Trying to say the exact right thing can feel overwhelming at times, and it may even cause us to feel stuck when it comes to moving from having good intentions to taking concrete action. That’s what this Speaker Series event is all about—giving us the tools to have constructive, compassionate conversations across differences. Our own Blake Lawit, SVP and general counsel, will sit down with Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law, to discuss the nuanced subject of his new book (co-authored with David Glasgow), Say The Right Thing: How to Talk About Identity, Diversity, and Justice. Together, they will explore how we can move from potentially unconsciously hurting people when we communicate, to consciously helping them.   

Leah Smart, LinkedIn editor and host of the “In the Arena” podcast, sits down with Yung Pueblo—author, meditator, and one of social media’s leading voices on the topics of healthy relationships and knowing ourselves. They explore self-awareness practices that can help us experience the world around us in crisp and newly vibrant ways.

In partnership with our Black Inclusion Group, we’re thrilled to welcome trailblazer and change agent, Bozoma “Boz” Saint John—one of the world’s most dynamic, influential, and accomplished marketers—to our next Speaker Series. This special Black Heritage Month event will be a live streamed conversation in our NY editorial studio followed by a book signing. Boz brings unparalleled energy, transformative thinking, and innovative ideas to everything she touches, and we’ll experience this ourselves when she sits down with Ty Heath, market engagement director for The B2B Institute at LinkedIn, to discuss themes from her new book, The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss and Survival. They’ll delve into the lessons Boz has learned throughout her extraordinary career, and her exciting new role as ambassador for the African diaspora and special envoy to the president of Ghana. Get ready for some inspirational gems! The Urgent Life draws from Boz’s own experiences of tragedy and grief to lay out a roadmap for those of us who are navigating our own battles. Through her stories and insights, Boz lets us know that we are not alone, that we can make it through, and that there is light and peace, and even inspiration, waiting for us when we do.

Restaurateur Will Guidara was 26 when he took over as manager of Eleven Madison Park (EMP), a struggling NYC brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic location. Within a decade, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world. How did Will pull off this unprecedented transformation, and what did he learn about business leadership along the way? As it turns out, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences and lasting relationships, within teams and with our clients.  Jann Schwarz, head of LinkedIn's B2B Institute and one of Will Guidara's frequent collaborators, will lead a conversation with Will about his new book, Unreasonable Hospitality: Giving People More Than They Expect, and uncover Will’s secrets on how to become a better relationship builder and charismatic convener of any group of people.

On Learning InDay, we have an epic opportunity to hear from Seth Godin, blogger, author, entrepreneur, author, and founder of The Carbon Almanac, a global movement to educate and lead urgent action on the climate crisis.  This group, a collaboration between hundreds of writers, researchers, thinkers, and illustrators has published a powerful tool by the same name that focuses on what we know, what has come before, and what might happen next with our global climate. It’s a remarkably readable and impactful exploration of climate science to help ensure we all know the facts about this complex subject. In our live session, we’ll discuss the biggest lessons from The Carbon Almanac and why it isn’t too late for us to make a positive impact on climate change—if we act now. And we’ll gain insight from Seth on leadership and group dynamics to improve the way we work on a daily basis.

Join us as LinkedIn's Vice President of Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, Rosanna Durruthy sits down with Susan Cain to discuss her new book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, the power of a bittersweet, melancholic outlook on life, and why our culture has been so blind to its value.  Her previous bestseller, Quiet, urged our society to cultivate space for the undervalued, indispensable introverts among us, revealing an untapped power hidden in plain sight. Now, she uses the same mix of research, storytelling, and memoir to explore why we experience sorrow and longing, and the surprising lessons these states of mind teach us about creativity, compassion, leadership, spirituality, mortality and love.

-- Do you feel like you’re running faster but not moving closer to your goals? -- Or that you want to make a greater contribution, but lack the energy?  -- Are you feeling like everything is so much harder than it used to be?-- Maybe you even feel like you are teetering right on the edge of burnout? 
If any of this resonates with you, you won’t want to miss our Speaker Series event featuring Greg McKeown, author of two New York Times bestsellers, Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most, and Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. Our own Dr. Chrissy Roth-Francis hosted a conversation and delved into Greg’s actionable advice for making the most essential activities the easiest ones—so you can achieve the results you want, without burning out. The effortless way isn't the lazy way. It's the smart way. It may even be the only way.    

"The secret of life,” Diane Von Furstenberg says, is to “own our imperfections. Own our vulnerability; it becomes our strength. Whatever the challenge is, own it. Owning it is the first step to everything.”  Up next in our Speaker Series, LinkedIn's  Catherine Fisher sits down with iconic luxury fashion founder and dedicated advocate for empowering women, Diane von Furstenberg. Together with Gabby Hirata, the current president of Diane’s namesake company, DVF, they share lessons from life, leadership, and their experiences with mentorship and supporting emerging women leaders.  Discover the basis of Diane’s empowering philosophy in her new book, Own It: The Secret to Life, an A-to-Z dictionary of life-enhancing ideas. It’s a manifesto that will guide you to turn problems into assets and enjoy personal growth at any age.

Are you ready to hear the secrets behind the most extraordinary industry success stories of our times? In our next Speaker Series on September 9, you’ll have that chance. Please join us for a discussion between LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock partner, Reid Hoffman, and our very own Leah Smart. In Reid’s critically acclaimed podcast, Masters of Scale, he sits down with visionary founders and leaders from iconic companies such as Apple, Nike, Netflix, Spotify, Starbucks, Google, Instagram, and Microsoft, as well as bold, disruptive startups, such as 23andMe, TaskRabbit, Black List, and Walker & Co.—and digs into the surprising strategies that have powered these companies' growth. Our host Leah is behind the also-wildly-successful podcast In The Arena, so this event will be one amazing podcaster interviewing another. You won’t want to miss it.

As we at LinkedIn know very well, relationships matter! They’re crucial to being effective at work and to living a full life. So for our next Speaker Series event, we’re thrilled to be hosting Carole Robin to discuss her new book, Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends and Colleagues, that she co-authored with David Bradford.  Carole and David co-taught interpersonal skills to Stanford MBA candidates for over 37 years in the legendary course, “Interpersonal Dynamics”—affectionately known to generations of students as “Touchy-Feely.” On May 13, it’s reunion time, when Tomer Cohen, our Chief Product Officer, and Stanford MBA who has actually taken the course, will talk with Carole about how to take our relationships from shallow to exceptional by cultivating authenticity, vulnerability, and honesty, while being willing to ask for and offer help, share a commitment to growth, and deal productively with conflict. 

Join Nina McQueen, Vice President, Global Talent - Benefits, Mobility & Employee Experience, as she hosts Academy-award winning actor and producer, Matthew McConaughey, for a discussion about his book, Greenlights, his memoir about how to approach life’s challenges, get more satisfaction and “catch greenlights”. This energizing conversation will be a great start to the year as we learn to catch more greenlights in 2021 and realize that the yellow and the reds eventually turn green too! 

