any source.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]The main appeal of Edward’s work is its simplicity and practicality. His instructions in thinking have been sought by governments and corporations worldwide while his programmes for the teaching of thinking in schools are mandatory in some countries. He teaches his audiences that you can solve problems not by removing the cause, but by designing the way forward, even if the cause remains in place.[/expand]
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