Format: 45- to 90-minute keynote - or- 1/2-day hands-on interactive workshop This program is perfect for: Front-line managers New managers Struggling Managers Managers of underperforming teams The audience will leave with: Practical action steps to improve their people leadership skills Specific steps to eliminate the things that compromise leadership Confidence that their leadership skills can grow, making them more effective, improving their team's ROI, creating greater job success, customer satisfaction, and profitability The challenge for front-line managers, sales managers, and new managers is the day-to-day busyness of their responsibilities  - it feels like they never have time to reflect on their leadership capabilities and grow in their leadership skills. As a result, they compromise their leadership impact and minimize the effectiveness of their teams. The practical, straightforward model of leadership I introduce to them in this keynote is foundational for their growth and leadership effectiveness. I've delivered and refined this material for more than 10 years, and know it provides a simple yet robust way to grow leadership acumen in your leaders. As the owner of a growing business, I know what it takes to be a good leader. The leadership insights I share with your audience come from real-life lessons and apply to real-life situations. Your leaders will come away challenged and encouraged with practical ways to grow their leadership skills and improve their teams' performance. ...less

Format: 45-90 minute keynote This program is perfect for: Front-line sales managers Senior sales executives National sales meetings Regional sales events The audience will leave with: Practical ways to improve their teams' performance Insights on how to compete and win in today's buyer-savvy, highly competitive marketplace A growing awareness of how to adjust their sales teams' behaviors in light of the ever-changing buyer landscape Selling today is different and more challenging than it's ever been. With an informed buyer landscape and competitors entering the market from left and right, leaders of sales organizations need to give their team members the tools to succeed in this more difficult and competitive environment. This highly interactive session, based on both current research and real-world examples, shares the seven keys to successful selling in 2018 and beyond. ...less

Format: 45-to-60-minute hands-on keynote  This program is perfect for: Front-line managers New managers Time-pressed managers Managers of underperforming teams The audience will leave with:  A clear understanding of the difference between coaching and managing A crystal clear awareness of the power of coaching A simple yet powerful 4-stage model for holding monthly coaching conversations A worksheet to prepare them for their first FAAST coaching dialogue "Coaching" seems to be in every business leader's job description these days.  But few seem to be able to define what it is and, more importantly, how to do it.  The presentation will equip your managers with a simple, monthly approach to skills- and behavior-based coaching, along with the tools to begin building a coaching practice immediately. ...less

Format: 45- to 90-minute keynote This program is perfect for: New franchise owners New business owners People considering purchasing a franchise Franchisors wanting to help their franchisees The audience will leave with: A clear understanding of the potential - and challenges - of launching a franchise business An honest and exciting perspective on the possibilities and pitfalls of launching as a franchisee Hope and motivation that they can do it! In addition to owning The Neillie Leadership Group, Dr. Neillie and his wife own several indoor, year-round, child-focused franchise swim schools where their company provides more than 125,000 swim lessons each year.  As multi-territory, multi-facility Aqua-Tots owners, Andy and Lynn have learned (often the hard way) how important it is to do a franchise business the right way.   This keynote focuses on the seven essentials of launching, developing, and sustaining a successful franchise business: Big things are built on small things (pay attention to the details!) To build a franchise, you need to build a team (pay attention to your people!) You may be a business owner, but your real job is marketing (never forget that customers come first!) Work with experts when you aren't one (hire the best legal, real estate, and business professionals you can!) The best thing is usually to do what they say (you bought a franchise; now listen to your franchisor!) Even though you own a franchise, it is still your business (no one owes you a paycheck but you!) It will be longer and harder but even better than you think (add a factor of 2 to all costs - and know that it will still be worth it!) ...less

Because of his ability to work directly with your organization on your specific leadership challenges, Dr. Neillie can bring world-class leadership practices from more than 20 years of experience and insights that allow him to customize a keynote or training engagement to fit the specific leadership development needs of your team. Outcomes: Holding difficult employee, customer, or vendor conversations Handling objections as a leader Leading oneself (including a self-assessment tool) Leading in a matrixed organization Other leadership programs customized to your organization's needs ...less

Format: 45-to-60 minute keynote  This program is perfect for:  Front-line managers New managers Managers of struggling teams The audience will leave with: A simple but deep understanding of leadership effectiveness Several practical best practices to improve their leadership effectiveness A stronger resolve to push through the challenges of leadership and become more effective at managing their teams and driving performance Life is hard. So is leadership. Football coaches call it "push toward the pressure." The owner of a small vineyard in France told me, "The harder the soil, the better the wine."  Whether the lesson comes from the gridiron or the grapevine, one thing all leaders know: success is a hard-fought endeavor. Leaders, when we learn what good coaches and grape-growers know, we can take the hard things and make them the good things.  ...less