Join our VP of Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, Rosanna Durruthy as she hosts a LinkedIn Live Speaker Series with Shellye Archambeau, Former CEO of MetricStream and Fortune 500 board member, to discuss her new book, Unapologetically Ambitious: Take Risks, Break Barriers and Create Success on Your Own Terms. Full of empowering wisdom from one of Silicon Valley's first female Black CEOs, her inspiring book offers a blueprint for how to achieve your personal and professional goals. Shellye asserts that ambition alone is not enough to achieve success as she shares practical tools and approaches to employ right now, including concrete steps to: capitalize on the power of planning, develop financial literacy, build your network and integrate work, marriage, parenthood and self-care.  

Join LinkedIn’s Head of Social Impact, Meg Garlinghouse as she hosts a LinkedIn Live Speaker Series with New York Times bestselling author, Kelly Corrigan on her latest book, Tell Me More - a deeply personal, honest and often hilarious examination of the essential phrases that help foster connection in our lives. Together they’ll discuss the significance of phrases such as, “I don’t know” and “Tell me more” - and how we can use Kelly’s lessons to cultivate deeper connections and understanding with our colleagues, friends and loved ones today. This chat will lift your spirits with Kelly’s light-hearted sense of humor and meaningful insights.   Hot-off-the-press: PBS NewsHour is launching a special and intimate interview series: Tell Me More with Kelly Corrigan. Her first episode is launching the same day as this event with former guest speaker, Bryan Stevenson. You’ll also have an opportunity to hear more from Kelly on her podcast and radio show, Kelly Corrigan Wonders.

Join LinkedIn’s Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and Executive Co-Sponsor of EnableIn, Mel Selcher, as she hosts our first-ever LinkedIn Live virtual Speaker Series with Dr. Vivek Murthy, the 19th Surgeon General of the United States and author of Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. Mel and Dr. Murthy will discuss the importance of human connection, the hidden impact of loneliness on our health, and the social power of community.  This discussion couldn’t come at a better time—as COVID-19 continues to evolve, the public health imperative is clear: to save lives, we need to radically increase the physical space between us. But will these practices condemn us to loneliness and lead to a “social recession”? Dr. Murthy strongly believes healthy relationships are as essential to our overall health as vaccines and ventilators, and that we have a great opportunity to strengthen our connections and communities during this time. He’ll share four key strategies to help us not only weather this storm, but heal our social world far into the future. This is a Speaker Series you won’t want to miss! 

Join LinkedIn's Vice President of Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, Rosanna Durruthy, and Zainab Salbi, author, humanitarian, activist, and TV personality to discuss Zainab’s latest book, Freedom is an Inside Job: Owning Our Darkness and Our Light to Heal Ourselves and the World. Her book explores the meaning of living authentically in the world while being true to ourselves and our values.   Through her own stories and experiences, Zainab will take us through a process of self-discovery. We will learn to uncover our hidden motives and desires so we can live in alignment with our authentic values. “As long as we are conflicted within, we will continue to live in conflict without,” writes Zainab. 

When Charles (“Chuck”) R. Schwab founded The Charles Schwab Corporation, he made stock investing, once expensive and clubby reserved for the few, accessible to ordinary Americans. In his new personal memoir, ‘Invested: Changing Forever the Way Americans Invest,’ Schwab describes the ups and downs he had along the way as he fulfilled his passion to have Main Street participate in the growing economy as investors and owners, not only earners.  Join LinkedIn CFO Steve Sordello as he hosts an illuminating discussion about the personal challenges Schwab faced, how he overcame them, the life-lessons learned over his lifetime-- and how he turned a democratizing idea into an industry-changing reality that helped make investing and saving for retirement easier for millions.

We’re thrilled to learn from leadership guru and business strategist, Simon Sinek! Best known for popularizing the concept of Why, Sinek’s TED Talk is one of the most watched TED talks of all-time, hitting 37+ million views. Sinek is also the author of multiple NYT best-selling books, “Start with Why” and “Leaders Eat Last” -- acclaimed for helping organizations around the world inspire their leaders to reach new heights. Join LinkedIn Editor in Chief, Dan Roth as he chats with Sinek about the themes of his latest and greatest, The Infinite Game, that largely focuses on how adopting an infinite mindset is necessary for leaders who want to build stronger, more innovative and more inspiring organizations.

Join us as LinkedIn General Counsel Blake Lawit sits down with Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, to discuss Smith’s new book, Tools and Weapons, a narrative from his past 25 years at Microsoft, as the company navigated some of the thorniest issues of our time.  Smith operates by a simple core belief: When your technology changes the world, you bear a responsibility to help address the world you have helped create. Challenges have been created that come with no preexisting playbook, including privacy, cybercrime and cyberwar, social media, the moral conundrums of artificial intelligence, big tech's relationship to inequality, and the challenges for democracy, far and near.  Come and learn about some of Microsoft’s most crucial recent decision points, as it strives to protect the hope technology offers against the very real threats it also presents.

Unconscious bias can be at work without our realizing it, and even when we genuinely wish to treat all people equally, ingrained stereotypes can affect our visual perception, attention, memory, and behavior. This has an impact on education, employment, housing, and criminal justice. In Biased, with a perspective that is scientific, investigative, and informed by personal experience, Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt offers us insights into the dilemma and a path forward. Come ready to learn and be inspired as Eberhardt presents a hopeful framework for discussion and action by connecting racial bias with the scientific study of the brain. The good news is that we are not hopelessly doomed by our innate prejudices -- Eberhardt reminds us that racial bias is a human problem -- one all people can play a role in solving. 

Join us as LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner sits down with Andre Iguodala, three-time NBA champion, to discuss insights from Iguodala’s new book, The Sixth Man.  Andre Iguodala is one of the most admired players in the NBA. Off the court, Iguodala has earned respect, too—for his successful tech investments, his philanthropy, and increasingly for his contributions to the conversation about race in America. Centering around leadership, drive, pain and accomplishment, this is a powerful memoir of life and the culture of basketball that reveals new depths to the superstar athlete. The Sixth Man offers tremendous insight into the most urgent stories being told in American society today, touching on diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

Join us as LinkedIn VP of Engineering Erica Lockheimer sits down with Telle Whitney, former CEO of the Anita Borg Institute and co-founder of the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference, to discuss the successes and challenges women in technology face and how to create cultures where women thrive. Whitney has been a force in the industry, truly changing the trajectory for Women in Technology. When the Grace Hopper Conference started in 1994, there were 500 attendees. Today, it sells out within minutes and has over 20,000 attendees!    Get ready to be inspired by Whitney’s key leadership lessons learned throughout her career, her thoughts on the importance of diversity and career advice that will benefit everyone.

Join us as LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman sits down with former Executive Chairman of Alphabet and former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, and Jonathan Rosenberg, former Senior Vice President and Advisor to Alphabet CEO, Larry Page, to discuss insights from their new book, “Trillion Dollar Coach.” From Steve Jobs and Dick Costolo to Larry Page and Sundar Pichai, several of the biggest names in Silicon Valley will gladly credit much of their success to one name you’ve probably never heard of and who’s no longer with us – Bill Campbell. Considering that Bill helped create well over a trillion dollars in market value, his leadership method doesn’t just deserve our recognition, but could result in an extraordinary return on investment of your time if you learn it.  “Trillion Dollar Coach” shares behind-the-scenes business wisdom from Bill Campbell, Silicon Valley’s preeminent executive coach. Although he was perhaps the greatest executive coach of all time, Bill shunned the spotlight and rarely gave interviews. The authors hope that by open sourcing his principles and sharing stories of how they have worked for others, they can help people at all levels become more effective managers and leaders.  

