Andy Bernstein

Breaking the Stress Cycle

Hans Selye revolutionized our understanding of stress, introducing the world to the concept of “stressors” (a term he coined) and stress management. His work shaped modern psychology and medicine, making him one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century.

But he got one crucial thing very, very wrong.

In this eye-opening session, you’ll discover:

• The critical mistake in Selye’s theory — and how it has led to widespread misconceptions about stress and well-being
• The truth about how stress and resilience actually work
• Why “stressors” don’t exist — and what that means for you
• A 7-step process to navigate challenges faster at work and at home — without relying on positive thinking, motivation, or “touchy-feeliness”

Bonus Value: This session can be bundled with books and includes three months of online memberships per participant — ensuring that the insights and benefits last well beyond the session itself.

The Most Important Thing

What really drives happiness, performance, and leadership?

Money? Achievements? Love?

Surprisingly, none of these hold the key.

In this provocative presentation, you’ll discover:

• The single most important factor for lifelong happiness — backed by the world’s longest study on adult well-being — and why so many people struggle to find it
• The #1 driver of high-performing teams, based on hard data
• The key to effective leadership — again, grounded in research
• A proven 7-step process to boost happiness, team performance, and leadership effectiveness — by shifting how people think in the face of conflict and change. No blame, no stigma, no “touchy-feeliness.”

Bonus Value: This session can be bundled with books and includes three months of online memberships per participant — ensuring that the insights and benefits last well beyond the session itself.

Taming Fire: Leadership in the Age of Disruption

In 1910, over 3 million acres of the Rocky Mountains went up in flames — the largest wildfire in U.S. history. Entire towns were reduced to ash. When the Great Fire was finally extinguished, the U.S. Forest Service made a solemn vow: “Never again.”

They built thousands of lookout towers and deployed an army of rangers to stamp out every spark. Ecologists hailed it as a tremendous success.

Then they saw the sequoias.

Sequoias are the largest organisms on Earth, living up to 3,000 years. But by the 1950s, these ancient giants were dying out.

Why? Because fire wasn’t destroying them — it was saving them. Fire cleared the soil and opened their pinecones, allowing them to grow. Without fire, they withered.

The same is true for leaders.

In this engaging, interactive session, you’ll discover how adversity — the fires we all face — can fuel leadership growth when managed correctly. You’ll learn:

• The two most critical qualities for effective leadership, based on global research
• Why adversity either cultivates or crushes these qualities, depending on how it’s handled
• A simple, 7-step guided worksheet to transform challenges into fuel for leadership and team performance — without stigma
• Practical ways to apply this process to real-world challenges at work and at home, helping your people thrive in an increasingly disrupted world

Bonus Value: This session can be bundled with books and includes three months of online memberships per participant — ensuring that the insights and benefits last well beyond the session itself.

Motivation, Fast and Slow

In Thinking, Fast and Slow, the late psychologist and Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman described how our brains process information in two distinct ways:

• Fast thinking — instinctive and automatic
• Slow thinking — deliberate and analytical

Both are essential, but different situations require one, the other, or a mix of both.

Motivation works the same way.

Like thinking, motivation can be Fast or Slow — and just as with thinking, different challenges call for different types.

The Problem with Fast Motivation

What happens when a situation demands Slow motivation, but all we rely on is Fast motivation?

Take fitness. Every January, millions join a gym. By mid-February, instead of losing weight, they’ve lost their ability to keep going.

Or consider leadership. Companies bring in high-energy keynote speakers — Olympic athletes! Navy SEALs! — only to find that six weeks later, everyone is back in the same rut.

The issue isn’t that Fast motivation doesn’t work. It’s a powerful way to ignite change. But without Slow motivation, the spark begins to fade.

The Solution: Mastering Slow Motivation

In this eye-opening session, you’ll take a deep dive into the mechanics of Slow motivation, including:

• Self-Determination Theory — what it is and why it’s critical for both performance and well-being
• Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic motivation — what goes wrong when you only use one, and how to leverage both effectively
• The Importance of Teams — fast motivation relies on willpower and the individual; slow motivation is about habits and teams

Once the framework is clear, you’ll learn how to apply Slow motivation to real-world leadership challenges, including:

• Why removing friction is more effective than increasing flow
• Why great teams are less like machines to be greased and more like farms to be cultivated
• How to build a Fast & Slow motivation toolkit with daily, weekly, and monthly action items for sustained team momentum

Bonus Value: This session can be bundled with books and includes three months of online memberships per participant — ensuring that the insights and benefits last well beyond the session itself.