David Okerlund

As David tells people, “If you were to make a list of all the challenges farmers face today, you would probably run out of paper or ink.”  And the list would include everything from devastating floodwaters on the Missouri River, cornfields buried in North Dakota snowdrifts, trade wars, and now this historic pandemic.  It’s a heavy mental and physical load for anyone in agriculture to bear.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel.  And His eye is still on the sparrow!

David Okerlund has seen the bad years and the great years of agriculture, but most importantly David has learned how farmers can make the best of a challenging situation.  He has seen both the highs and the lows.  He was doing crisis counseling back in 1984 and he also got to celebrate $14 soybeans with farm families in 2013.

David’s challenge is this:  Every farmer nurtures their land, their crops, and livestock conditions religiously, but how many nurture their own state of mind, their passions, and their self-empowerment needs?  And that goes for every person who sells products and services to farmers as well.  He calls it, “Applying your own mental and spiritual fertilizer.”  It’s learning how to make your own chicken soup.

This newly redesigned presentation is packed with content; five specific areas where ag individuals can nurture and strengthen their resilience.  So if you are looking for a truly uplifting, motivational presentation to restore and renew the human spirit, then this is one program you must consider.

We all know people who live with great passion, Often, we assume it’s part of their genetic makeup. It’s one of the worst assumptions we make. Fact is, passion has little to do with genetics. Passion is molded by experience. And our level of passion can be radically shifted. 

Fact # 1:  Most behavioral psychologists will tell you that the greatest single attribute influencing stellar achievement is that individual’s level of passion. 

Fact # 2:  Unfortunately, many individuals and leaders have little knowledge about how to nurture passions’ potential within themselves or in the people they manage. 

Fact # 3:  David Okerlund’s new keynote, “Powering Passion” teaches us what  passion is, the power it generates, and how to internalize and nurture  passion’s energy. 

Charles Kettering, founder of Delco and head of research for General Motors from 1920 to 1947, once offered one of the greatest quotes ever on achievement. This renowned American inventor, engineer, businessman, and holder of 186 patents stated, “Nothing ever arose to touch the skies unless at least one person thought it could, at least one person thought it should, and at least one person willed it must.”  The “could” is the dream. The “should” is the belief in the dream. And the “must” is the unrelenting passion for bringing that dream to fruition. 

David asks his potential clients this pivotal question: “Knowing passion is the critical key to success, have you ever presented a program focused on unleashing passion’s power in your people?” If not, here’s your opportunity with an International Hall of Fame speaker. 

In “Powering Passion,” David reveals the two critical steps necessary. First, he galvanizes our understanding of what passion is and how it helps ordinary people achieve extraordinary results. How an ordinary hockey team achieved the greatest upset in Olympic history. How an ordinary basketball team defeated perhaps the best basketball team to ever play in the a983 NCAA National Finals. And what compelled two ordinary sisters to reign over the tennis world together, winning thirty Grand Slam titles and twelve Wimbledon crowns between them. 

Second, he provides specific tools your people can implement to enhance their personal and professional passion. Each attendee will be presented with a handbook to guide them through a fourteen-day self-development program. Why? Because David knows how important it is to encourage and support people who are working to make a significant change.

Do you want to fire up your audience with a powerful send-off keynote or a great opening tone-setter for your next event? Do you wonder if David could do that for you? Then consider this:

    “I’ve been rating speakers for associations for nearly ten years and rate them on over twenty different aspects of professionalism. I have never given a speaker a perfect score until I heard David take the stage at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies’ conference in Minneapolis. Absolutely every person in the audience was mesmerized by both the content of his message and his incredible style of delivery!” 

David Okerlund has over twenty five years of selling experience. He has sold everything from soap, farm chemicals, construction material, Foley catheters and medical lasers to $200,000 electronic inserters. In addition to that, he has trained salespeople from a multitude of different companies all over America.