Join us as LinkedIn Wellness Director Michael Susi sits down with international fitness icon, nutrition expert, and legendary big-wave surfer, Laird Hamilton, to discuss Laird’s take on human resilience, relationships, business, technology, risk-taking, and the importance of respecting the natural world ‒ all through the lens of his life both in and beyond the ocean. While the world increasingly seeks happiness from fads and self-help books, Laird Hamilton  focuses on looking inward and appreciating the brilliant creature we already are. In his book, Liferider, Laird uses five key pillars – Death & Fear, Heart, Body, Soul, and Everything is Connected – to illustrate his unique worldview and life practices, offering inspiration to anyone who wants to elevate their ordinary, landlocked life to do extraordinary things.  Liferider is based on extensive interviews and conversations between Laird and his co-writer, Julian Borra, with additional insights from Laird’s wife, pro-volleyball player Gabby Reece, joined us for this event as well.

Join us as LinkedIn Chief People Officer, Christina Hall sits down with Chip Conley to discuss his new book, "Wisdom@Work: The Making of a Modern Elder." This book was inspired by his professional journey as the 26-year old founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, when he took an inner city motel and turned it into the second largest boutique hotel brand in America, to being an “elder” 50-year-old mentor and unexpected intern at Airbnb. Part manifesto and part playbook, Wisdom@Work ignites an urgent conversation about ageism in the workplace, calling on us to treat age as we would other types of diversity. In the process, Conley liberates the term "elder" from the stigma of "elderly," and inspires us to embrace wisdom as a path to growing whole, not old. Many “elders” have been forced to make a mid-career change, are choosing to work past retirement age, or are struggling to keep up with the millennials rising up the ranks. Wisdom@Work helps bring understanding about the value of “elders” and multi-generational teams in the workplace.

Join us as LinkedIn Chief Marketing Officer, Shannon Brayton sits down with Chelsea Clinton to discuss the work Clinton is doing to empower young activists to change the world. In Clinton’s new book, Start Now! You Can Make a Difference, she shares information about problems both large and small. She breaks down concepts of health, hunger, climate change, endangered species, and bullying so that young people can understand the world around them. She helps them learn how they can make a difference in their own lives, as well as in their communities and the world at large. Clinton hopes to encourage kids to learn more about what helps them to be healthy and to be inspired to stand up for what they believe is right.  

Join us as we turn the tables on our frequent LinkedIn Speaker Series interviewer, Reid Hoffman, and interview HIM about his new book, Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies. Reid’s new book comes out at the beginning of October, so don’t miss this “hot off the press” chance to hear directly from him about the lessons he has learned. Shannon Brayton, LinkedIn CMO, will host a fascinating fireside chat to understand what “blitzscaling” means and what separates the startups that get disrupted and disappear from the ones who grow to become global giants.

Join us as LinkedIn co-founder Allen Blue sits down with Dr. Kim to discuss the work we are doing together to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. The goals of the World Bank Group are to end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity for the bottom 40 percent of the population in developing countries. By providing access to data trends and insights, LinkedIn is supporting the World Bank to achieve these goals. Come learn more about this innovative collaboration - how you can get involved and make an impact.

Join us as LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman sits down with Daniel Pink to discuss his new book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. Everyone knows that timing is everything. But we don't really know much about timing itself. Our lives are a never-ending stream of "when" decisions: when to start a business, when to change jobs, when to get serious about a person. Yet we often make those decisions based on intuition and guesswork. Timing, it's often assumed, is an art. In his new book, Daniel unlocks the scientific secrets to good timing to help us flourish at work and at home. We hope you’ll leave this session with insights into how to live a richer, more engaged life!

Join us as LinkedIn’s Head of Social Impact, Meg Garlinghouse, sits down with Jennifer Dulski, the head of Groups at Facebook, and former president of Change.org, to discuss how you can turn your mission into a movement that creates change. Anyone can spark change if they believe in the power of taking action, no matter where, or how small, they start. In Dulski’s new book, Purposeful, she explains how to create a clear vision, inspire supporters, persuade decision makers, navigate criticism, and more. Our world needs movement starters more than ever and this discussion about Purposeful will empower you to start your own movement and make your mark on the world.

Join us as LinkedIn’s Co-Founder, Reid Hoffman sits down with Fred Kofman, Advisor on Leadership Development, to learn more about Fred’s new book, The Meaning Revolution. Bringing together economics and business theory, communications and conflict resolution, family counseling and mindfulness meditation, Kofman argues that our most deep-seated, unspoken, and universal anxiety stems from our fear that our life is being wasted - that the end of life will overtake us when our song is still unsung. Material incentives like salary and benefits only drive a small portion of employees’ motivation. What really drives engagement is the meaning, a feeling that what we do day in and day out makes a difference, that how we spend our time on earth serves a larger purpose beyond just ourselves. Join the conversation to learn: How to “die before you die,” thinking about the legacy you are leaving behind while you still have an opportunity to shape it How to assume a truly “response-able” mantle of leadership, in a step-by-step, practical way How to move past your deepest fears and anxieties to fashion a truly heroic life How organizations, and the people within them, can make a difference in the world

Join us as LinkedIn’s CMO, Shannon Brayton, sits down with Joanna Coles, Chief Content Officer Hearst Magazines, to learn why The New York Times recently described Joanna as “one of the most powerful people in media.” Not only has Joanna had an incredible career before her current role overseeing content and editorial partnerships for 300 magazines globally as the CCO of Hearst Magazines, but she also has made incredible impact through the board of Women Entrepreneurs New York City, an initiative to expand female entrepreneurship, with a focus on underserved women and communities.   Joanna also currently sits on the board of directors of Snap Inc, is the executive producer of ABC Freeform’s scripted drama, The Bold Type, and has recently written a book with HarperCollins on relationships in the digital age and lives called Love Rules.

LinkedIn for Good hosted David Miliband, CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, to discuss how individuals and organizations can work to alleviate the global refugee crisis. As the son of refugees, David has brought a personal commitment to the IRC’s work. Under his leadership, IRC has launched a global strategy focused on collaborating with the private sector to further its mission to help people whose lives have been shattered by conflict and disaster to regain control of their future. At LinkedIn, this is also an issue we’re actively engaged with: through our Welcome Talent initiative, LIFG partners with nonprofits, governments, and the private sector to provide refugees the training, resources, and networks they need to become a new member of their local workforce. If you’re interested in learning more about the current refugee crisis and how you can help, join us for this important conversation!