Format: 45-to-60 minute keynote  The audience will leave with: An after-dinner event for a company meeting The wrap-up of an offsite customer service The kick-off keynote for an HR summit A warm-hearted reminder of the power of trust A practical mandate on how to build trust A simple yet profound way to reflect on the power of everyday relationships Redford came to us from a horrible environment: he spent the first year of his life as a breeding sire in a squalid puppy mill.  When he came to us, he had much to learn about trust and relationships.  And so did we.  His story - and ultimately his transformation (and ours) - became the basis for the best-selling book The Golden Principles: Life and Leadership Lessons from a Rescued Dog. In this keynote, I share vital lessons we had to learn in order to earn Redford's trust.  The lessons he taught us have transformed our home and our businesses. This keynote is perfect as an inspirational speech for people at all levels: we all need to be reminded of the power of trust in our personal and professional lives.  ...less

There is a price for poor management There is a high cost to mediocre management. It can include: lack of employee engagement low customer satisfaction scores project scope creep revenue losses, and ultimately organizational mission risk As if that wasn't discouraging enough, here are some sobering management realities: 50% of people who work for a bad boss plan to look for a new job in the near future. 65% of employees say they'd take a new boss over a pay raise. 75% say their boss is the worst part of their job. Perhaps the most dire statistic: more than 40% of people in a recent survey said they've been verbally, emotionally, or even physically abused by a manager at some point in their career. And the hard dollar cost of replacing team members? A minimum wage employee can cost a firm as much as $2,500 in lost productivity, recruiting, and training costs. Recruiting a new professional-level team member can easily approach six figures in costs. We hope you are not struggling with all of this. But even if only some of it is accurate for you or your firm, immediate change is critical for you and for the success of your organization. Most importantly, none of these realities need to happen on your watch. The key is becoming a manager who is also growing as a leader. Dr. Andy Neillie, principal of the Neillie Leadership Group, has been transforming managers into leaders for more than 20 years. The Manager's Ascent program is specifically designed to help managers transform themselves into high-performing leaders. The Manager's Ascent The Manager's Ascent is a highly individualized, 8-week program that includes four modules: Gain Insight: What makes a manager a leader and not just a manager?
First, Dr. Andy will introduce a simple yet robust leadership construct that transforms managers into leaders. This content is often delivered through a keynote presentation, a workshop, a small group meeting, or a Zoom session. Self-Assess: Where are managers in the process?
Through the Neillie Leadership Group's partnership with EverythingDiSC, managers will self-assess their strengths and areas for improvement as managers and leaders. Through online assessments and 1-on-1 debrief conversations, Andy works with managers to identify and address immediate and longer-term opportunities for growth. Launch: What do managers need to move forward?
Next, Andy helps managers develop as leaders through one or more in-depth leader-to-leader mentoring calls or meetings. The goal of this work is for the manager to have a clear 12-month action plan and accountability in place to continue their growth. Advance: How do managers grow into their leadership?
Finally, Dr. Andy helps managers maintain their commitment to growing as leaders through regularly scheduled Zoom meetings, in-depth workshops on key-specific leadership content, and regular leader-to-leader mentoring calls. Lack of employee engagement. Low customer satisfaction scores. Scope creep. Revenue losses. Mission risk. If you fear that any of these realities may be your reality, the Manager's Ascent is the solution for you to grow as a leader and not just a manager. Ready to start? Schedule a leader-to-leader conversation with Dr. Andy. ...less

REVEALING YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE Great leaders know: growth starts with them. The best teams are built by leaders who commit to being the best leaders they can be. The suite of DiSC leadership assessments are powerful tools that leaders have used for more than 30 years to improve their self-awareness and grow in their abilities to lead their teams. WILEY's SELF-ASSESSMENT Wiley’s Everything DiSC® suite of assessments are the original self-assessment tools, developed more than three decades ago and used by more than a million people each year to increase awareness and accelerate growth. Now in an online, web-enabled format, three specific DiSC assessments serve leaders well: The DiSC® Management assessment helps you know how to better direct and delegate 1-on-1 with the people you lead. the DiSC® Work of Leaders assessment helps you lead organizations with vision, alignment, and execution. The DiSC® 363 Leaders assessment provides leaders with a 360º view of their leadership effectiveness. DiSC Assessment POWERFUL TOOLS FOR EMERGING LEADERS If you are looking for a way to upscale your leadership team, these DiSC® leadership assessments will have tremendous impact. They are particularly powerful tools for emerging leaders, front-line leaders, and leaders who are new to their teams. When combined with the DiSC® Workplace assessment for team members, the DiSC® leadership assessments can provide deeper insight and a common bond around performance for high-performing teams. We recently had the opportunity to provide the DiSC® Work of Leaders assessment across an entire organization’s leadership team. VALUABLE INSIGHTS Consistent comments from the leaders we’ve helped confirm: their assessments, and the training and coaching we provided alongside their assessments, have given them greater self-awareness, helped them understand their team members better, and allowed them to drive performance while strengthening the relationship dynamics on their teams. ...less