
Gerry is an inspiring speaker who will turn your conference into a breakthrough experience. His style combines thought-provoking insight, humor and deep audience connection to deliver transformative results. Gerry uses real-world examples from his extensive background as a Fortune 100 leader, and he provides easily-understood tools that attendees can apply in any business environment.
Watch Gerry Inspire Audiences
Most Requested Program Topics
Each of these topics can be done as an opening keynote, a mid-conference break-out session, or a closing keynote. Gerry is also happy to work with meeting organizers to customize any topic to specific conference needs.
Turn Adversity into Advantage
Why does adversity cause some people to break, and others to break records? No matter who you are, adversity is a part of life. But, some people know how to take whatever they’re facing and turn it into an advantage—those are the people who accomplish great things. In this inspiring talk, Gerry Valentine explains how turning adversity into advantage is a skill that anyone can learn, and he provides tools you can start using right away to turn whatever you’re facing into your greatest advantage.
Gerry Valentine has built a life-story by defying the odds. Starting from a difficult early-life in poverty, he built a successful career as a Fortune 100 leader, founded his own business, and established himself as a thought-leader. Along the way, Gerry found that some of the most challenging days in his early life later became the advantage he needed to excel in the corporate world. Most importantly, he learned that turning adversity into advantage is a skill that he can teach others.
Gerry believes that set-backs are our teachers—the key is knowing how to use your setbacks as an advantage. Whether you’re the CEO of a large company, an entrepreneur, or any other kind of leader this session is for you.
- How to change your perspective on challenges
- How to avoid the self-defeating negative thought-patterns that derail most people
- How fear defeats innovation, and how to get back on track
- The 5-step process that turns adversity into creativity and innovation
- How to create work cultures that use adversity as an advantage
…and much more.
Become a Courageous Leader—Deliver Outstanding Results
Why are some people great leaders? What separates the great leaders from the ordinary? How can you become one of those great leaders? If you’ve ever asked any of these questions this engaging program is for you. Gerry Valentine discusses how the greatest leaders display a very specific quality—Courageous Leadership. He explains how you can start using the 5 key principles of courageous leadership to inspire others; to energize and motivate your teams; and to deliver outstanding results.
Courageous leadership isn’t about barking orders, rigid authority or intimidation. It’s about establishing a shared vision; engaging and motivating others towards that vision; leading through uncertain times; and using the best in yourself to inspire the best in everyone around you—and it delivers outstanding results.
This session is based on Gerry’s 30 years of corporate leadership experience—with some of the most prestigious Fortune 100 companies—and it distills that experience into specific tools that can be applied immediately to any business environment.
- The 5-key principles of courageous leadership
- Why courageous leaders deliver superior results
- The trap of fear-based leadership and how to avoid it
- How to use courageous leadership in tough and uncertain times
- How to instill a culture of courageous leadership across your organization
…and much more

Re-Invention Thinking—How to Overcome Challenge and Uncertainty
Change, uncertainty, and an ever-accelerating pace are the hallmark of today’s business world. Most see it as pure chaos, and they struggle to keep up. However, some people know how to harness the chaos to their advantage, and they use uncertainty and change to drive success. In this inspiring session, Gerry Valentine explains how leaders can use a new approach—Re-Invention Thinking—to shift their perspective on challenges, and to turn uncertainty into an advantage.
There are very good reasons to feel overwhelmed—technology is advancing at a blinding pace, we face ever-increasing demands, and disruption is everywhere. But each of these challenges can be turned into an advantage if you reinvent your perspective. The most successful people are the ones who can do just that.
In this session, Gerry Valentine explains how leaders can use Re-Invention Thinking to change their approach to challenge, and to build cultures that embrace change and disruption as a potential source of opportunity.
- The 5 principles of Re-Invention thinking, and how to apply them in your organization
- How to avoid the trap of fear and paralysis that holds organizations hostage
- Re-Invention leadership styles that foster innovation
- How to shift burn-out and cynicism towards creativity and optimism
- How Re-Invention thinking drives bottom-line results
… and much more.