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Mark Sanborn

Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE

Mark is an international bestselling author and noted authority on leadership and turning ordinary into extraordinary.

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Expert

  • Business
  • Change
  • Customer Service
  • Leadership
  • Management
  • Peak Performance
  • Teamwork/Teambuilding
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Experience

  • Agriculture
  • Associations
  • Consulting
  • Corporate
  • Services
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Career

  • 38 Years
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  • About

    Inspiring Leaders to Turn the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary

    Mark is the president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea lab for leadership development and turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. GlobalGurus.org lists Mark as one of the top leadership experts in the world.

    Mark grew up on a farm and graduated with honors from Ohio State with a major in Agricultural Economics and also served as the National President of the Future Farmers of America.

    Mark has given over 2600 presentations in every state and 14 countries. He has authored eight books and more than two dozen videos and audio training programs. His programs are taught by Crestcom International in 90 countries and is the Leadership Expert in Residence at High Point University.

    Mark’s book, The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary is an international bestseller and was on the New York Times, Business Week and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. His other books include 1) You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader: How Anyone, Anywhere Can Make a Positive Difference, 2) The Encore Effect: How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do, 3) Up, Down or Sideways: How to Succeed When Times are Good, Bad or In Between, 4) Fred 2.0: New Ideas on How to Keep Delivering Extraordinary Results and 5) The Potential Principle: A Proven System for Closing the Gap Between How Good You Are and How Good You Could Be and his newest 6) The Intention Imperative: 3 Essential Changes That Will Make You a Successful Leader Today.

    Mark is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame and is a past president of the National Speakers Association.  

    Mark’s list of clients includes Costco, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, FedEx, Harley-Davidson, Cisco, KPMG, Morton’s of Chicago, New York Life, RE/MAX, ServiceMaster, ESPN, GM, IBM, Avnet, Sandvik and John Deere.

    “We each know how good we have become,” Mark says, “but none of us knows how good we can be. One of the most exciting opportunities we get each day is to pursue our potential.” Mark Sanborn challenges his audiences with this message and provides insights for extraordinary living. 

    He lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado with his wife Darla and sons Hunter and Jackson.

  • Video Clips
  • Topics

    Keynote | Educational | Motivational

    A Proven System for Closing the Gap Between How Good You Are and How Good You Could Be

    Mark Sanborn’s newest keynote presentation The Potential Principle is a preview of his new book being released in Fall 2017. How do you keep getting better when you’re already the best? Or what happens when complacency, outdated thinking or weariness stunts performance? What do you do when growth stalls, or when your team is working below its true potential?

    THE ANSWER: You’ve got to pursue your true potential.

    Today’s top performers and top companies often experience a crisis once they’ve moved into the number one spot. It is easy to become complacent and rest on past accomplishments while competitors are biting at your heels.

    When you’re Number One, there is nobody to emulate. You either keep increasing your lead or run the risk of being overtaken by Numbers Two through Five.

    Mark Sanborn has worked with many of America’s best companies. That’s because he has the ability to motivate and teach simple, proven and highly effective ways of thinking and doing that keep individuals and organizations moving forward and gaining new ground.

    Not only has he learned from working with the best—some 2600 clients—but he’s learned what doesn’t work, too, and he can help you change your thinking and supercharge your performance.

    Here’s what Mark teaches in How the Best Get Better:

    • Why top performers must go beyond simply “achieving the goals” or “making your numbers”
    • Why “taking action” isn’t enough (and what really is)
    • How to become laser-focused each day and do those things that produce the biggest results (learn the specifics, not the generalities)
    • Two statements anyone can use that absolutely define collaboration and teamwork – Six things you absolutely control
    • What is far more important than the ability to change
    • A form of discontent that achievers use to continually improve

    If you’re having a meeting of top performers, organizational leaders or anyone who needs a boost to supercharge their outlook and performance, talk to us about how Mark can help.

    Keynote | Motivational

    Nobody ever got to the top of Mount Everest accidentally. Summiting the highest peak in the world takes clarity and intention; and so does leading successfully.

    Intentional Leadership = Clarity (knowing clearly where you want to go) + Intentionality (taking consistent action to get there). Clarity without consistent action is daydreaming. Consistent action without clarity is wasted time and effort.

    Just as the tools of successful mountaineering have changed and improved over time, so have the requirements of intentional leadership. Based on 33 years of working with organizations globally, teaching leaders and observing powerful shifts, Mark Sanborn has identified three essential areas of focus for leaders in the world.

    YOUR AUDIENCE WILL RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF:

    ” Inspiration: motivation to the power of purpose

    ” Culture: creating the engine that sustains vision and values while achieving desired results

    ” Emotion: designing for and delivering positive emotions for customers and employees

    Keynote | Educational | Motivational

    How Anyone, Anywhere, Can Make a Positive Difference

    In his work with corporate America, Mark Sanborn has found that too many definitions of leadership are focused on the outer manifestation of leadership: the title, position on the org chart, and corner office space. These perquisites of appointed leadership may have little to do with the actual ability of the individual who enjoys them to lead. Sanborn has found that the more telling characteristic of true leaders is their power with people as opposed to the positional power they may enjoy over people.

