Audiences come to Caleb's talks paralyzed by uncertainty and desperate for change. They leave inspired, uplifted, and ready to lead with confidence.

In insightful keynote presentations, Caleb turns his unique experience in technology, politics, and change management into actionable insights that reframe how leaders think about managing change and leading through uncertainty.

Event organizers love working with Caleb because he works hard to make each presentation accessible and meaningful to every person sitting in the audience, no matter their title.

Caleb works collaboratively with you to create the best possible outcomes for audiences of all sizes. (You shouldn’t have to manage the ego of someone whose keynote costs less than the coffee.)

Because Caleb is in high demand from his clients, we encourage you to book as early as possible. Reach out today to book Caleb for your next event.

TITLE

Geopolitical Leadership In the Age of Constant Disruption: Lessons from Barack Obama’s Digital Director

IDEAL AUDIENCE

• CEOs, C-Suite executives, and up-and-coming leaders

KEY LEARNINGS

• We are facing accelerating disruption. The new normal is never feeling normal.

• Change has to become a core leadership competency. Those who stop changing in the face of uncertainty are going to lose to those who are more nimble and adaptive

• Company executives have to re-frame what they consider “political” as a social construct, at a time when all other constructs are coming down—or being re-made

DESCRIPTION

Political division and global war. Economic uncertainty. Pandemic-driven workforce displacement. Market disruptions from artificial intelligence. Every day it seems like the news cycle tells us more about how the world around us is changing. How should business leaders respond in an environment that is so chaotic and unpredictable?

Leaning on his extensive experience in leadership, technology, and political activism—including leading digital strategy for U.S. President Barack Obama—Caleb Gardner makes predictions for the years ahead, and explores key leadership themes from his book, No Point B, to make a compelling case for why change leadership is a competitive advantage in an age of accelerating disruption.

TITLE

Leading Through Uncertainty: The New Rules of Organizational Transformation

IDEAL AUDIENCE

• CHROs and HR leaders

• Transformation leaders

• Organizational development and L&D leaders

KEY LEARNINGS

• Organizational paralysis is death in a fast-moving, chaotic world

• Change management can't be a linear process; change has to become a core competency, because organizations that get stuck are going to lose to those who are more nimble and adaptive

• Companies must put a big focus on internal communications and employee engagement, so employees are brought into the change direction

DESCRIPTION

The CEO says bring everyone back into the office. The CTO says it’s time to train everyone to use A.I. (or be replaced). The CMO needs more buy-in for responding to social and political upheaval. At some point, things will get back to normal. (Right?)

How do you lead your people through multiple transformations at once when we have new disruptions, new data to respond to every single day?

Leaning on his extensive experience in leadership, technology, and political activism—including leading digital strategy for U.S. President Barack Obama, the "Change" President—Caleb Gardner explores key themes from his book, No Point B, to make a compelling case for understanding change as a core organizational competency in a digital, hyper-connected world that is evolving every day.

TITLE

Communicating Through Uncertainty: Barack Obama’s Digital Director on How to Navigate Disruptive Tech and a Broken Information Ecosystem

IDEAL AUDIENCE

• CMOs, marketing leaders, and brand executives

• Communications and PR leaders

KEY LEARNINGS

• Why the persuasive effects of algorithms affect our news consumption—and why some are tuning out of the news altogether

• How an ounce of planning and prevention—like deciding on company values—can prevent a crisis

• The operational changes needed to run a sophisticated marketing team today

DESCRIPTION

With the death of Twitter and the dismantling of the social media ecosystem, the truth is harder than ever for the average internet user to discern. The internet has become, in internet language, a garbage fire. How should marketing and comms leaders respond? What are the implications for marketing leaders who have to navigate this toxic environment in a presidential election year?

In this talk, Caleb leans on his experience running one of the largest digital programs in existence—engaging with tens of millions of people every day via the Barack Obama social media accounts and email list, including the most followed Twitter account in the world—to talk about what marketing leaders need to do to lead their teams through uncertainty, what disruptive tech means for the future, why the information ecosystem is so broken in the first place—and why we all have a role in fixing it.