Speeches

My speeches can be categorized under seven headings:

Entrepreneurs & Entrepreneurship

 

Making it happen: a guide for change agents. This speech puts the process of change management in a broad context, encompassing socio-economic and institutional changes with special consideration of the power of an entrepreneurial mindset — principally a sense of freedom to do whatever is required and an allied understanding of when to control and when not to control. It concludes with some tips on how to be an effective change agent. It was delivered in June, 1992, to the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.

The twin imposters of success and failure. This speech demonstrates how success and failure are opposite sides of the same coin and offers some insight on how to land on the right side: the importance of carefully considered goal setting, the lessons that successful entrepreneurs have drawn from their successes and their failures, and the management of the transition from planning to execution. It was delivered to a workshop on entrepreneurship sponsored by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency in October, 1991.

 

Entrepreneurship development

 

The topic of Innovative approaches to entrepreneurship development was the focus of a conference sponsored by the National Entrepreneurship Development Institute and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and held in Halifax in June 1991. This speech showed how attitudes toward entrepreneurship differ from province to province and how entrepreneurship cannot be a one-size-fits-all tool for governments and schools. It explores how to create an environment in which entrepreneurship can thrive.

 

The Economic Impact of Small Business

The enormous economic impact of small business explains how small businesses suffer from a poor perception in the eyes of big organizations, and how they make a huge contribution to business, economic development and human resources. This speech was delivered to the Moncton Central Business Development Corporation in March, 1991.

 

Leadership and management

The business plan — a speech delivered to Commerce and MBA students at Queen’s University in January, 1992.

 

Financing

The complex relationship between banks and small firms was the topic in this speech to the Credit Union Central of Canada in October, 1993. It includes their perceptions of each other in a rapidly changing, more demanding environment.

 

Innovation

Managing in the 90s explored ways of transforming large organizations to be more innovative and flexible by applying entrepreneurial behavioral techniques. This speech was delivered at a conference sponsored by the Alberta Opportunities Company in February, 1991.

 

Socio-political

JA and ‘teen trends. A speech given to the executives and board of Junior Achievement in October, 1985, this deals with the major trends changing the ‘teen world (everything from computers, to music to feminism) and how ‘teens grapple with these changes through the groups they may choose to join — or not.