LinkedIn Speaker Series

We are proud to host our first LinkedIn Speaker Series event live from the new office in Singapore! 

During this session, you will find out what happens when a Mount Everest expedition leader becomes partially disabled and then decides to undertake a ten year study about how teams and individuals work together on and off the mountains!

David Lim, leader of the first Singapore Everest Expedition in 1998, will share the lessons he learned from Everest and what climbing the great peaks can teach us all about self leadership and teamwork.

This session will be just the inspiration you need for the rest of Q4!  Learn how to set and accomplish goals, understand how your brain works under pressure, create a winning culture, and gain meaningful insight about what you can do in your workplace to be more successful!

Direct download: 2014_1117-LSS_Singapore-1206_Podcast.mp3
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LinkedIn and Kiva are kindred spirits - sharing the common goal of economic opportunity expansion.  We are honored to host an enlightening conversation between Reid Hoffman, Premal Shah, Kiva’s President and Julie Hanna, Kiva’s Chair of the Board.  

 

Premal and Julie will discuss everything they are learning about:

  • The most effective ways to reach and truly financially empower the world's poorest

  • The challenges of microfinance and how technological innovation & great social entrepreneurs can help overcome these challenges

  • The challenges and opportunities of operating a non-profit internet public good

  • The problem of credit access for U.S. small businesses and how innovation can help create more opportunity here at home

More About Premal Shah

Premal Shah leads Kiva.org, a website that allows you to lend $25 to the working poor. Since 2005, Kiva lenders have financed over 1 million low-income entrepreneurs from 75 countries, with a 98% repayment rate. The site has been named as one of Oprah's Favorite Things and a Top 50 Website by TIME Magazine. Premal’s inspiration for Kiva came in 2004. Working for several years at PayPal, he took 2 months off to volunteer in India. There he worked with low-income women to help them sell handcrafts online. While the project had mixed results, it strengthened his belief that the right combination of technology, business and love can dramatically accelerate opportunity for those most left out. Today with a burgeoning community of 1 million Kiva lenders, this belief becomes more of a reality each day. For his work as a social entrepreneur, Premal was named on FORTUNE magazine’s “Top 40 under 40″ list. Premal is a graduate of Stanford University.

 

More About Julie Hanna

Julie Hanna is a serial entrepreneur who is driven by her belief in information technology as a democratizing force for social, political and business disruption. She has spent the last twenty years pioneering products that have allowed tens of millions around the world to connect, communicate and collaborate. Her experience creating innovative products and new business models now informs her work as a board member, angel investor and mentor to fellow entrepreneurs and CEO’s. In addition to serving as Chair of the Board at Kiva, Julie is a member of the board at Socialtext, the leading social networking SaaS provider for small and medium businesses, and an advisor to leading technology incubator, Idealab, as well as a number of internet startups and social ventures in the U.S. and Europe. Serving in roles that ranged from founding executive to founder & CEO, Julie has helped build five consumer internet and software companies. Among them, onebox.com, (acquired by OpenWave Nasdaq; OPNWV) the fastest growing internet communications service in 1999; Portola, the first internet mail system for businesses where she was instrumental to the acquisition by Netscape; Scalix, a pioneer and global leader in open source software and Healtheon, now WebMD (Nasdaq: WBMD).

 

Direct download: 2014_1022-LSS_Reid-KIVA_MP3-1154-Podcast.mp3
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Join us for a conversation with U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand about how to raise your voice, make a difference and change the world.

Revolutionary, transparent, empowering and forward-thinking are just a few of the words that have been used to describe Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Since taking office in 2009 at age 42 to fill Hillary Rodham Clinton's New York Senate seat when Clinton was appointed Secretary of State, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has established herself as a passionate, fearless, and laser-focused presence in Congress.

The granddaughter and daughter of two trail-blazing feminists, Gillibrand is a fierce advocate for getting women involved in the issues that matter most to them and making their voices heard; in 2011, she formed the PAC Off the Sidelines with that very mission in mind. And as a wife and mother to two young sons, she's a role model to working moms everywhere.
 
With the release of OFF THE SIDELINES: Raise Your Voice, Change the World, Senator Gillibrand hopes to share her message with a much wider audience.  By telling her story, she aims to inspire all women, no matter their age or socio-economic status, to live their lives with meaning and purpose— to let them know that women need to lift each other up, and that there is power in the collective. “Speak up, be heard. You can make a difference”, she writes.

More About Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Born and raised in upstate New York, Kirsten Gillibrand got her start watching her grandmother, Polly Noonan, organize Albany women to make a difference. Those early experiences taught Kirsten the values that guide her public service to this day: hard work, idealism, honesty and bold action.

As congresswoman, Gillibrand pledged to be honest, open and upfront with the public and always stay accessible and accountable. The New York Times called her commitment to transparency a "quiet touch of revolution" in Washington.
 
