Erik Wahl

Erik Wahl is a pioneering figure in the world of keynote speaking, seamlessly blending his roles as an internationally recognized graffiti artist and a #1 bestselling business author. With over two decades of expertise, he crafts dynamic presentations that combine captivating content with live on-stage painting, creating an immersive experience that brings his message to life. Through this innovative approach, Erik motivates organizations to embrace
innovation and strive for excellence, driving them towards increased profitability and success.

In his book, “The Spark and the Grind,” Erik delves into the essential elements of transforming ideas into action, earning acclaim from prominent figures in both the art and business realms. His previous bestseller, “Unthink,” was praised by Forbes Magazine as the blueprint for actionable creativity and by Fast Company Magazine as “provocative with a purpose.” Erik’s clientele includes prestigious organizations such as AT&T, Disney, the London School of Business, Microsoft, FedEx, Exxon Mobil, Ernst & Young, and XPrize.

The Art of Vision

The best sustainable edge in business is the ability to differentiate yourself from your competition. Through this entertaining and highly practical program, we will uncover new ways to make your organization more creative, innovative and profitable, but more so, help your employees see the need to become better storytellers within and for your company and industry.

By embracing innovative strategies, professionals at all levels can achieve superior levels of performance by creatively and visibly differentiating themselves from the competition. No matter what kind of organization you have—from a small company to a large corporation—employees at all levels will better able to embrace the future by becoming more innovative, more productive and ultimately more profitable.

ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE
–  Differentiation, differentiation, differentiation
–  Telling a better story
–  Outthinking the competition

EMBRACING CHANGE
–  Working smarter, not harder
–  Sustaining excellence in a changing economy
–  Leveraging chaos to capitalize on opportunities

The Art of Leadership

Today’s leaders face a pressure to innovate—or else perish—unlike any other time in history.  Advances in social, mobil and cloud technology, coupled with fierce global competition has made the business landscape nearly unrecognizable from what it was a mere 10 years ago.

Erik Wahl’s entertaining and invigorating Art of Leadership presentation paints a compelling new portrait for what the successful leaders of tomorrow will look like. He inspires audiences to shed old ways of thinking and “business as usual” processes that are outdated, inefficient and detrimental to productivity. Audience members learn new ways to build an emotional connection to drive future employee engagement.  Erik’s presentation stretches traditional assumptions on leadership. The end results include:

– innovative solutions to further your organization
– attracting and engaging quality employees
– new efficiencies and the end of detrimental redundancies

Growth and comfort cannot co-exist. When leaders come from a place of authenticity, curiosity, exploration and purpose, this leads to more meaningful connections among team members and with clients and customers—and ultimately, a more profitable organization. An engaged employee equals an engaged customer.

UNthink

Somehow we’ve come to believe that creativity is reserved for the chosen few: the poets, the painters, the writers. The truth is bigger and better than that. Creativity is in all of us. We simply need to rediscover the keys that will unlock our potential. UNthink is the keynote experience that will push members of your organization beyond their traditional thought patterns and habitual levels of performance. UNthink will inspire audiences to realize they are capable of so much more than they have been led to believe.

The UNthink program helps reframe your organization’s thinking so that new creative actions become possible. Learning how to UNthink will inject your daily grind with new passion, allowing employees to see how the organization wants and needs all of their talents and energies, not just the ones they’ve been using so far. You’ll begin the process of rethinking your life as a blank canvas of limitless opportunity on which to create your masterpiece.

‍This program will allow your organization to:
‍1. Step outside convention to discover new and unexpected solutions to business challenges
2. Challenge pre-conceived notions about what’s possible
3. UNthink your way to increased creativity, productivity and passion

The Spark and the Grind

It’s one thing to understand the importance of creativity to the success of your business, but what most people don’t understand is to how to put a structure in place so that innovation can find its way. The paradox of creativity is that structure creates freedom. Even the wildest minds require extreme orderliness and attention to detail so that they have the space and discipline to create.

Consider:
– Beethoven sat down everyday at daybreak, regardless of season, and composed until 3:00pm.
– Kafka started writing at 11:30pm each night.
– Mozart taught lessons by day and composed only in the evenings.
– Picasso ate lunch each day with his family in silence and only allowed visitors one day per week.
– Mark Twain awoke at 5:30 am, ate a hearty breakfast, and wrote until 5:00 pm.

‍This program will allow your organization to:
‍1. Deconstructs the discipline of the creative process to ignite ideas to action.
2. Explores The Psychology of Success and the Science of Innovation to achieve superior levels of performance.
3. Harness The mental toughness required to navigate ambiguity and master complexity in a rapidly changing business environment
4. Disruption is the new normal. Are you creating or reacting?

“Brilliant” — Wells Fargo

"Game changing" — Microsoft

"Erik transformed the stage and created an epic audience experience" — Grand Canyon University Commencement

"Erik Wahl was the highlight of our entire conference. He captured everyone’s imagination with his creativity and added a whole new dimension to the usual motivational message. Not to mention his artistic finale was a complete knockout!" — AT&T