In 2017, not a month went by without major revelations about discrimination or harassment in Hollywood, politics, the media, and beyond. As the #MeToo movement spread, millions of women bravely came forward to share stories of abuse and sexual harassment. As we begin 2018, one thing is clear: the desire for change has become palpable. In BROTOPIA: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley, Bloomberg TV journalist Emily Chang takes on the industry that has perhaps had the most profound impact on the future of humanity and created the greatest wealth of our generation - technology. Its inventions have become integral to our modern lives and instigated extraordinary change—but behind the scenes, it’s far from a utopia.   Join us as LinkedIn’s Managing News Editor, Caroline Fairchild, sits down with Emily to discuss what Emily has discovered about the staggering gender inequality in the tech industry, and to understand more about how we got here and how can we foster real change.

Interested in what the future will hold? Join us as LinkedIn Co-Founder and Partner at Greylock Reid Hoffman hosts a fireside chat with MIT Sloan School of Management’s faculty members Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. Erik and Andrew are co-authors of the 2014 NYTimes best-selling book, The Second Machine Age, and their latest book, Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future. Reid, Erik, and Andrew will discuss the fascinating times that we are living in today - a time where a machine can play the strategy game Go better than any human; upstarts like Apple and Google are destroying industry stalwarts such as Nokia; and ideas sourced from the crowd are infinitely more innovative than corporate research labs. Andrew and Erik know what it takes to master this digital-powered shift, and Reid will have a chance to discuss with them how we need to rethink the integration of minds and machines, of products and platforms, and of the core and the crowd.

Join us for a fascinating fireside chat with Stacy Brown-Philpot, CEO of TaskRabbit, and Ty Heath, the President of our Black Inclusion Group (BIG). They will discuss the future of work, the sharing/gig economy, how TaskRabbit is fueling it, and what is being done in Silicon Valley to invest in diversity. Fun fact: Did you know that Stacy grew up where LinkedIn opened our most recent office?!?  We’re excited to bond over Detroit and hear how growing up there has shaped her view on the world.

To kick off our 2018 LinkedIn Speaker Series, we are honored to host Chade-Meng Tan (Meng), Retired Jolly Good Fellow at Google (yes, that was actually his official job title!).  Meng’s session will set us all up for a productive and successful year by enlightening us on some of the key learnings from his book, Joy on Demand.  This book is the long-awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Search Inside Yourself and shows us how to cultivate joy within the context of our fast-paced lives and explains why it is critical to creativity, innovation, confidence, and ultimately, success in every arena.

As the first Deafblind person to graduate from Harvard Law School, Haben Girma advocates for equal opportunities for people with disabilities. President Obama named her a White House Champion of Change, and Forbes recognized her in Forbes 30 Under 30. Haben travels the world consulting and public speaking, teaching clients the benefits of fully accessible products and services. Haben has also been consulting with EnableIn to make LinkedIn’s workplace and products more inclusive, and we are so excited to introduce her to the rest of the company!  Listen to Haben’s inspiring story, and learn how disability is driving innovation.

Not only is this your chance to meet an astronaut - Captain Jim Wetherbee, US Navy (Ret.) - but you will also have the opportunity to learn about the high-quality operations used by astronauts in space. In addition to being the only five-time Space Shuttle Commander, Jim has been involved in several high-profile projects including studying the Challenger explosion and the BP pipeline spill to prevent accidents like those from occurring again. Come listen to his fascinating stories from being in space and learn his risk-management techniques that can be applied in everyday life. And, not to mention - he has some pretty amazing pictures from his astronaut days that you won’t want to miss!

Join us as Scott Shute, our VP Global Customer Operations, sits down with two New York Times–bestselling authors, Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson, to discuss new research showing what meditation can really do for the brain. In the last twenty years, meditation and mindfulness have gone from being kind of cool to becoming an omnipresent Band-Aid for fixing everything from your weight to your relationship to your achievement level. In their new book, “Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body,” Goleman and Davidson show us the truth about what meditation can really do for us, and exactly how to get the most out of it.  This is one of those rare books that has the power to change us at the deepest level.

This is an age of epic political turbulence around the world. Old hierarchies and institutions are collapsing. All the “givens” of civic life are no longer given. From the fracturing of the major political parties, to the spread of bottom-up movements like Black Lives Matter and $15 Now, citizens across the world and across the political spectrum are reclaiming power. It is no longer the exclusive domain of CEOs, political elites, and insiders from any political party. And the question that today’s rising citizens have to face is: Are you ready? Do you understand power? And if you want to make change in the world, do you know how? Eric Liu, who has spent a career practicing and teaching civic power, will delve into this topic in an incisive and inspiring session. Using examples from the left and the right, past and present, he will reveal the core laws of power and show us that we all can generate power and create strategies of reform. If you want to be more than a spectator in this new era, join us!

“The only person that’s going to have power over me, is me”. Scout Bassett doesn’t just push limits. She sets them. Listen to Scout Bassett - Paralympian, Nike Athlete, and Challenged Athletes Foundation Spokesperson - speak about her transformational journey.  As an infant, a fire took away her right leg from above the knee down. She was found abandoned on the streets of Nanjing, China, and taken to the government orphanage. Inside these isolating walls, she lived in extremely harsh conditions and endured several heart-wrenching years of trauma and anguish. Today, Scout is a competitive U.S. Paralympic track sprinter who represented Team USA at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. In addition to helping other challenged athletes pursue their dreams, she is rigorously training to be an elite athlete. “We all have different challenges: some external, some internal,” said Scout. “But, it’s not how we start, it’s how we finish that counts.”

Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back. In an era that glorifies social media, reality TV, and other forms of shameless self-promotion, the battle against ego must be fought on many fronts. Join us to hear lessons from Ryan Holiday and his new book, Ego is the Enemy.  As he writes, “you will be less invested in the story you tell about your own specialness, and as a result, you will be liberated to accomplish the world-changing work you’ve set out to achieve.”

From his restaurants and cookbooks to his philanthropic efforts, everything that Mario Batali has achieved is bigger, bolder, and more recognizable. Join us as LinkedIn’s Editor in Chief Dan Roth, hosts Mario in a fireside chat to discuss the intelligent risks Mario has taken in his entrepreneurial career, talk about the wonderful world of food and his cooking philosophy, and understand his fascination with orange Crocs.

In the spirit of iconic Silicon Valley renegades like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, another generation of entrepreneurs is using technology to upend convention and disrupt entire industries. These are the upstarts, idiosyncratic founders with limitless drive and an abundance of self-confidence. The Upstarts is the definitive story of Uber and Airbnb, two new titans of business and a dawning age of tenacity, conflict, and wealth. Brad Stone, Senior Executive Editor of Global Technology at Bloomberg News and the author of the New York Times bestseller “The Everything Store,” illuminates the smart, driven, and often comically-flawed people who are upending industries and changing the way we all live and work.   Join us as Shannon Stubo, our Chief Marketing Officer and SVP of Corporate Communications, hosts Brad at a fireside chat to discover what it took to change the world.