Shortly after being elected to the Senate in 2009, Gillibrand made her presence felt, leading the fight to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and overcoming fierce partisan opposition to provide health care and compensation for the 9/11 first responders. This year, she has earned national recognition for fighting the Pentagon over how sexual assaults in the military are prosecuted, creating a unique bipartisan coalition in the process. She is now helping to lead a bipartisan coalition to take on the issue of sexual assaults on our college campuses – all while continuing her successful Off the Sidelines project which supports women candidates across the country.
 
Gillibrand’s work led TIME Magazine to name her as one of 2014’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and the New York Daily News to place her number four on its recent list of “50 Most Powerful Women in New York.” Kirsten has also been recognized as one of Newsweek and The Daily Beast‘s “150 Women Who Shake the World.”

 
Today, Kirsten and her husband, Jonathan, live in Troy, New York with their two young sons, Theo and Henry. Her family is a major inspiration behind her public service career. She does not want any mother to have to worry that there will not be enough food on the table or health care for their sick child.

Direct download: 2014_1009_SenatorGillibrand.mp3
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This month we hosted our *youngest* speaker ever in our San Francisco office. When Vivienne Harr was 8 years old she learned that there was child slavery in the world and was deeply troubled by it. So, she decided to make a lemonade stand every day until she raised $100,000 to end child slavery.

Two years later, she and her family have started “Make A Stand Lemon-aid” and through their ongoing dedication and passion for this cause, they have raised over $1 million dollars for organizations that are working to eradicate child slavery in the U.S. and around the world. Make a Stand is a social impact brand that supports its 10-year-old founder's vision of a world where all 18 million enslaved children are free and safe.

"You don't have to be big or powerful to change the world. You can be just like me." - Vivienne Harr

Direct download: 2014_0826-VivienneHarr-1071_Podcast.mp3
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This month’s Speaker Series was hosted from our New York office with our special guest, Adam Braun, Founder and CEO, Pencils of Promise -- the epitome of a transformational story.  JDan Roth, Executive Editor at LinkedIn, sat down with him to discuss the incredible work Pencils of Promise is doing and learned more about Adam’s personal journey.

They also discussed his book: The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change.  The Promise of a Pencil is an inspiring story that shares the essential lessons to creating a life of meaning, passion, and purpose. The book shares the riveting story of how Adam started with only $25 and has now built over 200 schools around the world.  It also discusses the guiding steps that any ordinary person can take to lead a successful and significant life. Talk about transformation!

More About Adam
Adam Braun began on the path towards a career in finance, but met a young boy begging on the streets and asked him what he wanted most in the world. The answer- "A pencil." Braun then backpacked through 50+ countries to deeply understand the state of global education and develop a best-practice model to help local communities organize and educate their children.

Pencils of Promise is now a leading nonprofit organization that has broken ground on more than 200 schools across Africa, Asia and Latin America and delivered nearly 10 million educational hours in its first five years. PoP was founded with just $25 using what Braun coined as a "For-Purpose" approach to blending nonprofit idealism with for-profit business principles.

Direct download: 2014_0731-AdamBraun-1039_Podcast.mp3
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LinkedIn Speaker Series with Jeff Weiner, Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha - June 26, 2014

LinkedIn's co-founder/chairman, Reid Hoffman, has written a new book with Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh: The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age.

Jeff Weiner  sat down with Reid and Ben to discuss this fascinating and very relevant topic before the book is released in early July.

The premise of the book is that the employer-employee relationship is broken. Managers face a seemingly impossible dilemma: You can't afford to offer lifetime employment. But you can't build a lasting, innovative business when everyone acts like a free agent.

The solution: Stop thinking of employees as family or free agents, and start thinking of them as allies on a tour of duty.

This bold but practical guide for managers and executives will give you the tools you need to recruit, manage, and retain the kind of employees who will make your company thrive in today's world of constant innovation and fast-paced change.

What Are Business Leaders Saying About The Alliance?

"GE is competing in its third century. The key to sustained performance is developing competitive leaders in every era. The Alliance captures the essence of modern talent development: trust and mutual value creation helps both employer and employee compete in the marketplace. The authors lay out a framework that helps big companies as well as startups develop their people more effectively, while creating a competitive team."

– Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO, GE
___

"Engaged employees are the key to success in any business. The Alliance is a terrific book that offers real world insights on how to build loyalty, inspire creativity and manage winning teams for the long term."

– Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman & CEO, American Express

Direct download: Speaker_Series_2014_0626_v3-HD_720p_x264_CF1.mp3
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Do you seek purpose from your work?  Do you strive for impact, personal growth and community? 

On Friday, May 23, we hosted Aaron Hurst, CEO of Imperative and author of The Purpose Economy, for our first Speaker Series event hosted from our Dublin office, and a discussion around working with purpose.

A series of shifts are happening in our economy: A record of number of millennials are trading in conventional career paths to launch tech start-ups, start small businesses that are rooted in local communities, or freelance their expertise. We are sharing everything from bikes and cars to extra rooms in our homes.

Globally recognized entrepreneur and founder of Taproot Foundation, that helped create the $15 billion pro bono service market, Aaron Hurst argues in his latest book, The Purpose Economy: How Your Desire for Impact, Personal Growth and Community is Changing the World, that while these developments seem unrelated at first, taken together they reveal a powerful pattern that points to purpose as the new driver of the global economy.

