ENDORSEMENTS

---

Michael Gelb applies his genius to help you discover yours!

~Tony Buzan, creator of Mind Mapping

Michael Gelb is a contemporary Renaissance Man. His original insights into the genius of DaVinci, Edison and other great minds are a revelation!

~Grandmaster Raymond Keene, OBE, Chess columnist of the Times of London

Michael Gelb is the rare YPO Resource who consistently scores 10s while offering different topics, (Creativity, Innovation, Leadership, Wine) in a range of settings, (Chapter events, University keynotes, Forum retreats, Company programs). I have engaged Michael for both large & small groups & intend to do so again.

~J. Smoke Wallin, YPO Indiana


We invited Michael Gelb to be an Honorary Partner of PathNorth because he brings meaning, authenticity, and fresh perspective to the business leaders we serve. He is a unique and amazing source of inspiration and practical wisdom.

~Ambassador J. Douglas Holladay, Co-Founder of PathNorth

Michael Gelb designed and delivered an unforgettable, thought provoking, and entertaining event for our YPO chapter.  Weaving together insights into the mind of Leonardo da Vinci and other geniuses with contemporary neuroscience, Gelb also led us through a wine tasting that culminated in a poetry contest. Our group discovered a new and surprising level of shared creativity as we learned to unleash our true potential  The energy in the room was fantastic!

~Steve Griessel, Seattle YPO

Michael's presentations were a big success. His insights & energy awakened our curiosity & appreciation for the creative process in a way that deeply enriched the Rome University.

~Hans Wackwitz, YPO Rome University Education Chair


Original, compelling and practical…10 out-of 10!

~Peter Cocoziello, YPO University Advisor (Review of Gelb keynote at YPO Venice University)

 

As Learning Chair of the Portland, Oregon Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization, I coordinated, promoted and hosted the signature event of the year with Michael Gelb. It was without a doubt in my mind THE event of our year. It was an evening we will never forget.

~ Matt Burk, Learning Chair of the Portland, Oregon Chapter of Entrepreneurs Organization

As Chairs, we have many fine speakers come into our lives (I have experienced over 700 speaker presentations in my 22 years as a Chair). Those we sense are good have at least a few ‘Ah-ha’s!’ Those we know are excellent have many ‘Ah-ha’s!’ Those who are great have the big ‘Ah-ha’s’ that one feels he/she can take out into life and practice, apply, even live. You were great.

~Larry Cassidy, Vistage Master Chair

 

Michael’s presentation on Da Vinci was truly awe inspiring and thought provoking. Everyone present thoroughly enjoyed it, got great insights into the mind of Leonardo da Vinci and left the room with unique practical tools to improve their creativity in their personal and professional life.

~Nicholas Cator, YPO Singapore

Michael Gelb, presented a program to our WPO-OKC chapter that was stimulating, thought provoking and fun. The learning session was followed by an evening of wine, food, poetry and unbelievably beautiful vocal music featuring Michael’s wife Deborah that provided an “only in WPO experience.” Representative comments we received included: "Amazing", "Forum like bonding experience ", " Brought tears and laughter all in one hour!" Our chapter highly recommends Michael’s programs and I’m happy to provide a direct reference.

~Chip Fudge, WPO Oklahoma City

"Amazing! Awesome! Perfect! Just what we needed!”

~Exponential Medicine Conference founder and host Daniel Kraft M.D. 

Michael Gelb's ability to inspire creative thinking and esprit de corps is unparalleled.

~Gerry Kirk, former Managing Director of Merck Sharp & Dohme Central America

Our organization hired Michael because of his novel approach and unique programs inspiring innovation, creativity and leadership. We designed a 3-year program that resulted in substantially and permanently changing the culture of our 300+ person department; from executives to union employees. There were measurable, significant increases in employee satisfaction, team effectiveness and communications. Michael's programs are for business executives/leaders who truly want to leverage the creative and innovative talent in their department, division or company to improve productivity and employee retention.

~Liz Faison, Project Director, Merck

Michael Gelb is an invaluable resource for any organization that is serious about developing and sustaining a culture of innovation.

~Emily Hickey, PhD, DVM  Merck

Not only have I benefited from these strategies, our account managers have reported that they have helped them think differently in their daily work.

~J. Bellini-Murray, Commercial Training & Development, Genentech.

Michael Gelb, in his inspiring and thought provoking way ... unleashed our creative spark... Perhaps the most powerful and telling effect of Michael’s lecture were the smiles on the faces of the evidence driven, serious, audience of scientists who suddenly recovered that suppressed urge to play, enjoy life and allow their dormant potential to reach the surface.

~Dragana Bugarski-Kirola M.D. Genentech, meeting organizer

Michael brings the wisdom of history’s greatest geniuses to life in an inspiring and unforgettable fashion.  Best of all, he translates that wisdom into immediately useful, practical processes and tools.

~Christian Keller, Astra Zeneca

Michael Gelb’s coaching, training, and consulting were profoundly helpful in forging high performance teams in two very different organizations. First at C & P Telephone where we collaborated to transform the monopolistic heritage of the Bell System into a competitive, contemporary communications company, and then at NPR where we focused on developing a more entrepreneurial culture and creating a more diverse workforce while lobbying Congress to continue it’s support for public radio. In both of these assignments, I was impressed with Michael’s ability to understand our business challenges and to tailor his techniques and methods to help us solve our most important problems.

~Delano Lewis, Former President and CEO, C&P Telephone, National Public Radio and U.S. Ambassador to South Africa

Michael Gelb is an astounding individual whose skills span a surprising and wide array of disciplines.  All journeys of innovation must begin with – and include throughout – the skills and principles that he espouses. I can think of no one better qualified than him to advise us in this space.

