Cameron Herold

(Based on my talk on TED.com)

As kids, we dream of doing things. But for some reason, when we become adults, we forget about these dreams and join the mainstream. Imagine if kids actually learned how to make their dreams come true. Imagine if we taught kids how to be entrepreneurs.

What does it mean to be an entrepreneur? Entrepreneurs are leaders. They like making money. They're good at solving problems. They often have ADD, ADHD, or signs of bi-polar disorder – the so-called "CEO Disease."

Many kids have entrepreneurial traits. They're the ones who were selling stuff to the other kids in back in grade school.

Unfortunately our education system, and our society as a whole, doesn't encourage kids to be entrepreneurs. And we're missing out on huge opportunities as a result. Instead, our system is saying to medicate the kids. It tells them to sit still and pay attention. We get them tutors for the subjects they are weak in, instead of getting them coaches for the areas where we see early signs of genius. Business schools teach kids to work in companies, not how to start and build them.

We don't recognize these traits because most of us are not entrepreneurs. This talk will show you how to identify these kids and nurture them, instead of pushing them all to be doctors, lawyers, and dentists like we do today.

The world needs entrepreneurs. They are the ones who dream things up, then set out to do them. If more kids were told that they could make their dreams happen, and more of them turned into entrepreneurs, there wouldn't be a single problem in this world that we wouldn’t know how to solve.

Let's not just teach kids; let's grow them into entrepreneurs.

Time: 18 minutes (Required Time by TED.com)

After nearly seven years and being in the role of chief operating officer of a company that grew from $2 Million to $106 Million, Cameron wanted the lessons he’d learned to sink in. So, over the period of the three months immediately following leaving the company, he wrote for twenty minutes every day in a journal to capture what I’d learned. He wrote lists. He mind-mapped. He just wrote. He learned about himself during that period of reflecting. Leadership lessons he wished he’d known 20 years earlier but no one had taught him.

• During this session Cameron will share fifty-eight hardcore leadership lessons that he'd actually learned in 20 years of building 4 fast growth companies.

• This is the perfect keynote or workshop session for all conferences where managers or leaders are in attendance.

• An easy, fast paced, fun session, that will leave everyone in the room completely engaged, and filled to the brim with new lessons to become better leaders themselves.

Time: 75 minutes, including Q&A session

In this invigorating presentation, Cameron shares the secrets he has used to create truly amazing high-growth workplace cultures, including one company he led being rated #2 in Canada’s Best Places to Work as awarded by Canadian Business magazine and twice rated #1 Best Places to Work in BC as awarded by BC Business Magazine. He’s also formally mentored four others now ranked among the best to work for in their countries as well. This is some of the best content he teaches yearly at MIT’s Entrepreneurial Masters Program.

• How to use a unique visioning process called a “Vivid Vision™ ” to create total alignment in your employees and have them reading your mind

• The best systems to attract, interview, select & handcuff top employees

• Secrets to attracting ‘A’ Players away from competitors

• Real life examples of what fantastic workplaces look like where Gen X, Gen Y & Baby Boomers all productively work together

• Step-by-step strategies for balancing culture with your bottom line

Time: 75 minutes, including a substantial Q&A session