"Aaron Hurst powerfully sums up in The Purpose Economy the fundamental changes taking place in the business world."
-Arianna Huffington, Chair, President and Editor-in-Chief, Huffington Post Media Group

"Here is that rare animal, a business book grounded in compassion. The Purpose Economy taps into our deep craving for meaning in our life and work. If Aaron Hurst is right, and I think he is, we are on the threshold of a new, more value-rich era in business. This book will help find your place in it." 
-Daniel H. Pink, Author of TO SELL IS HUMAN and DRIVE

More About Aaron
Aaron Hurst is an award-winning entrepreneur and globally recognized leader in fields of purpose at work and social innovation. He is the author of three books including The Purpose Economy, which redefines how we think about work and the economy. He is the CEO of Imperative, the new career development platform for professionals seeking purpose at work. Previously, Aaron founded the Taproot Foundation where he was the catalyst and lead architect of the $15 billion pro bono services market.

Aaron has been an advisor and consultant to leading global brands like LinkedIn, Elance, Etsy, Deloitte and Twitter.  He speaks regularly at companies like Google, Citi and BMW and at the campuses of leading business schools around the world.

He is the recipient of the LS&A Humanitarian Award, the highest distinction bestowed on alumni of the University of Michigan.  He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.

Direct download: 2014_0523_AaronHurst-Podcasts.mp3
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Do you find yourself stretched too thin?
 
Do you feel simultaneously overworked and underutilized?
 
Are you often busy, but not productive?

Is your to-do list longer at the end of the day than it was when you started?
 
Do you ever feel like your time is being hijacked by other people’s agendas?


If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the way of the Essentialist.
 
Please join us for a presentation and Q&A with Greg McKeown, author of the forthcoming ESSENTIALISM: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, which teaches how we can do less -- but better-- in every area of our lives. By challenging the assumption of “we can have it all” and “I have to do everything,” and replacing it with “the right thing, in the right way, at the right time,” (does this sound familiar? :) ) we can regain control of our choices about where to spend our precious time and energies so we can make our highest point of contribution towards the things that really matter.

INTERESTING FACT ABOUT GREG!
Greg happens to be one of LinkedIn’s most successful Influencers.  Did you know that he has the third most page views per post (behind Bill Gates and Richard Branson)?  Very impressive.

MORE ABOUT GREG
Greg McKeown is the author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and speaks around the world on the importance of living and leading as an Essentialist. He has spoken at companies including Apple, Facebook, Gilead, Google, Salesforce.com, and Twitter and is among the most popular bloggers for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn’s Influencers. He is the co-creator of the popular course, “Designing Life, Essentially” at Stanford University, and serves as a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum.

Direct download: 2014_0423_GregMcKeown-Podcasts.mp3
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We were lucky to host Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief, of the Huffington Post Media Group where we had the opportunity to hear about her new definition of success.

In her new book, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder, she makes an impassioned and compelling case for the need to redefine what it means to be successful in today's world. Perhaps you will walk away inspired to look at your own life from this new lense!


More About Arianna
Arianna Huffington is the chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, a nationally syndicated columnist, and author of fourteen books. In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that quickly became one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2012, the site won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. In 2013, she was named to the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. In 2006, and again in 2011, she was named to the Time 100, Time Magazine's list of the world’s 100 most influential people. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics. At 21, she became president of the famed debating society, the Cambridge Union. She serves on several boards, including EL PAÍS, PRISA, the Center for Public Integrity, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Her 14th book, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder was published by Crown in March 2014.

Direct download: 2014_0329_AHuffington-Podcasts.mp3
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Blogs - who hasn’t read one? Or maybe you’ve even written one. Chances are one of those blogs was built on WordPress - the world’s most popular blogging platform.  Now, the mastermind behind WordPress and Automattic will be here to share some interesting and powerful insights.
 
Join us for an enlightening and inspiring fireside chat with Reid Hoffman and Matt Mullenweg, co-founder, WordPress and founder and CEO, Automattic.
 
Reid and Matt will discuss:
- Lessons learned from WordPress and Automattic
- Matt’s vision of how content will run on the Internet
- The relationship between content and social networks
- Distributed workforces and how that works for entrepreneurial projects


More About Matt
Matt Mullenweg is the co-founder of the open-source blogging platform, WordPress, the most popular publishing platform on the web, and the founder and CEO of Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and Jetpack. Additionally, Matt is a principal and founder of Audrey Capital, an investment and research company.
Matt got his start in technology working at CNET Networks as a senior product manager. He went on to found Global Multimedia Protocols Group, an experimental Metamemetics company, to develop open data formats. He has been recognized for his leadership and success by Forbes, BusinessWeek, INC., PC World, and Vanity Fair.
Matt is originally from Houston, Texas, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and studied jazz saxophone. In his spare time, Matt is an avid photographer. Matt splits time between Houston, New York, and San Francisco.
 

Direct download: 2014_0220_MattMullenweg-Podcasts.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00pm PDT

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