George Goens

Featured Keynote Programs

Leadership is essential for organizations to be successful. Getting the "bottom-line" numbers takes more than goals, targets, and procedures. Leadership requires more than brains and skills to coalesce people around a common goal.

Commitment grows out of the intangibles that go into developing successful relationships. Soft leadership is not softheaded, wimpy, or indecisive. Soft leadership rests on those principles and ethics that establish a leader’s integrity and credibility. Without integrity and credibility plans, procedures and goals are impotent. Leadership must inspire the human spirit and rest on noble principles to produce relationships and outcomes that have virtue and integrity.

When he was superintendent of schools, George faced a tragic crisis: the murder of a principal in school during the school day. The practical experience and lessons in working through that crisis have value for private and public sector organizations. He learned what works and what is essential in the heat of a crisis to respond appropriately so that lives are protected, the crisis abated, and healing can take place.

Are leaders more like engineers or poets? What is the proper metaphor for leading an organization in today's complex and competitive environment? Can we reengineer excellence into people and organizations? Or does leadership require much more? Leadership, poetry, and storytelling are integrally related in highly successful organizations. Each successful enterprise has a story. Leaders, like poets, communicate the essence of that story and challenge our heads, hearts, and spirit to fulfill ourselves in the pursuit of that unfolding story.

Are we in danger of having a generation of children that is well schooled but poorly educated? A significant difference exists between an educated person and one who is well schooled. The penchant to re-engineer schools based around metrics holds the danger of having students who get the numbers and play the game of schooling, but graduate without the wisdom to live a life of purpose and meaning. A civilized society, our organizations, and our democracy require well-educated people who have principles and ethics that guide their lives and decisions.

Finding meaning does not come out of your computer’s c-drive. Nor does it come from the latest process or spreadsheet. Society’s fast pace and the cascading avalanche of technology can dwarf and fog what calls to us. Finding meaning and meeting our calling is essential to living a life of purpose. What can leaders do to create an environment where people can fulfill themselves and the mission of the organization?