Stedman Graham Speaker Biography
Bestselling Author, Leadership Development Expert
and Entrepreneur
Stedman Graham is chairman and CEO of S. Graham & Associates. As a businessman, educator and speaker, he presents, consults and conducts training with corporations, educational entities, the military and veterans, nonprofits and the government. His Identity message is grounded in the fact that the key to success is self-leadership capability. The Identity Leadership programs, driven by his proprietary Nine-Step Success Process™, are based on the philosophy that individuals hold the power to their educational, career and personal success or failure.
Books
Graham has authored eleven books, including two New York Times bestsellers, You Can Make It Happen: A Nine-Step Plan for Success and Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps to Success. His latest release is Identity Leadership.
Clients
Clients have included the Indiana Pacers, Minnesota Vikings, Gulfstream Aerospace, Microsoft, Deloitte, Wells Fargo, Lenovo, General Dynamics, the US Departments of Labor, Education and Agriculture, CVS Pharmacy, and the Sonima Foundation (through which he taught in 150 high schools in 2 years). He has also lectured or conducted workshops in The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, China, Canada, the UK, the British Virgin Islands, Aruba, Bermuda, South Africa, and Africa.
Educator
Commitment to education and lifelong learning is central to Graham’s philosophy. He has served as an adjunct professor or guest lecturer at Northwestern, Harvard, Wharton, University of Chicago, the University of Illinois-Chicago, National University, Highpoint, Howard, Temple, Morehouse, UCLA, and Pepperdine to name a few.
Veteran
As a veteran of the United States Army, he has proudly served our active military, veterans and their families through programs at Fort Bragg, Fort Hood, Fort Bliss, Fort Jackson, NATO, the Military Child Education Coalition, and internationally at Landstuhl, Germany and the US Military Community in Rotterdam, Holland.
Affiliations
A proud native of Whitesboro, New Jersey, Graham has demonstrated an enduring pledge to youth and community. His Teens Can Make It Happen Program has been utilized in numerous middle and high school in the US and abroad, providing positive growth for our leaders of tomorrow, as well as their parents and teachers. With dedication to community development, Graham is the founder of the Concerned Citizens of Whitesboro and Concerned Citizens of Lake Waccamaw, NC and a co-founder of The Community Alliance for Youth Success. He is an ongoing contributor to the Cleveland Foundation Tru2U Project educating youth and their mentors, and to the organization MaDi through which he provides Identity Leadership education to thousands of refugees who are integrating into new communities and cultures.
Education
Graham holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Hardin-Simmons University, a Master’s degree in Education from Ball State University and an honorary doctorate in Humanities from Coker College.
Stedman Graham Speaking Topics
Diversity Leadership – The Impact on Performance
When we focus on performance and strive toward excellence in our professional lives, we shed the relevance of external labels based on race, gender, age, ethnicity, lifestyle, or physical ability. We are personally responsible for how we view and respond to diversity. In Leaders Not Labels, Stedman Graham helps people to recognize that it is about recognizing your own strengths, being proud of your own culture, and never having to apologize for who you are. Acceptance, tolerance and excellence start from within, based on self-knowledge and self-reliance. With those abilities, you can lead by example and perform at the highest level. Without them, you canʼt even lead your own life effectively.
You Can Make It Happen: A Health and Lifestyle Program
You Can Make It Happen: A Health and Lifestyle Program focuses on self-awareness and personal performance as the best way to achieve optimal results. Once a person changes his thinking, he is better able to change his patterns and “re-program” to create new habits. With the approaches and tools gained, participants are equipped to recognize core issues, remove obstacles to success, and create opportunities. They are given a process to move beyond their problems and work toward who they want to become. The information Graham conveys to audiences will begin to equip them with grassroots principles of health and well-being that can be applied for a lifetime.
