Steve Farber is the president of Extreme Leadership, Incorporated—an organization devoted to the cultivation and development of Extreme Leaders in the business community. His best-selling book, The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership is a recipient of Fast Company magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award and was named one of the ten best business books of 2004 by the on-line resource, The CEO Refresher. His second book, The Radical Edge: Stoke Your Business, Amp Your Life, and Change the World, was hailed as “a playbook for harnessing the power of the human spirit.” He is a contributor to the anthology, Leading Authorities on Business: Winning Strategies From the Greatest Minds in Business Today, and is the author of the audio series, Extreme Leadership: In Pursuit of the OS!M.

A subject-matter expert in business leadership and a frequent guest on news-talk shows around the country, Steve is a senior-level leadership coach and consultant who speaks 90 to 100 times a year to a wide variety of public and private organizations in virtually every arena, from the tech sector to financial services, manufacturing, health care, hospitality, entertainment, retail, and even the US government.

In 1989, after having run his own financial services company, Steve devoted his professional life to the field of leadership development and has been at it ever since. He was director of service programs at TMI, an international training consultancy, and then worked for 6 years as Vice President and Official Mouthpiece (that’s what it said on his business card) of The Tom Peters Company where he met several of his mentors including author/gurus Tom Peters, Jim Kouzes and Terry Pearce. In 2000, Steve established his own company, Extreme Leadership, Inc. where he is president and CEO. Steve is also the co-founding director of The Center for Social Profit Leadership (part of the Legacy XXI Institute), a non-profit organization formed to serve the leadership development needs of social entrepreneurs, and he sits on the Board of Directors of the world-renown program, Up With People, a global leadership program for students from 18 to 29 years old.

Coaching and inspiring Extreme Leadership at all organizational levels is Steve’s passion, and he does so with a style that is part strategist, part social commentator, part comedian, and all energy.

Speech Topics
The Radical LEAP: Extreme Leadership at Work and Beyond

Audience: Primarily for Officer, Senior Executive and Manager level.

In this chaotic and extreme age, business leaders must demonstrate an unprecedented level of passion, determination, foresight, dedication and fearlessness. People won't follow empty rhetoric, but they will respond to significant, meaningful and dramatic action. As an Extreme Leader, you need the ability to influence, the power to transform and the courage to change the world of your company, your customers and your industry. In The Radical Leap program, Steve shows you how to use the LEAP framework -- Love, Energy, Audacity and Proof -- to do just that and radically improve your organization and your life.

The Radical Edge: The Extreme Leader’s Guide to Uncommon Achievement

Audience: For all levels

In this provocative keynote, Steve Farber re-defines the conventional meaning of the term “personal accountability” and takes the practice of Extreme Leadership to an even higher level of challenge and self-discovery. Based on Steve’s inspiring, daring, and unforgettable book, The Radical Edge program is an experience that will show you how to stoke the fires of your business, amplify personal joy and meaning, and change the world for the better—all at the same time.

Radical Accountability: Making the LEAP From Individual Contributor to Extreme Leader

Audience: For Individual Contributors or Organization-Wide participation.

Whatever the challenge at your company -- improving customer service, coping with change, inspiring transformation, improving corporate culture, recruiting and retaining great talent, building teamwork, fostering innovation -- it all comes down to this: someone has to do something significant and enlist others to help. Someone, in other words, has to take accountability. Someone has to lead. And it doesn't have to be the boss. Leadership, ultimately, has nothing to do with the title on your business card or your position on the organizational chart. It's about who you are and what you do to change things for the better -- regardless of your "place" in the company. In Radical Accountability, Steve will show you personal strategies for being the architect of transformation from any position or level in the company.

Leading Radical Service: The Extreme Leader's Guide to Blowing Your Customer's Minds

Audience: For Officer, Senior Executive, Manager and/or Individual Contributor level.

We all know that customer satisfaction is no longer enough. But creating a consistently mind-blowing WOW! Experience for your customers demands imagination, empathy and creativity from every employee in your company. What are you doing about it? Steve offers the qualities that you, as an Extreme Leader, must demonstrate to create customer-obsessed business people at every level of your organization. Drawing on provocative business cases, research and personal experience, Steve will take you beyond the conventional customer service wisdom and into the realm of customer love.

Or, consider this...
The Extreme Leadership Session: Working Without a Net

Here's the idea: Steve's been in the trenches. He has 15 years of experience working with thousands of business leaders in all kinds of industries. And most of that experience has revolved around having open, honest and powerful conversations about the nature of leadership with his clients and then helping them to apply new ideas to their specific challenges. To put it simply: there is no script when you're dealing with your client's current business realities.