David believes that his program, When It Comes Down To Price. . . . Don’t Come Down! is one of the most valuable investments sales organizations can make. “I think it can be a bigger problem than even “Call Reluctance”. However, if the problems of price buyers were to be revealed the way they should be, price no longer becomes a hang-up and can be one of your best selling tools.”

In this program David will address:

√ What is a price buyer and just how prevalent are they.

√ Why price a bigger concern to the seller than it is to the buyer

√ The four distinct types of buyers – how they will act, and how do you manage them.

√ The two cardinal sins of selling price

√ Why value is such a key ingredient to diffusing the price bomb.

√ Why your customer has got to totally, absolutely, without question believe that you are going to get that price.

√ Making your price your best selling tool

(How to create a positive mindset about coping with change) 

George Bernard Shaw once stated, “Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”

As David always says, “Sometimes you have to go beyond getting out of the box.  Sometimes you have to even throw the damn box away.”  And for some people, that’s not easy to do.  However, when they have heard this keynote, most individuals are better prepared to dance with all the change and chaos this pandemic is thrusting upon us today and will continue to do so for a long time to come. 

David confronts his audience with their reluctance to change and helps them understand the critical difference between change and transitions.  As he says, “Change is external, and most of the time we have little control of it.  However, transitions are internal, and that’s where we can and must take control.  And if you look closely at all the bad news, you will find those individuals who have risen above the chaos and conquered.  They chose a proactive approach instead of a reactive stance.”  This keynote address is a great way to kick off a conference or send people home with a fire inside to do just that!

One of the world’s greatest experts on stress, Hans Selye said, “It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.“

This keynote address is all about changing the way we think about the stress in our lives.  David’s approach is learning how to laugh a little more at ourselves and our mistakes.  It’s understanding that stress is not the ogre we’ve made it out to be, and in fact, can and should be a positive force in our lives. It’s not easy controlling the external things that happen, but we are the masters of how we control what happens within.

David will take you on a roller coaster ride as he looks at how stress can be turned from a negative into a positive force in our lives. 

(Growing from good to great and then beyond)

Over the years David has been able to observe the leadership styles and habits of many Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller, more intimate organizations. His study groups have included great entrepreneurs like Starbucks founder, Howard Schultz and his book, “Pour Your Heart Into IT.” He learned much through a personal conversation with business giant, Warren Buffett.  David also became the personal coach for the famed Thunderbirds’ Precision Flying Team, Commander Ron Mumm, and Hall of Fame great, Ozzie Smith of the Saint Louis Cardinals. 

And from their input, David has digested their vaulted secrets of success into four core values they all shared as the foundation of their successes.  This keynote address is based on David’s book by the same title.  It’s about the traits your leaders and managers need to master to go from good to great and then beyond.  It’s about mastering the art of emotional intelligence, stimulating creativity, embracing flexibility, the power of being a passionate leader, and much more.  And these self-development skills will determine our nation’s success in rebuilding our nation’s economy after the devastation this pandemic has brought upon us!

(The greatest formula for success)

Charles Franklin Kettering was one of the greatest minds and inventors in the history of America.  While with DuPont, he became the holder of 186 different patents.  However, his greatest gift can be found in a quote he wrote that gives anyone a simple but profound path to success. He said, “Nothing ever rose to touch the sky unless at least one man thought it could.  At least one man thought it should.  And at least one man willed it must.”

The “could” is the discovered vision.  The “should” is the passion for the vision.  And the “must” is the perseverance to bring the vision to fruition.  To get anything significant accomplished today, one must have a clear vision of what the outcome will actually be.  Then one must master the art of drawing others into that vision where they claim ownership and become as committed as you are.  And then, as Kettering says, “One then fails forward” relentlessly until success is achieved.

This keynote is all about those three margins of greatness and how to apply them to your own leadership skills.  It is one of David Okerlund’s most intense and powerful keynotes and a lynchpin to recovery in 2020!