I offer a series of highly interactive DeepRead Workshops in corporate education that are customized to meet clients’ individual needs. A typical Workshop is one-hour long. The series of Workshops can be offered either all together over one day or two days, on-site or off-site; or they can be offered individually on a recurring basis, monthly or weekly.

Below are a series of 6 Workshops with a description of the material covered, followed by a list of additional topics.

*Each of the Workshops can also be offered as a Keynote or Presentation.

1. LEADERSHIP: Timeless Lessons from Classic Books

What can business leaders today learn from some of the greatest books ever written? Why have world-changing entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Peter Thiel passionately turned to literature for their groundbreaking innovations? This session will provide participants the tools to develop their leadership vision by engaging with powerful literary works. We will see how literature can provide “case studies” for effective leadership, idea generation, conflict resolution, and better understanding of commercial cultures. Participants will gain “10 Commandments” for the world of business as together we analyze how history’s premier minds, from Dante and Machiavelli to Shakespeare, Tolstoy, and Nietzsche, can spark essential entrepreneurial insights for our global marketplace.

2. DECISION MAKING: Test Cases from History’s “Tipping Points”

How can leaders learn from the most monumental decisions in history? This workshop analyze the thought processes behind key historical “tipping points” including Julius Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon, Abraham Lincoln’s move to end slavery, and John F. Kennedy’s masterful avoidance of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. We will see how these historical “test cases” can guide decision-makers in the business world as they think through everyday challenges and develop their personal strategies for gaining a competitive edge in today’s complex world. 

3. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: Focus on Women in Power

How can the ideas from some of the greatest books ever written, from Shakespeare and Dante to Toni Morrison, Virginia Woolf, and Harper Lee, teach us how to make our workspaces for inclusive and diverse? How can literature and the humanities illuminate best practices for cultural awareness in our multicultural, global marketplace? Together, we will analyze the ways in which the great minds of the past help us create “cultural diversity maps” that can help us create a more sensitive and inclusive workplace that fosters mutual respect and engenders productive collaboration. The focus of this session will be on “women in power”: how the issue of diversity and inclusion has affected females throughout history in their leadership roles in politics, the military, and business.

4. INNOVATION CREATIVITY: Thinking and Making with History’s Greatest Minds

Where can business people today turn for inspiring ideas from some of the most influential models of the past? How can a corporation create a “culture” that fosters original thinking? How are elements usually not associated with idea generation – failure, false starts, courage – actually essential components to a robust workplace culture that prizes innovation? Finally, why is “crisis” so often linked to creativity in both the artistic and business worlds? In this presentation, we will explore these questions as we consider creative minds including Dante, Leonardo, John Milton, Mark Twain, and Marie Curie, and tie their thought processes and models for idea generation to leading business minds from Steve Jobs to Jack Bogle.

5. RISK TAKING: Negotiating Chance and Seizing Opportunities Through the Great Books

How can Homer, the Bible, and great thinkers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Anton Chekhov teach the principles of risk management? What lessons do history’s great books offer for learning how to seize opportunities in life and in work? In this session, we will see how the idea of “risk” has evolved over the centuries, and learn about the fascinating—and surprising—connections between the successful management of risk in capital markets and in everyday life. Overall, our goal will be to show how some of the greatest works ever written provide a “map” for risk management and opportunity creation that can serve as an invaluable guide to professionals in the twenty-first century marketplace.

6. STORYTELLING AND COMMUNICATION: Leveraging the Narrative Strategies of Great Writers

Why did Plato say, “Storytellers rule the world”? How can businesspeople today turn to Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, and other great writers to tell the most effective “stories” about their goods and services? What do the great books of the past teach us about the art (and science) of communication? Why must businesses learn to harness the power of words, and what can the world’s most influential authors teach us about this essential skill? In this workshop, we will study what makes convincing and compelling stories “tick,” as we go inside their language and themes to show how business leaders today can leverage their strategies and insights to become master storytellers.