BACKGROUND

Very few people are "natural born leaders." So, what are the rest of us to do? This presentation demonstrates how the best leaders in the world infuse their organizations with the unbeatable combination of vision, extraordinary communication skills and an uncompromising commitment to quality. Great leadership = great customer service.

The best leaders also recognize that exceptional customer service breaks down if they don’t model the desired attitudes and behaviors with their internal customers … their employees. Doug was the head of training at Disney’s corporate headquarters during their most tumultuous times of leadership, adjusting from a Disney-family run company to the team of Michael Eisner and Frank Wells. Doug witnessed these growing pains first-hand and discusses how great teams, such as Walt & Roy and Michael & Frank are necessary for balanced leadership.

Top and middle-managers are responsible for creating the culture of the organization and building the team that "lives and breathes" the culture. Successful leaders get it -- employees and customers sense sincerity and respond to it! Doug gives numerous examples of how successful leaders become role-models of excellence, leading to both personal and professional success. He provides time-tested strategies for positioning your leadership team and staff for continued success.

Doug is famous for his learn-by-doing approach and will accomplish objectives by combining a combination of experiential exercises, participant-centered activities and eye-opening "behind the scenes" stories from his career at Disney and as a consultant to Fortune 500 corporations. His unique and engaging story-telling presentation style will help you examine the traits and strategies of outstanding leaders and teams.

PROGRAM

All presentations are customized. Needs assessment time with Doug is included with every project. Great attention to organizational challenges and/or mission is considered when designing a client’s program. Presentations may be a 1-hour keynote or up to 3 hours in a workshop format. Leadership and Teamwork programs may contain any of the following learning modules.

• Your Values: What do you "fight" for?

  What values does your leadership embrace? How does your organization ensure top-level strategies and values are embraced by front-line employees. How do you bring these values to life every day while maintaining your focus on projects and staff?

• Dreamer or Doer? It’s All About Balance: Life on the Highwire

  

  Art & Science, Maintenance & Risk-Taking, Short-Term & Long-Term, Expertise & Empathy … All of these represent balances that leaders must embrace. How is your balance?

• Change or Perish:

  Resting on one’s laurels is not an option! Exploring the leader’s and staff member’s role in creating and maintaining a highly creative and energized team. Disney came to the brink of disaster – twice – in the last 25 years. Explore what led to this and how was it averted.

• Branding, Disney Style:

  So, you don’t have a famous mouse, duck or tiger? No worries - Anyone can build a durable brand. Do you have what it takes? Here’s a hint - budget is the least of your concerns. Strong leaders are vitally important in creating and sustaining an organizational culture and branding.

• The Buck Stops With You:

  Great leadership = great service. The relationship between leadership, team productivity, outstanding service and satisfaction scores. The power of execution, consistency and transparency is key.

• Communicate:

  The role of the leader and associates in tearing down the departmental silos that can destroy teamwork, communication and effectiveness. How do Disney and other world-class organizations get it done … strategies that anyone can use to excel.

• Attitude:

  What truly excites your customers? What is the best way to hold onto your top performing associates now and also after this economy rebounds? How can you take your service to unprecedented levels? Listen to how Disney brilliantly handled common leadership challenges to help motivate employees and create service magic.

• The Parking Lot Principle:

  Parking lots at Disney theme parks are huge assets used to create customer service differentiators. How? At what cost? Learn outstanding examples of how the best leaders tear down departmental silos to maximize teamwork, communication and innovation. What is the equivalent of the parking lot principle in your company?

• Popcorn Empowerment: The Fine Art of Employee and Customer Retention

  Learn how Disney leadership used this strategy to turn employees into highly engaged and motivated superstars.

• Mental Toughness:

  "Do more with less." "Cut budgets, improve service." These are current realities … and can lead to catastrophic burnout and turnover. How do you and your team cope? What can you do to take your creativity, energy and brand to the next level?

Want more? Check out Doug’s other speech topic pages for additional learning modules

TESTIMONIALS

“I give highest regards to Doug for the outstanding presentation provided to 750 leaders at Providence Health System. In these past few weeks, I have received over 100 comments regarding his presentation, including; ‘Excellent, engaging speaker’, ‘Very dynamic and insightful’, and ‘awesome speaker, I enjoyed every minute of it.’ He was everything the leaders mentioned and more! As the one who chose Doug as our Keynote speaker, I was impressed at several levels with him. He reviewed every detail of our organization and spoke to our Mission and Core Values. Doug made the connection between his background and our Vision so perfectly, many thought he was one of our own leaders”.        Providence Health & Services

“You were a hit! As you know, the event sponsor was concerned about a “meaningful” presentation. These people receive hundreds of hours of training and conferences, so they have high expectations. As mentioned in our team debrief, “Doug was so convincing in his knowledge of our industry, that many of the participants thought he worked with our firm all the time.” I have heard from a number of our leaders that your presentation was well received and achieved our objective of opening up the minds of our partners to being mindful of cultural differences in their daily business practices”.        Ernst and Young

“Our Management Team Leadership Conference was a success and your keynote presentation set the tone for the entire day. Your willingness to take time before the conference to understand our needs in terms of the change process was very appreciated and recognized as a key factor for success!” Sandia National Laboratories

“Thank you for speaking to our managers about leadership and building effective customer service in their restaurants. You presented in a manner that was both humorous and entertaining, while still getting your message across to the entire audience. You completely captured them with your energy, your conviction, and the undeniable truth of your message!”        KFC

“I was tremendously impressed with how Doug was able to seamlessly assimilate information about our organization into his presentation. There was little question that Mr. Lipp had done his homework in advance and had an excellent understanding of our organization and had been able to tailor his presentation to truly fit our organization. So many times we hear speakers who have a great “canned presentation” and don’t make the effort to build or reinforce the connection to their clients. What was even more impressive was how Doug spent time listening to our internal presentations and humanized his presentation to our organization. The end result was that we had a powerful message, delivered with both passion and humor that was conveyed with tremendous insight into our organization and linked to our strategic objectives.”        Tarion Warranty

“Greetings from South Africa! I would like to extend my most sincere thanks to you for your presentations at our Leadership Conference. The two presentations were very well received and the feedback from our delegates highlighted the wonderful way in which you drew examples from you own experience and contextualised them for MNet. I hope you will visit our country again!”        Mnet