Michael Kerr

Michael Kerr travels from Canmore, Alberta, Canada, and offers keynote presentations, workshops, fireside chats and moderated Q&A. Each presentation is customized for the audience, industry, conference and event format. All of Michael's programs can be delivered as a keynote (45–70 minutes) or as a workshop (1.5–3 hours).

Live or Virtual Keynotes:

Small Moments, Big Outcomes - How to Create an Inspiring Culture that Drives OUTRAGEOUS Results +

Your workplace culture is your #1 competitive advantage.

But here’s the rub. Great cultures don’t just happen! You can’t fake a great culture or buy your culture at IKEA!

You need to be intentional about your workplace culture. And you need to enlist everyone’s support to contribute to a purpose-driven, happier, more resilient, innovative, collaborative, and service-focused culture.

One of the things that so many inspiring workplaces do so successfully, in fact, is they hold their employees accountable not just for the work they do, but for how they contribute to to a more positive workplace environment.

And the great news is, it truly is the smallest of moments that make all the difference!

Here are some of the key messages Michael Kerr touches on during this presentation. And not to worry, he’ll work with you to tailor the presentation so it’s focused on the areas you need the most, and yes, he can mix and match messages from my other presentations as well.

Key messages for Small Moments, Big Outcomes:

• Why work matters! It’s far more than just a paycheck!
• The attitude choice we all make every day that contributes to a more positive workplace.
• How do you define your culture and does culture really eat strategy for breakfast? (Spoiler alert: Your culture seriously impacts every aspect of your business!)
• Leaders leading leaders: Why everyone in your workplace needs to step up and take personal responsibility for how they contribute to your culture (Fun fact: a study showed that some employee’s presence at work causes the rest of their teammates’ blood pressure to rise! We should probably talk about that.)
• Valuing your values: Actions speak louder than words and talk is cheap! How great companies live their values out loud and treat them as lines in the sand.
• Creating a purpose-driven culture: Connecting employees to the most powerful and influential motivator there is.
• Communication is everything and everything is communication: Busting silos, strengthening collaboration, creating space for meaningful conversations, and getting your meetings right!
• Money isn’t always honey! Creating a “want to” vs. a “have to” workplace that truly engages employees and turns lifelong employees into loyal, raving fans (there’s a huge difference between the two).
• Creating a service-first culture: Why phenomenal customer service starts on the inside and why some of your most important customers are also known as your teammates.
• Work is hard enough as it is without making it any harder! Why great organizations embrace a spirit of fun and how humor both creates more humane, resilient cultures, and reflects humane, resilient cultures.
• Keeping the culture message alive. You don’t build a rocking culture through a 1 or 10 times a year event. Get ready to walk away with inspiring ideas that will keep your culture conversation alive.

This presentation is geared for all employees at any level in any organization, or it can be customized for only front line employees or for senior leadership teams.

If you want to leave your audience laughing, inspired, and armed with practical, relevant ideas they can immediately put into practice to make a real difference in your workplace, this talk is for you! --

Additional Keynote / Workshop Topics

Leaders Leading Leaders: Great Cultures Begin with Intentional Leadership from the Top +

Great workplace cultures don’t happen by accident, and they don’t happen without intentional leadership. I use the term “intentional”, well, intentionally. I’ve interviewed hundreds of leaders around the world, and inspiring leaders tell me time and time again that the key to their success as a leader starts by simply being more intentional about being a leader.

This means knowing there’s a difference between being a manager or boss and being a leader. Being intentional means consciously making decisions and choices about your attitude and behaviours that reflect and demonstrate real leadership.

Intentional leadership is about creating more leaders at work, not more followers, which is why so many high-achieving organizations embrace the mantra “we are leaders leading leaders.” --

The Jerk-Free Workplace: How to Take the Lead When You’re Not the Boss +

As he explains in his book, The Jerk-Free Workplace, this presentation is more than just about shining a spotlight on jerk-like attitudes and behaviours that might lead to conflict and poor morale in your workplace.

It’s about the need for all your employees, regardless of their position or role, to step up, take responsibility, be accountable for their actions, and embrace the power they have as leaders to create a greater future for themselves and for your workplace.

This presentation celebrates the idea that everyone has the potential to step up as a leader. And if you want to create a happier, more collaborative and more innovative culture that drives outrageous results, you absolutely NEED to encourage all your employees to embrace a leadership mindset. --

The Humour Advantage: Putting Humour to Work for Less Stress and More Success +

Mike Kerr has visited dozens of inspiring workplaces around the world that take their humour, well, seriously! And for good reason. Study after study reveals how humor helps companies reduce employee turnover and absenteeism rates, lower stress levels, foster an environment of resiliency, build relationships, improve morale, collaboration, and communication. Humour also helps companies stand out with their remarkable customer service, humanizes their company, and in some cases even builds a unique brand.

As he stresses to audiences, it’s not about telling jokes, being the office joker, or even about being funny. It’s about finding the funny in your everyday work lives, being more authentic at work, laughing at the things you have no control over, and, especially, about laughing at ourselves.

When you infuse your entire culture with a spirit of safe humour, it’s one of the most powerful tools there is that truly can help you energize your culture and drive outrageous results! --

Inspiring Change at Work: How to Champion Innovation and Turn Ideas into Action +

Change is happening on so many levels and at a faster pace than ever before. And if the pace of change outside your company exceeds the pace of change on the inside, it’s just a matter of time before you’re going to be in trouble. Serious trouble.

You have three options really, when it comes to your relationship with change. You can ghost it (in other words, cover your eyes and ears and ignore it), you can host it (learn to adapt to the change that is happening around you), or you can toast it (by embracing and leading change).

To wrap your arms around change and show change the love it deserves, you need the right mindset, the right tools, and the right culture that supports creativity, resiliency, and innovation. --

Creating a Service-First Culture: Why You need to Stop Providing Good Customer Service! +

Since your customers already expect “good customer service,” all you’re doing by providing “good customer service” is staying out of the customer service. All you’re doing is meeting expectations. Yawn.

You’re never going to stand out from the herd and earn a reputation for your phenomenal service if you don’t do one of two things:

1. Exceed your customers’ expectations of good customer service.
2. Do something different, something your competitors won’t do or can’t do.

And this customer service mindset begins on the inside of your company, which is why, once again, there’s a deep connection to your culture. You need to create a culture that is infused with a service-first mindset; where it is second nature to provide remarkable customer service on the inside; and where everyone treats their teammates like their most important customers. --

Hire, Inspire, and Fuel Their Fire: How to Recruit, Onboard, and Train New Employees to Love Your Culture Out Loud +

You cannot create a rocking, innovative, service-first culture without getting your hiring, onboarding, and training right! As the old mantra goes, “If you hire wrong, you can do no right, but if you hire right, you can do no wrong!”

Everything starts with hiring the right people — the people that are a right fit for you; the employees that are going to grow your culture in the direction you need to take it.

This is an essential topic for leaders who understand the significant costs associated with a bad hire and, conversely, the enormous benefit of recruiting top talent who are a perfect fit for your company.

Participants will love Michael Kerr’s unique take on this in-demand topic and appreciate the many relevant ideas based on his extensive interviews with CEOs, senior managers, and HR professionals from around the world who are using innovative techniques with their recruitment and onboarding. --

Additional Virtual / Live Presentations & Webinar Topics

• Managing and Motivating Virtual Teams
• Putting Humor to Work for Less Stress and More Success!
• Communication is Everything and Everything is Communication
• Building Resilient Cultures
• Encouraging Everyone to Step Up as a Leader During Difficult Times