~Jim Karkanias, Senior Director (Partner), Microsoft

If you are in a leadership role it's more important than ever before for you to be creative and to bring out the creativity in your team.  ... Michael Gelb illuminates a simple, effective path for you to raise your baseline of creative energy and empower others to do the same.

~Jon Miller, former CEO of AOL and Chief Digital Officer of Newscorp

Another successful conference for TMA Resources – and we couldn’t have done it without you! From start to finish, working with you has been such a pleasure – and to have two fabulous keynote speeches in a row is a conference planner’s dream. Even better when they are delivered by the same person and to such acclaim! Both speeches were so different, but both were of such high caliber and energy that you captured the imagination of our conference attendees to once again achieve the highest rating of any of our plenary sessions.

~Bridget Ann Serchak, Senior Marketing Communications Strategist, TMA Resources

We are at least twice as productive as before. We plan, document and communicate with greater efficiency. Our organization’s productivity improvement has been phenomenal.

~Thomas Jenkins, PhD  DuPont

Michael’s remarkable ability to listen and ask the right questions, and his uncanny gifts as a facilitator of creative thinking have helped me make the most of all my opportunities.  Michael is a one man world class leadership development university!

~James D’Agostino, Former C.O.O. Lehrer McGovern Bovis, President, Related Colorado

Michael’s programs on Creativity and Innovation, Executive Presence/Presentations, and Leadership Communication are of the highest caliber, and he delivers them in a way that consistently engages our engineering-oriented, time-pressured team.  He offers a unique combination of practical business savvy, original intellectual capital, and inspiring creative teaching skill.  I highly recommend him as a leadership development resource!

~Sarah A. Murray, SPHR Director, Human Resources, Hunter Roberts Construction Group

Thank you Michael! We had a very successful conference and it all started with your keynote on Monday morning! Thanks again for a home run!

~Andi Davison  Emerson Global Exchange

You hit it out of the park!  The best opening session we’ve ever had!

~Bruce Johnson, Manager Business Development/Events  Emerson Process Management

Dear Michael, I wanted to thank you – I enjoyed your new book so much I’m reading it again. Thank you for your loving service in this world and for all you do. Hillmann is very lucky to have you working with us. Thank you.

~Elisa Taddeo, Human Resources, Hillmann Consulting, LLC

From 1997-99 I  engaged Michael Gelb to lead a series of three day seminars on Creative Thinking and Innovative Leadership for the George Mason University Executive Education Program.  His program recieved rave reviews from our students and it also changed my life. Michael showed me that I could be creative and he inspired me to clarify and express my life purpose.  Since then I’ve arranged for Michael to keynote our annual Conscious Capitalism conference on multiple occasions and we have shared the stage at many corporate events. Michael offers original, brilliant content. He is one of the great master teachers and presenters in the world today.

~Raj Sisodia, FW Olin Distinguished Professor of Global Business at Babson College, co-author of Conscious Capitalism; Ph.D. Columbia Business School, 1988.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of attending the 3-day program on Leading Innovation at the University of Virginia Darden Graduate School of Business, taught by James Clawson and Michael Gelb. The course was excellent, and as a result we invited Michael Gelb to teach on some of our premier global executive education seminars including bespoke programs for pwc and Suntory. Michael’s presentations were very well recieved and we are looking forward to working with him on a regular basis.

~Adam Kingl, Director of Learning Solutions, Executive Education, London Business School
 

At SNU we are  driven to identify, expertly curate and present the very best  intellectual resources to the world of learners at all levels. We supplement our resident faculty with distinguished external resources who combine thought leaderrship with pedagogical skill. We are therefore delighted that Michael Gelb has agreed to accept an appointment as a Visiting Professor of Practice in Creativity and Innovation at Shiv Nadar University.

~Shubhro Sen Director, School of Management and Entrepreneurship, Founding Director, School of Extended Education and Professional Development at Shiv Nadar University
 

I was the faculty sponsor for Michael Gelb when he was awarded a Batten Fellowship for Innovation at Darden in 2002.  Michael led  seminars for our faculty and conducted the best teambuilding exercise that any of us had ever experienced. Then, between 2007 and 2017 I had the pleasure of co-teaching an Executive Education seminar with Michael entitled: Leading Innovation. The program received consistent median scores of 5 out of 5.  Michael is a master teacher and the rare resource who truly embodies his teaching. Moreover,  his work on Da Vinci and Edison are classics.

~James G. Clawson, Johnson & Higgins Professor of Business ( Emeritus)  The Darden School, University of Virginia, author of Level 3 Leadership

Thank you for being part of our event! While I personally enjoyed your presentations and got a lot out of them, I was even more delighted to note the level of engagement, interest and uptake of my colleagues. I was only half joking when I said they are tough to please! As an organization we have a culture of being inward facing and not very receptive to external ideas. You are a very real exception to that rule.

~Claudia Iton, Unilever, V.P. Human Resources

Practical knowledge concerning the balance of brain and body is tremendously important to humanity today.  I recommend Michael Gelb as a teacher of this work.

~Raymond Dart M.D., Trailblazing Anatomist and Anthropologist

Michael Gelb is a man of infinite energy, bursting creativity and huge enthusiasm for life. He is a model, in short, of everything he celebrates and teaches.

~Tony Schwartz author of The Power of Full Engagement

Michael Gelb offers surefire methods for cracking your individual creativity code, supplying your creative spirit wings upon which to soar.

~Michael Bernard Beckwith, author of Life Visioning

There is only a thin veil separating our ordinary moments from great, creative achievements...  Michael Gelb teaches us to part this veil and realize the potentials that are inherent in every one of us.

~Larry Dossey, MD, author of One Mind: How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters