Andy Bernstein

Harnessing Fire: Leadership in the Age of Disruption

In 1910, over 3 million acres of the Rocky Mountains caught fire — the largest wildfire in US history. Entire towns were reduced to ash. When the Great Fire was finally put out, the US Forest Service made a solemn vow: “Never again.” They built thousands of lookout towers and deployed an army of rangers to quickly extinguish every spark. It seemed like a great success.

Then they saw the sequoias. The sequoia is the largest organism on Earth, and one of the oldest. It can live for 3,000 years. But by the 1950’s, these ancient giants were dying out.

Why? Because fire was necessary to clear the soil around their trunks and open their pinecones. Sequoias needed fire. It helped them thrive.

And the same thing is true for leaders.

In this engaging and interactive session, you’ll discover how adversity — the fires we all face — when managed correctly can fuel leadership development. You’ll learn:

• The two most critical qualities for effective leadership based on global research
• Why adversity either cultivates or crushes these qualities, depending on how it’s handled
• A simple, seven-step guided worksheet to transform challenges into fuel for leadership growth and team performance — without stigma or awkwardness
• Practical ways to apply this process to real-world challenges at work and at home, helping your people thrive in an increasingly disrupted world

All participants will also gain exclusive access to a specialized online platform, designed to help you continue applying and building on the insights gained in the session.

Don’t suppress fire in your organization — harness it.

Mastering Stress, Resilience, and Change

If you are considering a resilience keynote for your audience, this session is different. Instead of rehashed stress management, we start by seeing that the way we understand stress today is based largely on the work of one man: stress research pioneer Hans Selye, who taught the whole world how stress worked, where it came from (he coined the term “stressor,”) and what to do about it. 

Selye was one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century. He was also fundamentally wrong.

In this eye-opening session:

• you’ll see why Selye was wrong — and the disastrous consequences this has had on global well-being 
• you’ll learn how stress and resilience really work — and why there is no such thing as a stressor
• you’ll discover a new way to stop managing stress and start eliminating it — without positive thinking, motivation, or “touchy-feeliness” 
• and you’ll get to try this for yourself, going through a specific sequence of mind-shifting steps that provoke a breakthrough, even for large, skeptical, senior audiences — without anyone having to say a word

This session is not about managing or accepting stress. It’s about leveraging stress and turning it into a springboard for greater happiness, deeper relationships, and stronger team performance in a way that is smart, relevant, and practical.

Note: The session can be bundled with books, and automatically comes with three months of online family memberships per participant to deliver much greater value over typical keynotes.

Crucibles

How can you build humble, driven, team- and mission-focused leaders able to deal with personal, organizational, and cultural challenges more effectively?

Crucibles are high-temperature vessels used to melt metals, but we use the term figuratively to represent adverse experiences that transform us. We see why crucibles matter, how they work, and the internal dynamics that give them the power to make or break us as leaders and human beings.

Then we discover eye-opening tools that harness the power of crucibles to transform challenges more effectively, building the flexible, compassionate, clear-minded leaders and organizations we desperately need.

The Ecology of Great Teams

Do you want your people to perform at their best while maintaining high morale? If your people work in teams, this program can make a transformative difference. 

• In this session, you’ll learn:
• Why exceptional teams aren’t built solely on KPIs or other metrics —those are lagging indicators. The secret to great teams lies in fostering a profound sense of connection and authenticity.
• The powerful distinction between managing a team like an engineer (“optimizing parts”) and nurturing it like an ecologist (“balancing relationships”).
• As a “team ecologist,” how can you cultivate this shared connection? You’ll learn to leverage four vital elements that foster team connectedness and performance:
  • Soil: Building psychological safety
  • Sun: Providing encouragement and support
  • Rain: Practicing empathy and understanding
  • Fire: Harnessing adversity to spark resilience and growth

An engineering approach excels with machines, but managing people requires a different mindset. This session equips you with a practical framework and actionable tools to enhance team dynamics, boost morale, and drive sustainable performance.

All attendees will gain exclusive access to a specialized online platform designed to help you continue applying and building on the insights you’ve gained during the session.