We were pleased to welcome Neil Pasricha live from our New York office to share recent breakthroughs in the study of happiness and inspire us to hit our full potential.   A Harvard MBA, New York Times - bestselling author, award-winning blogger, and one of the most popular TED speakers in the world, Pasricha is “a pied piper of happiness” (The Star) who dazzles audiences with ideas and frameworks that launch happiness into the stratosphere. With infectious enthusiasm, heartfelt authenticity, and a “what’s worked” authority, Pasricha will challenge you to elevate expectations of yourself and commit to the habit of happiness every day. He is best known for his The Book of Awesome series, and The Happiness Equation which are international bestsellers.  

We were thrilled to welcome Joe Lacob, CEO & Owner of the Golden State Warriors, to our LinkedIn Speaker Series. Mike Derezin, VP Sales Solutions, had a fascinating conversation with him about Joe’s personal story and what it takes to build a winning culture -- both on the court and as a business.

Have you heard all the buzz about LinkedIn Cities?  In case you haven't, this is our effort to truly bring the Economic Graph to life and create economic opportunity for all.  Our core partner for LinkedIn Cities is the Markle Foundation and Zoë Baird, its CEO and President, is our Speaker Series guest this month.  Allen Blue hosted a special fireside chat with Zoë and they will discuss how we are helping job seekers acquire new skills and advance their careers through Skillful, a network of online tools and on-the-ground resources.  We are focusing first on the cities of Denver and Phoenix, with a special emphasis on middle-skill workers. Hear all about the incredible impact we will have in these cities and how you can get involved to make our Economic Graph vision a reality!

Trust in government is at an all-time low. Re-designing and improving the way we govern will have to be a key a priority for any new president. Join us to hear Beth Simone Noveck, former Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States and author of Smart Citizens, Smarter State, dive into the important topic: The Tech Presidency: Governing in the Age of Big Data and Machine Learning.   The Obama administration, which is often called the “first tech presidency” has made considerable progress toward e-enabling government over the last eight years, including the creation of new tech and innovation leadership roles across government; crafting of policy and legal frameworks that encourage experimentation and innovation; and the launch of new platforms to change how government works. In particular, the White House has been at the forefront of a global movement to open up and use the data government collects to transform everything from healthcare to criminal justice. So-called open government data is empowering citizens, creating economic opportunity and helping to solve problems in creative ways. But can open data transform government? Can data-driven technologies make government more effective and legitimate or will they only deprive us of our privacy and civil liberties?  With the election around the corner, we will take stock of what we have accomplished and what remains to be done to realize a new vision for government using new technology - no matter who is elected.  

Kris Tompkins, former CEO of Patagonia, Inc. turned world-renowned conservationist, has worked to create parklands in Chile and Argentina for more than 20 years, including current negotiations for the largest private land donation in history.  Through the efforts of the Tompkins Conservation foundations and their partners, more than 2.2 million acres of South America have been protected. Join us as Kris discusses the importance of restoring ecosystems and providing economic opportunities for local communities—and how these goals can be achieved through the establishment of national parks. From CEO of Patagonia Inc. to one of the world’s leading conservationists, Kris’ story is unique and exemplifies the agency of private individuals to impact nations. Her journey has proven that partnerships between private and public actors can advance biodiversity on a global scale.

Join us for an intimate conversation between Florent Groberg and LinkedIn’s VP of Member Marketing and Communications, Nick Bartle, as they discuss the values of Leadership, Service, and Sacrifice both in the military and out. Hear Florent’s remarkable story about receiving the military’s highest honor and the lessons he’s learned through his civilian transition.

The common wisdom about Artificial Intelligence is that we are building increasingly intelligent machines that will ultimately surpass human capabilities, steal our jobs, possibly even escape human control and take over the world.  Jerry Kaplan, Fellow at the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, believes this narrative is both misguided and counterproductive. Join Jerry for an unorthodox tour of the history of Artificial Intelligence, learn why it is so misunderstood, and what we can do to ensure that the engines of progress don’t motor on without us.

We kicked off this year’s Speaker Series program with a powerful event that will set you up for success in 2016!  Andy Puddicombe, founder of Headspace, joined our own Jeff Weiner for a fascinating discussion around the power of mindfulness and meditation. Headspace was founded by Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk, and Rich Pierson, a creative developer. After 10 years of meditation training around the world, culminating in full ordination at a Tibetan Monastery, Andy returned to the UK with a clear aim: To make meditation accessible, relevant, and beneficial for as many people as possible. In partnership with Rich, this aim was realized through the creation of Headspace.

We were pleased to welcome Daniel Lubetzky, the visionary CEO of KIND Healthy Snacks, to a discussion with Caroline Fairchild, LinkedIn’s New Economy Editor, live from our New York office. When Daniel Lubetzky started KIND Healthy Snacks in 2004, he aimed to defy the conventional wisdom that snack bars could never be both tasty and healthy, convenient and wholesome. A decade later, the transformative power of the company’s “AND” philosophy has resulted in an astonishing record of achievement. KIND has become the fastest-growing purveyor of healthy snacks in the country. Meanwhile, the KIND Movement—the company’s social mission to make the world a little kinder—has sparked more than a million good deeds worldwide. Listen in to learn how the power of “AND” worked wonders for one company—and could empower the next generation of social entrepreneurs to improve their bottom line and change the world.

We are honored to welcome Deepak Chopra back to our LinkedIn Speaker Series to discuss his new book, Super Genes, with our VP of Leadership and Organizational Development, Fred Kofman. Listen to this session to learn how to unlock the astonishing power of DNA for optimum health and wellbeing. In his book, “Super Genes”, Chopra discusses how genetics is undergoing a revolution that opens the way people can influence their health in unsuspecting ways. By focusing on and optimizing your own cellular activity through conscious choices, Chopra explains that you can: Improve your mood level, staving off anxiety and depression Resist yearly colds and flu Return to normal sound sleep Gain more energy and resist chronic stress Slow the aging process Normalize your metabolism Decrease your risk of cancer

We are delighted to host our first LinkedIn alum as a guest in our Speaker Series!    Matt Cohler, a member of LinkedIn’s founding team from 2003 - 2005, is a successful venture capitalist whose background in the industry is nothing short of impressive. Cohler, who ranked #63 on Forbes Midas List, is currently serving as General Partner at Benchmark where he helped land Snapchat and Uber for the company. In addition to identifying investment opportunities, Cohler also works closely with companies across Benchmark’s portfolio, including Dropbox, Domo and 1stdibs. Listen to the event and Q&A with Matt Cohler and Reid Hoffman and learn the secrets to Cohler's success and what it was like back in the “old days” at LinkedIn.

We were delighted to welcome James Caan CBE to our London office for a live talk and Q&A: Observe the masses and do the opposite. James Caan, a LinkedIn Influencer and one of the UK's most successful and dynamic entrepreneurs is perhaps best known as an investor in the TV series Dragon's Den. But did you know that Caan initially achieved success in the recruitment industry? He founded the recruitment company, Alexander Mann Group, in 1985, and sold it in 2002. Josh Graff, Senior Director, hosted a lively discussion about the secrets to James’ career success.