    More About This Presentation

    As one of our leading thinkers, authors and speakers on leadership, Mark has focused on the true heart of leadership; What he refers to as little ‘l’ leadership. This—genuine leadership—is not conferred by title or location in the executive suite. It is leadership demonstrated through our everyday actions and the way we influence the lives of those around us.

    Mark was inspired to write You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader: How Anyone, Anywhere, Can Make a Positive Difference by his encounters with the genuine, often untitled, leaders that make such a significant and positive difference at every level of our organizations.

    In Mark’s keynote presentation of the same name, you’ll gain valuable insights on how to develop your own leadership ability and the leadership potential of your employees. He’ll show you how to identify and develop the characteristics that define genuine leadership.

    As a master storyteller, Mark has an unparalleled ability to communicate fundamental business and leadership truths through simple stories, anecdotes and humor. You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader is a message that will resonate with those who aspire to make a positive difference — regardless of title or position.

    Keynote | Educational | Motivational

    How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary

    Personalize the message of Mark’s bestselling book, The Fred Factor, for your audience. This highly motivational presentation explains how you can become a Fred … providing you the means to reinvent your business and life through self-mastery, vision, empowerment, and service. This program is a powerful way to get everyone from frontline employees to upper management focused on the importance of self-responsibility and creating value for those with whom we work and live with. It goes beyond the workplace to show viewers how to enrich their personal lives as well.

    The Mission: Be a Fred

    …continually create new value for those you live and work with through dedication, passion and creativity.

    The Four Principles of The Fred Factor

    • Everyone makes a difference.
      The only question at the end of the day is “What kind of difference did you make?”
    • Everything is built on relationships.
      Go beyond simply interacting with customers and colleagues to build relationships.
    • You must continually create value for others, and it doesn’t have to cost a penny.
      You can replace money with imagination. The objective is to outthink your competition rather than outspend them.
    • You can reinvent yourself regularly.
      No matter what job you hold, what industry you work in or where you live in the world, you wake up every morning “tabula rasa,” with a blank slate, and you can make your business and your life anything you choose.

    Like the real Fred (yes, he does exist), The Fred Factor is an extraordinary presentation, particularly when tailored to fit your organization.

    Keynote OR Breakout | Educational | Motivational

    New Ideas on How to Keep Delivering Extraordinary Results

    Fred is back! The Fred Factor has sold nearly 2 million copies. In Fred 2.0, Mark Sanborn brings new stories, illustrations and insights that you and your organization can use to create more customer loyalty, innovative products, services and experiences, and to deliver the kind of profitable results that are so elusive to many.

    Mark goes deeper into the philosophy and practices of the extraordinary. Drawing from his work with top leaders and organizations, he engages listeners with the why, what and how of taking any job, product or service up a notch. He teaches how to replace money with imagination, build and keep better relationships, and rejuvenate purpose and passion to have more fun and greater success at work.

    Mark designs every presentation around the client’s needs, but Fred 2.0 typically covers:

    • Fredville, USA: How Fort Collins, Colorado used The Fred Factor community-wide to increase business for local merchants.
    • Why Fred isn’t always in the customer service department: how to spread the spirit of Fred throughout your organization.
    • The only thing better than a committed individual is a team of committed individuals: how to create a team of Freds.
    • What to do when you’re “Head Fred”: how to be a leader of extraordinary performers.
    • How to harness and use creativity and commitment to get great people and great results.
    • Elevating experiences: how to use value strategies to create superior experiences for customers and clients.
    • Why extraordinary matters: the primary benefits you’ll get from pursuing extraordinary.

    The Fred Factor was an undergraduate degree in turning ordinary into extraordinary. Fred 2.0 is a graduate degree for those who want to make themselves and their organization even better.

  • Testimonials
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    “I want to thank you again for your presentation during our Powertrain expo last week. Your message was spot on and even tailored to our industry-related issues. I knew that you and your message would be well received with our group, and it truly was. Great feedback keeps coming in with the main theme of being, ‘we need to hear more from Mark Sanborn’.”

    GEARS Magazine Managing Editor
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    “Mark did a tremendous job connecting with our audience of county elected and appointed officials. The advanced work that he did to understand our organization was uniquely woven into his presentation and interspersed with humor and purpose in a way that make his leadership message timely, engaging and relevant. I would highly recommend Mark to other organizations and look forward to having him address other groups with which I am involved.”

    ACCG Georgia’s County Association Executive Director
Mark did a tremendous job connecting with our audience of county elected and appointed officials. The advanced work that he did to understand our organization was uniquely woven into his presentation and interspersed with humor and purpose in a way that make his leadership message timely, engaging and relevant. I would highly recommend Mark to other organizations and look forward to having him address other groups with which I am involved.
ACCG Georgia’s County Association Executive Director