The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau
A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.
A speakers bureau that represents the best original thinkers,
writers, and doers for speaking engagements.
Everyone has an innate passion for learning. This is how neuroscience can increase engagement and motivation.
How do you inspire people to inject more passion into what they do? The author of Alive at Work and a Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School, Dan Cable spends his working hours trying to understand how to spark passion in an organization and make your work life feel more “real.” How? By tapping into what neuroscientists call our “seeking systems”—our core biological desire to explore, learn, and develop. With simple, actionable redesigns, you can activate employees’ seeking systems and transform your organization into one that harmonizes with your employees. Backed with actionable steps and real-life examples from around the world, Dan helps you ignite the curiosity and passion that lives within each of us.
Dan Cable is Professor of Organizational Behavior at London Business School. Dan research has been cited over 37,000 times, he is on Stanford University’s list of the top 2% most impactful researchers, and The Academy of Management Perspectives ranked Dan in the “Top 25 most influential management scholars.” Dan’s research and teaching focus on organizational culture, activating positive emotions, and getting employees into commitment instead of just compliance. Dan is shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Talent Award, and The Academy of Management has twice honoured Dan with “Best article” awards.
Dan is shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Talent Award, and The Academy of Management has twice honoured Dan with “Best article” awards. His newest book Exceptional helps people learn more about their best contribution and impact on others, so that they can unleash their potential. Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do helps leaders switch on the part of employees’ brains needed for innovation and resilience. He also has edited two books and published more than 50 articles in top scientific journals (such as the Academy of Management Journal and Administrative Science Quarterly) and has been featured in the Economist, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, New York Times, Sloan Management Review, and Business Week.
Dan’s recent clients include Amazon, BMW, Capital One, Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, DHL, EY, Estee Lauder, Facebook, HSBC, Ikea, MetLife, NBC Universal, O2, Porsche Consulting, Prudential, PwC, Rabobank, Randstad, Roche, Rolls Royce, Siemens, and Twitter.
Author, Ordinary Magic Co-Director, Dweck-Walton Lab at Stanford Professor of Psychology, Stanford
Associate Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at Wharton 2024 "Top 40 Under 40" Business Professor Author, Femonomics (Forthcoming)
Author of Rage Becomes Her and The Resilience Myth Award-Winning Journalist Co-Founder and Director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project
Award-Winning Expert on Self-Leadership, Mental Health, and The Conscious Mind Bestselling Author of Chatter and Shift Faculty Lead at the Eisenberg Family Depression Center
Wharton Professor Choiceology Podcast Host Bestselling Author of How to Change One of the Thinkers50
Behavioral science expert Renowned management professor Bestselling author of The Human Element
Author, Ordinary Magic Co-Director, Dweck-Walton Lab at Stanford Professor of Psychology, Stanford
Author, A Brief History of Intelligence AI Entrepreneur and Founder of Bluecore Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree
Author of Jerks at Work and Job Therapy NYU Professor of Psychology
Author of Grit, the #1 New York Times Bestseller | Pioneering Researcher on Grit, Perseverance, and the Science of Success
2024 Nobel Prize Winner | 3rd Most Cited Economist in the World | MIT Institute Professor | Bestselling Co-Author of Why Nations Fail and Power and Progress
Pulitzer Prize-Winning Creator of The 1619 Project | Executive Producer of the Emmy Award-Winning 1619 Project Hulu Docuseries | MacArthur Genius
Nike's Former Chief Marketing Officer | Author of Emotion by Design
CEO of The Atlantic | Former Editor-in-Chief of WIRED
Learning is not failure—but sometimes it can feel like it in the middle of the process. In fact, this is why so many personal and organizational change attempts fizzle out. We will reflect on the “chatter” that our brain uses to “talk to us” during episodes of change, and the emotions we feel during this experience. As we talk about making change “the new normal,” we will cover three practical underlying principles of change as “make or break” investments: 1) the power of purpose, 2) learning mindset and investing in good pain, and 3) celebrating early wins. A key part of our discussion is the distinction between growth and achieving mindsets, and how achievement today using comfortable behaviors may lead to irrelevance tomorrow.
How can you put your self-doubts to work for you? When leaders reveal their trip-ups and failures, they build a culture of psychological safety and are seen as more approachable. But being vulnerable isn’t easy. We will look at evidence-based approaches to showing vulnerability and building trust, without losing employees’ confidence. We’ll discuss the power of sharing some of your personal developmental journey, when you personally received constructive feedback that you needed to improve and adapt, which normalizes learning.
We will discuss why purpose is important to humans, and why stories about purpose are so critical in inspiring employee commitment and resilience, particularly when change, innovation and creativity are necessary. Purpose also promotes health and well-being: when we feel a sense of purpose, our immune cells are more effective, leading to longer, better lives. We will discuss how leaders can help themselves and employees feel more purpose by enabling them to 1) play to their strengths and innovate at work, 2) balance urgent work with important work, and 3) personalize their stories about purpose in their work. Dan will introduce methods to expose the stories we are currently telling ourselves about the why off the work, and to think about other stories be more inspiring.
What does neuroscience tell us about creating sustainable change in our habits and our cultures? How can leaders trigger the helpful emotions of curiosity and excitement instead of anxiety and fear? We’ll discuss how our brains tells us that new activities are “not authentic” and what we can do about it. Finally, Dan can talk about how the brain “holds” its image of a self and we can activate our best selves more often.
Great leaders inspire people to apply the best of themselves – their hands, their heads, and their hearts – toward a shared vision about how the organization excites customers. Great firms invest heavily making sure that their people reliably act and make decisions in ways that differentiate them from the competition. They implement ‘strange’ workforce systems that make employees act in noticeably better ways.