In their new powerful book, Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, General Stanley McChrystal and Chris Fussell show how the challenges they faced in Iraq can be rel­evant to businesses, nonprofits, and other or­ganizations.LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman will lead an illuminating conversation with General McChrystal and Chris Fussell about how the world is changing faster than ever, and the smartest response for those in charge is to give small groups the freedom to experiment and to share what they learn across the entire organiza­tion. They will discuss how this team of teams strategy has the power to transform organizations large and small.

If you don’t know who Robert Putnam is -- you should. He is the author of the bestseller, “Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis,” in which he writes a groundbreaking examination of the growing inequality gap and what we can do to fix it.  As you know, this is at the heart of what we are all about - providing economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. There could not be a more relevant discussion for us to be having at LinkedIn and we are incredibly fortunate for the opportunity to hear him in discussion with Reid Hoffman. In addition to income inequality, Professor Robert Putnam suggests that there is also a growing inequality of opportunity. For many children in lower income families, systemic obstacles – economic, social and political – become insurmountable and prevent social mobility and the realization of the American dream. What has caused this trend away from equal opportunity in the US? How can we address the crisis of inequality and shorten the opportunity gap? Professor Putnam will delve into this complex problem and its multifaceted solution, which he says begins with a commitment to invest in other people’s children.  

Buddhist monk, humanitarian activist, scientist, and author Matthieu Ricard (The Monk and the Philosopher, Happiness) turns his lens from the personal to the global with a rousing argument that altruism, genuine concern for the well-being of others, could be the saving grace of the 21st century. Altruism is, he believes, the vital force that can solve the greatest challenges of our time – from a troubled economy, to decreased life satisfaction, to environmental problems. Ricard's message has been taken up by respected economists and thinkers, including Joseph Stiglitz and George Soros.Our CEO Jeff Weiner, hosted the event and they discussed insights from Ricard’s newly released book, Altruisum: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World. 

We recently hosted Jack and Suzy Welch as a part of our LinkedIn Speaker Series.  The business titans and #1 New York Times bestselling authors were here to discuss their new modern, essential guide for everyone in business today—and tomorrow—that explores the most pressing challenges related to creating winning strategies, leading and managing others, and building a thriving career.  Coupled withJack Welch’s years of iconic leadership andSuzy Welch’s insights as former editor of the Harvard Business Review, their new database of knowledge infusesThe Real Life MBA with fresh, relevant stories and equally powerful solutions that every manager at any level can use right now. Our own Executive Editor, Dan Roth, hosted the event and discussed insights from their newly released book.

Mallika Chopra, Founder of Intent.com, is focused on bringing people together around personal, social, and global well-being.  Her new book, Living With Intent, is about her search to find more meaning, joy, and balance in her life. She provides a practical roadmap for how we can all move from thought to action to outcome. Chopra’s insights and advice will help us all come closer to fully living the lives we truly intend.

The LinkedIn Speaker Series, in partnership with BIG @ LinkedIn (Black Inclusion Group), is honored to host LinkedIn Influencer, John Hope Bryant, for an engaging session where he will tackle some of the fundamental principles of his bestselling book: How The Poor Can Save Capitalism.Homeless for six-months of his life at age 18, Bryant has built successful for-profit enterprises and best-in-class non-profit organizations with global impact. He has helped form financial literacy-to-entrepreneurship federal public policy for the U.S. federal government, working under both Democratic and Republican U.S. Presidents.Mr. Bryant is founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, and Bryant Group Companies, Inc. Widely published, Bryant is the only bestselling business author in America today who is African-American.You can also read more about John Hope Bryant at his website - www.johnhopebryant.com.

We are proud to host our first LinkedIn Speaker Series event live from the new office in Singapore!  During this session, you will find out what happens when a Mount Everest expedition leader becomes partially disabled and then decides to undertake a ten year study about how teams and individuals work together on and off the mountains! David Lim, leader of the first Singapore Everest Expedition in 1998, will share the lessons he learned from Everest and what climbing the great peaks can teach us all about self leadership and teamwork.This session will be just the inspiration you need for the rest of Q4!  Learn how to set and accomplish goals, understand how your brain works under pressure, create a winning culture, and gain meaningful insight about what you can do in your workplace to be more successful!

LinkedIn and Kiva are kindred spirits - sharing the common goal of economic opportunity expansion.  We are honored to host an enlightening conversation between Reid Hoffman, Premal Shah, Kiva’s President and Julie Hanna, Kiva’s Chair of the Board.     Premal and Julie will discuss everything they are learning about: The most effective ways to reach and truly financially empower the world's poorest The challenges of microfinance and how technological innovation & great social entrepreneurs can help overcome these challenges The challenges and opportunities of operating a non-profit internet public good The problem of credit access for U.S. small businesses and how innovation can help create more opportunity here at home More About Premal Shah Premal Shah leads Kiva.org, a website that allows you to lend $25 to the working poor. Since 2005, Kiva lenders have financed over 1 million low-income entrepreneurs from 75 countries, with a 98% repayment rate. The site has been named as one of Oprah's Favorite Things and a Top 50 Website by TIME Magazine. Premal’s inspiration for Kiva came in 2004. Working for several years at PayPal, he took 2 months off to volunteer in India. There he worked with low-income women to help them sell handcrafts online. While the project had mixed results, it strengthened his belief that the right combination of technology, business and love can dramatically accelerate opportunity for those most left out. Today with a burgeoning community of 1 million Kiva lenders, this belief becomes more of a reality each day. For his work as a social entrepreneur, Premal was named on FORTUNE magazine’s “Top 40 under 40″ list. Premal is a graduate of Stanford University.   More About Julie Hanna Julie Hanna is a serial entrepreneur who is driven by her belief in information technology as a democratizing force for social, political and business disruption. She has spent the last twenty years pioneering products that have allowed tens of millions around the world to connect, communicate and collaborate. Her experience creating innovative products and new business models now informs her work as a board member, angel investor and mentor to fellow entrepreneurs and CEO’s. In addition to serving as Chair of the Board at Kiva, Julie is a member of the board at Socialtext, the leading social networking SaaS provider for small and medium businesses, and an advisor to leading technology incubator, Idealab, as well as a number of internet startups and social ventures in the U.S. and Europe. Serving in roles that ranged from founding executive to founder & CEO, Julie has helped build five consumer internet and software companies. Among them, onebox.com, (acquired by OpenWave Nasdaq; OPNWV) the fastest growing internet communications service in 1999; Portola, the first internet mail system for businesses where she was instrumental to the acquisition by Netscape; Scalix, a pioneer and global leader in open source software and Healtheon, now WebMD (Nasdaq: WBMD).  

