James Bird Guess

Leading without a Title: How to Influence, Inspire and Infect others with Energy and Enthusiasm

The 4 Keys to being an Authentic Leader regardless of your title, power or authority:
In today’s workplace, you don’t need a title to be a leader and yet, many can manage, few can lead. Many organizations are deficient in authentic leaders, the type of leaders who can influence others without intimidation, and motivate teams to achieve remarkable results without extra compensation. If your title, power, and authority were stripped from you today, would your staff still follow you? Could you still influence others and obtain their buy-in? For many managers and leaders, the only reason their staff follows them is because they have to, not because they want to! Title leaders are limited in their ability to bring the best performance out of people and often their staff develops “pay-check mentalities.” Authentic leaders lead with influence instead of intimidation.

James Bird Guess is not a speaker, he’s an experience! His high-energy delivery, no powerpoint interactive speaking style has led to thousands of employees across the U.S. referring to him as the “Michael Jordan of Motivation.”

Homeless after high school, James built a quarter million dollar business from the trunk of his car, and is now a world-renowned management consultant and keynote speaker. James is a highly sought-after authority and subject matter expert on employee engagement, strategic leadership, culture change, and talent retention.

James currently serves as CEO of International Success Academy, a management consulting firm that provides advisory services to mid-market and Fortune 1000 companies including QuikTrip, Shiner Bock Brewery, Koch Industries, United Surgical Partners, FirstGroup America, and National Oilwell Varco. His areas of expertise include advising executive teams on change management, strategic
leadership, and employee engagement strategies, as well as customizing and facilitating on-site leadership training, and high-energy team building experiences

James also provides board and advisory oversight to companies in health care, oil and energy, retail, aviation, government, and education industries. His vast amount of broad-based business experiences helping companies maximize organizational effectiveness, has honed his unique skillset for providing innovative ideas, insights, best practices and "next practices" to company leaders making decisions that positively impact shareholder value.

Honored as an African American Leader Under 40 by the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, James is also a former member of historic Super Bowl XLV Slant Executive Committee, and was voted “Best Speaker” at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is the best-selling author of Lead Like Water: Many Can Manage, Few Can Lead and The Leadership Virus: Inspire, Influence and Infect People with Energy and Enthusiasm.