Lecture Marathon. A lot of expertise in one day was provided last week at the 7th Austrian Knowledge Forum.
"I stand up for high achievers, to free them from fools and psychopaths." With this credo, the German profiler Suzanne Grieger-Langer quickly caught the attention of the audience. The head of the Grieger-Langer Group, as well as the board member of the German Managers Association and Head of the Thinktank of the German Economy, opened the series of lectures at the 7th Austrian Knowledge Forum at the Reed Messe Wien. The topics were as diverse as their speakers. Eight top speakers took the stage to provide tips and inspiration to the 400 guests - executives and experts from the business world. The event was organized by Speakers Excellence, which gathers the best speakers in the German-speaking region.
007 Strategies
Suzanne Grieger-Langer shared her 007 Bond strategies for performance. This includes avoiding both psychopaths - who stop at nothing to achieve their own goals - and fools - who are only focused on their own advantage. A good performer needs orientation and decision-making skills: "It's not the market's fault if your decision doesn't work, but rather that you made the decision on impulse," Grieger-Langer said. Equally important: focus on the goal, the necessary discipline to persevere and avoid fools, mindfulness to not be disturbed by malicious or incompetent colleagues at the finish line (according to the formula: Potential minus Interference equals Performance), aligning your intentions with the goal, and of course, embracing individuality in a bond-like manner ("Be yourself, as others already exist"). Forty minutes later, the German sales expert Prof. Dr. Dirk Zupancic took the stage: eloquent and dynamic, he emphasized to the audience the essential nature of sales for the success of most businesses: "Sales is a significant driver of growth," Zupancic stated. Competencies in the four sales factors - customer acquisition, customer care, innovation in services, and service maintenance - are necessary. Achieving the growth rate and the factors themselves are too often not reflected upon in companies, and questions like "How many resources, how much time do we need? Which products are still attractive, which are not? Do we have the right people for these four tasks?" must be asked.
Speaking and Leading
The two lectures were not the only highlights: Sports scientist Gregor Rossmann encouraged the audience to learn from Shaolin monks and top athletes to enhance performance and well-being. Communication trainer René Borbonus demonstrated how to harness the power of rhetoric effectively. Mentalist Lucca then amazed and entertained the audience. Urs Stoller, who coached tennis ace Martina Hingis, provided tips on how to generate the desire for achievement and the factors that lead to peak performance. Education expert Andreas Salcher talked about the new way of leading, and Stefan Fädrich showed how to tame your inner saboteur. The day concluded with a raffle: two Executive Premium tickets for the 8th Knowledge Forum on November 3, 2016, and a two-night stay for two in Salzkammergut were up for grabs.