Join us for a conversation with U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand about how to raise your voice, make a difference and change the world.Revolutionary, transparent, empowering and forward-thinking are just a few of the words that have been used to describe Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Since taking office in 2009 at age 42 to fill Hillary Rodham Clinton's New York Senate seat when Clinton was appointed Secretary of State, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has established herself as a passionate, fearless, and laser-focused presence in Congress.The granddaughter and daughter of two trail-blazing feminists, Gillibrand is a fierce advocate for getting women involved in the issues that matter most to them and making their voices heard; in 2011, she formed the PAC Off the Sidelines with that very mission in mind. And as a wife and mother to two young sons, she's a role model to working moms everywhere. With the release of OFF THE SIDELINES: Raise Your Voice, Change the World, Senator Gillibrand hopes to share her message with a much wider audience.  By telling her story, she aims to inspire all women, no matter their age or socio-economic status, to live their lives with meaning and purpose— to let them know that women need to lift each other up, and that there is power in the collective. “Speak up, be heard. You can make a difference”, she writes.More About Senator Kirsten GillibrandBorn and raised in upstate New York, Kirsten Gillibrand got her start watching her grandmother, Polly Noonan, organize Albany women to make a difference. Those early experiences taught Kirsten the values that guide her public service to this day: hard work, idealism, honesty and bold action.As congresswoman, Gillibrand pledged to be honest, open and upfront with the public and always stay accessible and accountable. The New York Times called her commitment to transparency a "quiet touch of revolution" in Washington. Shortly after being elected to the Senate in 2009, Gillibrand made her presence felt, leading the fight to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and overcoming fierce partisan opposition to provide health care and compensation for the 9/11 first responders. This year, she has earned national recognition for fighting the Pentagon over how sexual assaults in the military are prosecuted, creating a unique bipartisan coalition in the process. She is now helping to lead a bipartisan coalition to take on the issue of sexual assaults on our college campuses – all while continuing her successful Off the Sidelines project which supports women candidates across the country. Gillibrand’s work led TIME Magazine to name her as one of 2014’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and the New York Daily News to place her number four on its recent list of “50 Most Powerful Women in New York.” Kirsten has also been recognized as one of Newsweek and The Daily Beast‘s “150 Women Who Shake the World.” Today, Kirsten and her husband, Jonathan, live in Troy, New York with their two young sons, Theo and Henry. Her family is a major inspiration behind her public service career. She does not want any mother to have to worry that there will not be enough food on the table or health care for their sick child.

This month we hosted our *youngest* speaker ever in our San Francisco office. When Vivienne Harr was 8 years old she learned that there was child slavery in the world and was deeply troubled by it. So, she decided to make a lemonade stand every day until she raised $100,000 to end child slavery. Two years later, she and her family have started “Make A Stand Lemon-aid” and through their ongoing dedication and passion for this cause, they have raised over $1 million dollars for organizations that are working to eradicate child slavery in the U.S. and around the world. Make a Stand is a social impact brand that supports its 10-year-old founder's vision of a world where all 18 million enslaved children are free and safe. "You don't have to be big or powerful to change the world. You can be just like me." - Vivienne Harr

This month’s Speaker Series was hosted from our New York office with our special guest, Adam Braun, Founder and CEO, Pencils of Promise -- the epitome of a transformational story.  JDan Roth, Executive Editor at LinkedIn, sat down with him to discuss the incredible work Pencils of Promise is doing and learned more about Adam’s personal journey.They also discussed his book: The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change.  The Promise of a Pencil is an inspiring story that shares the essential lessons to creating a life of meaning, passion, and purpose. The book shares the riveting story of how Adam started with only $25 and has now built over 200 schools around the world.  It also discusses the guiding steps that any ordinary person can take to lead a successful and significant life. Talk about transformation!More About AdamAdam Braun began on the path towards a career in finance, but met a young boy begging on the streets and asked him what he wanted most in the world. The answer- "A pencil." Braun then backpacked through 50+ countries to deeply understand the state of global education and develop a best-practice model to help local communities organize and educate their children.Pencils of Promise is now a leading nonprofit organization that has broken ground on more than 200 schools across Africa, Asia and Latin America and delivered nearly 10 million educational hours in its first five years. PoP was founded with just $25 using what Braun coined as a "For-Purpose" approach to blending nonprofit idealism with for-profit business principles.

LinkedIn's co-founder/chairman, Reid Hoffman, has written a new book with Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh: The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age. Jeff Weiner  sat down with Reid and Ben to discuss this fascinating and very relevant topic before the book is released in early July. The premise of the book is that the employer-employee relationship is broken. Managers face a seemingly impossible dilemma: You can't afford to offer lifetime employment. But you can't build a lasting, innovative business when everyone acts like a free agent. The solution: Stop thinking of employees as family or free agents, and start thinking of them as allies on a tour of duty. This bold but practical guide for managers and executives will give you the tools you need to recruit, manage, and retain the kind of employees who will make your company thrive in today's world of constant innovation and fast-paced change. What Are Business Leaders Saying About The Alliance? "GE is competing in its third century. The key to sustained performance is developing competitive leaders in every era. The Alliance captures the essence of modern talent development: trust and mutual value creation helps both employer and employee compete in the marketplace. The authors lay out a framework that helps big companies as well as startups develop their people more effectively, while creating a competitive team." – Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman and CEO, GE ___ "Engaged employees are the key to success in any business. The Alliance is a terrific book that offers real world insights on how to build loyalty, inspire creativity and manage winning teams for the long term." – Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman & CEO, American Express

Do you seek purpose from your work?  Do you strive for impact, personal growth and community?  On Friday, May 23, we hosted Aaron Hurst, CEO of Imperative and author of The Purpose Economy, for our first Speaker Series event hosted from our Dublin office, and a discussion around working with purpose.A series of shifts are happening in our economy: A record of number of millennials are trading in conventional career paths to launch tech start-ups, start small businesses that are rooted in local communities, or freelance their expertise. We are sharing everything from bikes and cars to extra rooms in our homes.Globally recognized entrepreneur and founder of Taproot Foundation, that helped create the $15 billion pro bono service market, Aaron Hurst argues in his latest book, The Purpose Economy: How Your Desire for Impact, Personal Growth and Community is Changing the World, that while these developments seem unrelated at first, taken together they reveal a powerful pattern that points to purpose as the new driver of the global economy."Aaron Hurst powerfully sums up in The Purpose Economy the fundamental changes taking place in the business world."
-Arianna Huffington, Chair, President and Editor-in-Chief, Huffington Post Media Group"Here is that rare animal, a business book grounded in compassion. The Purpose Economy taps into our deep craving for meaning in our life and work. If Aaron Hurst is right, and I think he is, we are on the threshold of a new, more value-rich era in business. This book will help find your place in it." 
-Daniel H. Pink, Author of TO SELL IS HUMAN and DRIVEMore About AaronAaron Hurst is an award-winning entrepreneur and globally recognized leader in fields of purpose at work and social innovation. He is the author of three books including The Purpose Economy, which redefines how we think about work and the economy. He is the CEO of Imperative, the new career development platform for professionals seeking purpose at work. Previously, Aaron founded the Taproot Foundation where he was the catalyst and lead architect of the $15 billion pro bono services market.Aaron has been an advisor and consultant to leading global brands like LinkedIn, Elance, Etsy, Deloitte and Twitter.  He speaks regularly at companies like Google, Citi and BMW and at the campuses of leading business schools around the world.He is the recipient of the LS&A Humanitarian Award, the highest distinction bestowed on alumni of the University of Michigan.  He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.

Do you find yourself stretched too thin?
 
Do you feel simultaneously overworked and underutilized?
 
Are you often busy, but not productive?Is your to-do list longer at the end of the day than it was when you started?
 