The Dynamics of Leadership
Great leaders share an ability to inspire, guide and motivate their followers. In “Dynamics of Leadership,” Stedman Graham, bestselling author and businessman, shares his insight into how participants can master the “hard skills” necessary to succeed in the business world, cultivate their potential, expand their opportunities, and empower themselves to participate at all levels of leadership and organizational development. He stresses the importance of advocacy and mentoring to help others aspiring for greater achievement.
The Competitive Advantage in Business Leadership
Stedman Graham works with business leadership and executives to help them align business strategies. Moreover, he offers them a process for developing and performing in business that is congruent to their own Life Brand. Once leaders have a personal vision and know who they are, they can act on where they want to be personally and professionally. With this knowledge, they are better equipped to work authentically and ethically toward business objectives. Leaders who participate in the Competitive Advantage in Business Leadership program will be able to consciously articulate not only what needs to be done, but why it needs to be done. This collective knowledge is then the catalyst for serving up and rallying around the action plan regarding “how” to create, share and achieve business objectives. This source of personal and business transformation is intended to create an environment that works better for the leader, the company and those impacted in the surroundings.
Teens Can Make It Happen: Move Without The Ball
Move Without The Ball is a comprehensive program that teaches students, athletes and non-athletes how to successfully develop other areas of their lives in addition to becoming a professional athlete or entertainer. Based on his best-selling book, Move Without The Ball: Put Your Skills and Your Magic to Work For You, Stedman Graham sets the stage to help young people reach their full potential, no matter the endeavor and look beyond his or her current situation, routine, even beyond their current goals, to see new possibilities. The program encourages young men and women to recognize and fulfill their potential, whatever path they decide to pursue. It will help them build self-confidence, self-discipline, and determination, along with an understanding of their own abilities, talents, and values. Program participants will receive encouragement to find and follow their own road to success with conviction, perseverance and pride.
Build Your Own Life Brand
You can start to maximize your potential once you know exactly who you are, and what is important to you. Once you know who you are and what drives you, only then can you begin the process of branding yourself into the market. Stedman Graham champions messages on how to polish your brand — “your promise.” His messages are tailored to the individual and/or the overall organization (including how to garner recognition, appreciation and response for your corporate brand and value). Among many clients, he has spoken
Stedman Graham Books
Identity Leadership: To Lead Others You Must First Lead Yourself
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You Can Make It Happen
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Diversity: Leaders Not Labels – A New Plan for the 21st Century
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Who Are You? A Success Process For Building Your Life’s Foundation
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Move Without the Ball
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Teens Can Make It Happen: Nine Steps to Success
Purchase Book Diversity: Leaders Not Labels � A New Plan for the 21st Century
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Stedman Graham Speaker Testimonials
"I want to take this opportunity to thank you for presenting the "You Can Make It Happen" session at our Peoria Marketing Conference. The information you presented was well received by all in attendance. You supplied your audience with comments they can take back to their office and implement into their day-to-day lives. Your presentation was very motivational and right on target. Thank you for a dynamic presentation!"
- Cheryl Sowash | Vice President, State Farm Insurance Agencies
"You Can Make It Happen" was a great kick-off of the Training and Development Center's Industry Speakers Series. The feedback received has been very positive. I look forward to working with you in the future as we continue to develop training opportunities for our staff."
- Chris Bardwell | Training and Development Center, U.S. Department of Education
"The entire Manpower organization, GlaxoSmithKline, and the Greater Research Triangle community thoroughly enjoyed your visit to North Carolina. I am still receiving phone calls and e-mail's complimenting your message with regards to enhancing the quality of life for other people."
- Jeff Stocks | President & COO, Manpower
"It was a pleasure to participate in the session, as it was lively, well received and set a positive and enthusiastic tone for this new component of the You Can Make It Happen in Job Corps program. Your significant personal commitment, ultimately led to a mix of training, activities and media that clearly resonated with many of the students. The pilot complements the goals and objectives of the Career Development Services System well, providing additional tools and support to our student as they progress towards achieving their personal and professional goals."
- Lauren Morales | Center Director, Paul Simon Chicago Job Corps Center