Now, the fact is that Steve delivers one helluva keynote speech. And he loves to do it. But the Extreme Leadership Session is a departure from the keynote-speaker norm, because there is no script. With the exception of a couple of principles to set the stage, there is no specific list of points to be covered. The audience will determine the course of the program. Right there. Right on the spot. And the program will develop according to the group's most pressing leadership needs and questions. THIS WOULD SCARE THE LIVING HELL OUT OF MANY "PROFESSIONAL SPEAKERS." Take away their script, and you take away their net. And many speakers either don't like that, or, frankly, have nothing to say beyond the scripted word. Farber loves it, and so will you...if you have the nerve to give it a try.

Here's the way it works:

Farber sets the stage and proposes a few challenging ideas to the group. He briefly defines Extreme Leadership and talks about the importance of open dialogue. The audience -- which could be as small as 10 people or as large as several thousand -- forms into small "clumps" (that's a technical term), has a quick discussion according to Farber's guidelines and then generates One Important Question about leadership as it relates to their current work/life situation.
Farber fields the questions (as many as possible giving the amount of available time and the size of the group).
And away we go! Learning about the Extreme Leadership principles that people need right now.

Praise for Steve Farber's Presentations on Extreme Leadership:

“I've shared your concepts with the other members of our management team and we are improving our culture daily and hopefully growing future Extreme Leaders of our company.”
-- Retail Loan Servicing — Manager, Bank One

“ Your presentation made me think about how much time I spend worrying about what other people think and avoiding the possibility of my own OS!Ms. I just wanted to say thanks.”
-- Project Manager, The State Group — Industrial (USA) Ltd.

“ Great presentation! I saw a great deal of my work situation in your examples. Especially the part about Love -- since day one of my management term (now in its tenth year), I have told my technicians to make the customer absolutely love you. Take-you-home-to-dinner love you. Meet-the-wife-and-kids love you. Because if the customer loves you, you can blow up their building and they will say 'accidents happen.'”
-- LAN Technician

“ You gave us concepts to think about as we lead our teams to success! Since returning to Atlanta I have been focused on providing Love, Energy, Audacity and Proof to improve our team.”
-- Regional VP — First Home Mortgage

“Farber is stimulating, funny and most important, effective. You won't just walk away entertained; you'll change the way you lead."
-- Terry Pearce, co-author, Clicks and Mortar; author, Leading Out Loud; President, Leadership Communication

“Steve captures his audience early and they never let go. With his skillful use of wit, humor and real stories, he educates his audience about LEAP. His is a keynote second to none.”
-- Bob Weigand, Director, Management Training and Development, St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network

“Steve Farber is a wholly original and singular talent. His voice is unique, his passion is authentic, and his practical knowledge runs deep. Farber is a teacher, a provocateur and an entertainer extraordinaire."
-- Jim Kouzes, co-author, The Leadership Challenge, Credibility, and Encouraging the Heart

“You provided a powerful and meaningful message to our team leaders, which has inspired them to express recognition and appreciation to their staff to empower them to achieve their vision for the future. Your energetic presentation entertained, stimulated and inspired our group. Thanks!”
-- John Ryan, President, Brookfield Homes

“Your talk was enthusiastic, enlightening and thought provoking. I have gone back through the notes I took during your talk and I have found many opportunities to apply or question how my business runs based on what you said. You would not believe how many times I have shared your thought process with others. Even my 13 year old daughter.”
-- Ted Quinn, Chairman, Alaska State Chamber of Commerce

“Your presentation helped us reinforce the need for leadership at every level of the organization and conveyed how [our] initiative can foster the type of Extreme Leadership that will help us reach new levels of success. As a result, the team left that conference energized about [our] initiative, its priorities and the role they can play as active participants in enlisting others and driving this program forward.”
-- Sr. Vice President Operations, Kraft Foods