Do you ever feel like your time is being hijacked by other people’s agendas?
If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the way of the Essentialist. Please join us for a presentation and Q&A with Greg McKeown, author of the forthcoming ESSENTIALISM: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, which teaches how we can do less -- but better-- in every area of our lives. By challenging the assumption of “we can have it all” and “I have to do everything,” and replacing it with “the right thing, in the right way, at the right time,” (does this sound familiar? :) ) we can regain control of our choices about where to spend our precious time and energies so we can make our highest point of contribution towards the things that really matter.INTERESTING FACT ABOUT GREG!Greg happens to be one of LinkedIn’s most successful Influencers.  Did you know that he has the third most page views per post (behind Bill Gates and Richard Branson)?  Very impressive.MORE ABOUT GREGGreg McKeown is the author of Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and speaks around the world on the importance of living and leading as an Essentialist. He has spoken at companies including Apple, Facebook, Gilead, Google, Salesforce.com, and Twitter and is among the most popular bloggers for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn’s Influencers. He is the co-creator of the popular course, “Designing Life, Essentially” at Stanford University, and serves as a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum.

We were lucky to host Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief, of the Huffington Post Media Group where we had the opportunity to hear about her new definition of success.In her new book, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder, she makes an impassioned and compelling case for the need to redefine what it means to be successful in today's world. Perhaps you will walk away inspired to look at your own life from this new lense!More About AriannaArianna Huffington is the chair, president, and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, a nationally syndicated columnist, and author of fourteen books. In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that quickly became one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2012, the site won a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. In 2013, she was named to the Forbes Most Powerful Women list. In 2006, and again in 2011, she was named to the Time 100, Time Magazine's list of the world’s 100 most influential people. Originally from Greece, she moved to England when she was 16 and graduated from Cambridge University with an M.A. in economics. At 21, she became president of the famed debating society, the Cambridge Union. She serves on several boards, including EL PAÍS, PRISA, the Center for Public Integrity, and the Committee to Protect Journalists.Her 14th book, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder was published by Crown in March 2014.

Blogs - who hasn’t read one? Or maybe you’ve even written one. Chances are one of those blogs was built on WordPress - the world’s most popular blogging platform.  Now, the mastermind behind WordPress and Automattic will be here to share some interesting and powerful insights. Join us for an enlightening and inspiring fireside chat with Reid Hoffman and Matt Mullenweg, co-founder, WordPress and founder and CEO, Automattic. Reid and Matt will discuss:- Lessons learned from WordPress and Automattic- Matt’s vision of how content will run on the Internet- The relationship between content and social networks- Distributed workforces and how that works for entrepreneurial projectsMore About MattMatt Mullenweg is the co-founder of the open-source blogging platform, WordPress, the most popular publishing platform on the web, and the founder and CEO of Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and Jetpack. Additionally, Matt is a principal and founder of Audrey Capital, an investment and research company.Matt got his start in technology working at CNET Networks as a senior product manager. He went on to found Global Multimedia Protocols Group, an experimental Metamemetics company, to develop open data formats. He has been recognized for his leadership and success by Forbes, BusinessWeek, INC., PC World, and Vanity Fair.Matt is originally from Houston, Texas, where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and studied jazz saxophone. In his spare time, Matt is an avid photographer. Matt splits time between Houston, New York, and San Francisco. 

Are you ready to change your thinking about innovation and entrepreneurship?  Inspired to learn new methodologies that foster innovation--especially in established companies?   Join us for an enlightening and inspiring fireside chat with Reid Hoffman and Eric Ries, entrepreneur and author of The Lean Startup:  How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. Eric created The Lean Startup methodology and his book is getting rave reviews:   “Every so often a business book comes along that changes how we think about innovation and entrepreneurship... The Lean Startup has the chops to join this exalted company.” -- Financial Times   "A must read for every serious entrepreneur-and every manager interested in innovation." --Marc Andreessen, Co-Founder of Andreessen Horowitz, Opsware Inc. and Netscape   To learn more about Eric and his work, follow him on LinkedIn and check out his popular blog, Startup Lessons Learned.   And don’t forget to bring your questions -- there will be an opportunity for Q&A with Eric as well!   More About Eric Eric graduated in 2001 from Yale University with a B.S. in Computer Science. While an undergraduate, he co-founded Catalyst Recruiting. Ries continued his entrepreneurial career as a Senior Software Engineer at There.com, leading efforts in agile software development and user-generated content. He later co-founded and served as CTO of IMVU, his third startup.   In 2007, BusinessWeek named Ries one of the Best Young Entrepreneurs of Tech. In 2008 he served as a venture advisor at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers before moving on to advise startups independently. Today he serves on the board of directors for Code for America and on the advisory board of a number of technology startups and venture capital firms. In 2009, Ries was honored with a TechFellow award in the category of Engineering Leadership. In 2010, he was named entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School and is currently an IDEO Fellow.   The Lean Startup methodology has been written about in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Inc., Wired, Fast Company, and countless blogs. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, Tara.

This LinkedIn Speakers Series guest aligned perfectly with our “wellness” inDay theme that month. After all, what says wellness more than improving your happiness, adopting positive habits, and breaking bad ones? We’re fortunate to host one of our top LinkedIn Influencers Gretchen Rubin, author of the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, Happier at Home and The Happiness Project. Gretchen currently has over 310,000 followers on LinkedIn, and we’re delighted that she’s joining us live in Mountain View to give us a preview of her forthcoming book, Before and After. In the book, Gretchen shares a framework that she’s developed about the making and breaking of habits. This framework will help you understand yourself much better, how to motivate yourself -- and other people as well.   To get a better sense of what to expect from Gretchen’s talk, check out her blog (www.happiness-project.com), where you can also sign up to receive a daily “Moment of Happiness” quote by email, her monthly newsletter, or her monthly Book Club recommendations. More About GretchenA graduate of Yale and Yale Law School, Gretchen started her career in law, and was clerking for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor when she realized she wanted to be a writer. She has written several books, including three novels safely locked in a desk drawer. Her blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, Happier at Home and The Happiness Project, are accounts of her experiences test-driving the wisdom of the ages, current scientific studies, and lessons from popular culture about how to be happier. On her popular blog, she reports on her daily adventures in pursuit of happiness. Response to Gretchen’s practical approach to achieving happiness has been overwhelming. The Happiness Project is more than a book, it’s a movement—a way of life. Psychiatrists suggest it to their patients, professors assign it to their students, book groups read it, families pass it around, and groups have sprung up across the world where people do Happiness Projects together. She lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters. 

Fred Kofman claims that most people don’t really know what their jobs are, and it’s hurting business. Join us for an insightful, provocative, and inspiring session where Fred will help us to discover our real jobs, how we can each succeed while doing best for the team, and what it takes for a winning company to stay competitive. By the end of the session, you should have new insights that will change the way you do your work, how you contribute to your team, and how you negotiate the challenges of our organizational structure. You will also understand why misalignment is the number one killer of organizations, and what you can do to keep LinkedIn at the top of our game as we grow in size and complexity.