Home / Entrepreneurship / Paul Allen
https://static.thesweeneyagency.com/uploads/pallen.mp4
About Paul Allen - A Technology Visionary, Entrepreneur and Leading Speaker on Innovation, Human Potential & The Global Strengths Movement:
Paul Allen is a mission-driven entrepreneur, tech visionary, and lecturer on entrepreneurship and innovation, technology, strengths psychology, workplace culture, and human potential. Paul has founded 8 companies in his 29-year career in tech.
He is best known for co-founding Ancestry.com in 1997. He was its original CEO and created the content subscription business model and marketing strategies. He served in many executive roles as Ancestry became the leading genealogy company in the world.
From 2012-2017 Paul was Global Strengths Evangelist for Gallup, helping lead a worldwide movement to bring strengths psychology into schools and workplaces. The StrengthsFinder 2.0 customer base grew from 7 million to 16 million during that time.
Paul taught entrepreneurship and marketing at the university level for 4 years. He serves on the National Advisory Board for the Utah Valley University School of Business. He is a director of the Human Justice Foundation, which aims to change the emphasis in the criminal justice system from punishment and retribution to compassion and rehabilitation.
Paul has travelled extensively and has spoken around the world about how to unlock potential in individuals and build positive, strengths-based cultures. From Canada to China, Hong Kong to Hawaii, and in Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia, Paul has spoken to CEOs, global HRDs, entrepreneurs, educators, managers, and students.
Paul was the keynote speaker for Gallup at the inaugural CliftonStrengths Summit in Omaha, Nebraska in July 2016. In 2017, he was a main stage presenter at the CliftonStrengths Summit, along with keynote speakers Deepak Chopra and best-selling author Tom Rath.
What Paul Allen Talks About:
Unlocking the Strengths of All Your Employees
Executives often give lip-service to the "our employees are our greatest asset" mantra. But do they really value people—or deep down do they view them as a liability to be replaced with robots and AI as soon as possible?
Only 25% of American workers say they have the opportunity to do what they do best every day. This means that your greatest asset is likely being severely underutilized, leading to both lack of engagement and opportunity cost for the organization as a whole.
This popular keynote is a powerful introduction to creating a strengths-based culture that results in company and employee growth. Companies like Facebook, Accenture, Rackspace, and hundreds of others have joined the Strengths revolution and are seeing incredible results. What would happen if each employee knew the strengths of their coworkers, and was provided an environment where they could do what they do best?
Sparking A Strengths Movement in Your Organization
A full two-thirds of American workers say they are disengaged at work. We've all seen what that looks like: glazed eyes, gaunt exhaustion written across the face. Work is a hated grind, and so even the most basic day-to-day work tasks can feel that they require almost insurmountable effort. Because of this, disengaged employees put in the bare minimum of effort required to get a paycheck.
Now what about that engaged one-third? What do they look like? They are excited to come into work because they get to do something they're good at, and this builds remarkable satisfaction. These employees are invested in the company, and motivated to find traditional and creative ways to contribute.Since "Now Discover Your Strengths" was published in 2001, 17 million people have discovered their own unique Strengths. A work environment where employees personal strengths are acknowledged, utilized, and cultivated changes the entire work environment and culture from disengaged to fully engaged. Not only is employee engagement doubled or even tripled, but teams that use their strengths are 8-18% more productive.
This is why 94% of Fortune 500 companies have joined the global Strengths movement. Establishing this Strengths-based culture takes leadership, training, conversation, and coaching. In this keynote, you will learn how the Strengths movement has sparked in thousands of locations worldwide, and how they're achieving this remarkable result. You will learn all the steps necessary to spark a Strengths-based revolution in your own company.
Using Strengths To Support Diversity & Inclusion
Many business and community leaders are calling for more action on Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace. Bias negatively impacts economic opportunity and personal development for many in the workplace, as well as in education.
In this keynote, you will see data and examples that suggest we can successfully confront bias with tools from positive psychology such as strengths assessments, strengths-based conversations with managers and employees, and individual and team coaching interventions.
It is possible to build workplace cultures that identify, develop, utilize, and celebrate the innate talents of every individual, regardless of background. Strengths provide a new way of thinking, a new lens with which to see people, and a common language that helps us describe people in a positive way. These things can help leaders, managers, and employees confront bias in the workplace leading to greater diversity and inclusion.
A Life of Books In an Age Of Distraction
In our modern, technological world, where the near entirety of libraries like those in Cambridge and Oxford are digitized and available online, it is a sad but truthful irony that the same technology has allowed comparatively meaningless and mindless distractions to seep into our everyday lives. We are accustomed to budgeting our money, but do we also budget our Intellectual Capital?
Leaders are readers. Book lists from people like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg show how invested they are in learning from the best sources. Warren Buffett famously spends up to 80% of his day reading. The content of a single book or article, read at the right time, can help a company reinvent itself, and become more innovative and efficient. Books can also deepen understanding, build motivation, and create empathy.
The very best of humanities history, wisdom and knowledge is right there in front of us. We just have to choose to embrace it.
Paul's passion is infectious in a way that will motivate you to action. Your team will be inspired
VidAngel
Josh Linkner
Troy Hazard
Robert Safian
Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Inspiring Stories, Technology