Richard Gerver
New York Times Bestselling Author & Chair of Princeton’s Department of African American Studies
Richard Gerver
New York Times Bestselling Author & Chair of Princeton’s Department of African American Studies
Biography
Richard Gerver is a sought-after speaker, bestselling author and world-renowned thinker. His career began in education, first as a teacher and then as a school principal, when he turned the fortunes of a failing school and its pupils around in just two years.
Since the success of his first book, focusing on his experience in frontline education, Richard has devoted himself to advancing society’s thinking on learning, change, and how best to realise our full potential. He has since written several books on leadership and innovation, including the international bestsellers Change and Simple Thinking.
Now regarded as one of the world's leading thinkers on human leadership and organisational transformation, Richard has worked with an extraordinary range of people, from elite athletes to The Dalai Lama and former US President Barack Obama. Named UK Business Speaker of the Year three times, Richard has been invited to speak on the world’s most recognised stages, including TED, the RSA and the BBC.
In 2019 Richard was asked by LinkedIn to create bespoke courses for their online learning portal LinkedIn Learning. Drawing on content from Richard’s keynote speeches and his best-selling books, the courses teach Smart Thinking Under Pressure and Developing Mental Toughness. The courses have been taken by hundreds of thousands worldwide, and translated into several languages including Spanish, French and Japanese.
With his unique insight into our development from infants to adults, Richard helps us understand the nature of our personal and professional responses to risk, change, creativity, and development. His ability to connect experiences across many, often seemingly different, environments help individuals’ companies and organisations expand their thinking and their perception of their own potential.
Speaker Videos
Richard Gerver - EDULEARN19 Keynote Speech
EDULEARN19 - Interview with Richard Gerver
The Power of Purpose at London Business Forum (2019)
Clarity at London Business Forum (2017)
Grow Your Own Leaders at London Business Forum (2014)
Change at London Business Forum (2013)
Top Tips for #purpose
My #journey
The Future of Education
Courageous Leadership
#KindergartenCulture
RICHARD'S SHOWREEL
Speech Topics
Change
Change is certainly not a new phenomenon, but it is an accelerating one. On the whole, we were educated and prepared to live lives where certainty would be our reward, personally and professionally. We were told that if we got our heads down and focused on doing the best we could, as efficiently as possible our reward would be stability. The rapid evolutions in technology, global economy, the environment, social and societal fabric have led to a world where doing enough, only seems to leave us lagging further and further behind, exhausted by the efforts we are expending just to try and keep pace.
The brutal truth is that the world, our sectors and our lives are never going to slow down, or go back to ‘normal’, so we need to find ways to evolve- not just in the workplace but at home too. We must develop new ways of thinking and behaving if we are to find ways to feel in control of the future and enjoy the opportunities it will present. To do that, we must understand why we feel the way we do and what we can do, personally and professionally, to build new and proactive mindsets that will find us ahead of the curve, rather than breathlessly trying to cling on to the back of it.
Key take aways:
- Inspire audiences to look optimistically into the future
- Help people to understand their responses to uncertainty and change
- Motivate teams to continue to strive for success
- Provide people with the tools and attributes to feel in control
- Transform the mindset and thinking ability of your people
- See change as an opportunity rather than a threat
- To develop proactive mindsets and behaviours
Resilience!
The world is spinning faster than ever and is throwing an increasing number of challenges and obstacles our way, be they social, technological, economic, medical or personal and the key to successfully navigating these periods is mental toughness; resilience. It won’t just help you survive but it’ll prepare you to thrive in the complexity and uncertainty.
Whether we like to admit it or not, professional and personal lives often become intertwined – no matter how hard we try to prevent it. Stresses in one can soon take their toll on the other, and skills learned at home can also be brought into the workplace. For this reason, it’s of utmost importance to ensure your team has everything they need for mental resilience to allow them to shine – not just in the workplace but at home too. When we find ways to deal with the tough stuff, we can focus, with greater clarity and precision about a proactive future.
Key Takeaways:
- Inspire audiences to persevere in challenging times
- Help people to understand their responses to uncertainty and change
- Motivate teams to continue to strive for success
- Provide people with the inner strength to resolve challenges
- Transform the mindset and thinking ability of your people
- Bounce back from disappointment and use the experience of any setbacks to succeed
Education
The future depends on our learning and education system not only being efficient but dynamic. If our core moral purpose is to prepare emerging generations for the challenges of their future, then we need to ensure that, as leaders and educators, we are cognisant of the challenges that that future may hold and be ready to evolve the system to meet not only the changing demands in terms of knowledge, but in behaviours, attributes, attitudes and skills.
As leaders and as educators, we need to ensure that we develop cultures that are open to change and to us broadening horizons, to being prepared to be challenged and to challenge ourselves, so that we continue to provide a system worthy of our children and one that reflect the opportunities of the future as well as anchoring the achievements of the past.
As organisations beyond the formal education sector, creating a culture of curiosity, education and learning, will be the defining characteristic of sustainable success as we head into the complexity of the 22nd Century.
Key Takeaways:
- Inspire audiences to look optimistically into the future
- Help people to understand their responses to uncertainty and change
- Motivate teams to continue to strive for success
- Provide people with the tools and attributes to feel in control
- Transform the mindset and thinking ability of your staff and students
- See educational change as an opportunity rather than a threat
- To develop proactive mindsets and behaviours
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