Clients

Associations AAA Affiliated Distributors American Assn of Homes and Services for the Aging American Assn of Motor Vehicle Administrators American Baking Society American Chamber of Commerce Executives American Healthcare Association American Medical Assn American Orthopaedic Association American Society for Healthcare Risk Management American Society of Assn Executives American Society of Safety Engineers American Staffing Assn American Wholesale Marketers Assn Appraisal Institute Assn of Business & Industry of Iowa Assn of Corporate Travel Executives Assn of Managed Care Professionals Associated Builders and Contractors Associated Equipment Distributors Associated General Contractors Association of Equipment Manufacturers BiCSI CALTIAS Club Managers Assn of America College and University Professionals Assn Contractors 2000 Council for Excellence in Government Custom Electronics Design and Installation Assn Electronic Retailing Association Employee Relocation Council Entrepreneurs' Organization of St. Louis Equipment Leasing Assn Florida Retail Federation Fluid Power Distributors Assn Greater Phoenix Economic Council Health Insurance Assn of America Institute for Career Advancement Needs International Association of Administrative Professionals International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Assn International Chain Salon Association International Trademark Association Investment Company Institute Irrigation Association MA Society of CPAs Meeting Professionals International National Assn of Chain Drug Stores National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts National Association of Credit Management National Council of State Housing Agencies National Fluid Power Assn National Kitchen and Bath Association National Limousine Association National Paint and Coatings Assn National Rural Utilities Cooperative National Schools Public Relations Assn National Shoe Retailers Assn National Wood Flooring Assn Nevada Commission of Tourism North American Building Material Distribution Association Northwest Public Power Association Oklahoma Hospital Assn Pet Industry Distributors Assn Point of Purchase Advertising International Pressure Sensitive Tape Council Printing Industries of America Produce Marketing Assn Professional Convention Management Association Self Insurance Assn of America Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Society of Food Service Management Society of Interventional Radiology Specialty Tool and Fastener Distributors Association The Oncology Nursing Society Truck Renting and Leasing Assn Truckload Carriers Assn U.S. Chamber of Commerce United Motorcoach Association Warehousing Education and Resource Center Western Association of Food Chains Window and Door Manufacturers Association Wisconson Governor's Conference on Tourism World At Work Young Entrepreneurs Organization

Corporations Manulife AOL Abbott Labs Accenture Agilent Technologies Alltel AmerUs Life American Home Shield Ameriprise Financial Arrow Electronics Avnet Electronics Bank of America Banta Book Group Bayer HealthCare Benco Dental Company BestBuy Black and Veatch Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois Boeing Bradley Caldwell Brand Source Bravo Foods Bridgestone-Firestone Brookfield Homes Burmah Castrol CTX Mortgage CUNA Mutual CanWest Capital One Caremark Carlson Wagonlit Carnegie Mellon University Catalina Marketing Catalyst International Caterpillar Financial Cendant Mobility Centex Construction Clear Channel Colliers Colonial Life Consumers Energy Cort Furniture Rental Culver's Cummins Engine David Weekly Homes Deltek Systems Dentsply Department of the Navy, Chief Information Officer Designer Shoe Warehouse Discovery Networks Ecolab Eddie Bauer Erie Insurance Group Express Scripts Exxon Mobil FCC Services Inc Family Video Farm Credit Services Farmers Insurance FedEx Express Fidelity National Financial FileNet Financial Partners Credit Union First Home Mortgage Fisher-Price Ford Motor Company Franklin Templeton Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. General Dynamics General Mills Genesis Healthcare Gennum GlaxoSmithKline Great Canadian Gaming Corporation GreenPoint Mortgage Hanley-Wood Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hillenbrand Hilton Hollywood Entertainment Humber College Ikon Office Solutions Ingersoll-Rand Intel Intentia Intercontinental Hotel Group Intercontinental Hotels Intertek KPMG Kinetic Systems Kraft Foods Land O' Lakes Leader's Challenge Linc Corporation Lockheed Martin Longview Solutions Made2Manage Systems Magnet Marigold Foods (Kemps) Marriott Marriott Vacation Clubs Mass Mutual Mastercard Mattress Firm Merritt Group (Sonic Drive-In) Money Tree Myriad Software Neill Corporation Network Centric Systems Nightingale and Associates North American Energy Services Northrop Grumman ONESCO PHH Arval Pacific Retirement Services Peace Officer Standards & Training Pemco Pitney Bowes PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Healthcare Systems Pulte Homes Quad Graphics Ralph's Supermarket Raytheon Real Estate Lending Systems Rennaisance Resorts Republic Mortgage Insurance Reser's Fine Foods Sam's Clubs Schneider Electric Scientific Games Sierra Pacific Resources Sleep Country USA Sony Electronics St. Luke's Hospital Starwood Hotels Storage USA Sun Microsystems Tap Pharmaceuticals Thrivent Financial Ticor Title Time Warner Cable Toyota TransUnion Transitions Optical Triage Consulting Trizetto Truman Arnold Companies US Bank US Cellular Unilever Unipro Food Service United States General Services Administration Up With People Verizon Veterans Hospital Administration Walt Disney Imagineering Washington Hospital Center Washington State Government Conference Wellpoint Wells Fargo Westbrook Technologies Western National Property Management Whirlpool Wolters Kluwer Yellow Corporation