Who Is This Guy?

"I'm working to make diversity relevant to everyone and to close the gap between where we are and where we aspire to go."
- Joe Gerstandt

Joe grew up on a family farm in northwest Iowa, served four years in the United States Marine Corps. Over the past decade, he has worked both internally and externally with corporate and non-profit organizations on issues related to diversity, inclusion and culture.

Joe's work consists of helping people and groups of people truly understand diversity, inclusion, and culture so they can deliver better on their promises. His work is not about tolerance, sensitivity, or compliance it's about letting the dog off the leash.

Joe lives in Omaha, NE with his wife, two daughters, and baby boy.

Joe Gerstandt

What Does Joe Do?

"My work deals with what exists in the social space between and around people - the things that cannot be seen, inventoried or counted but are of critical importance." -- Joe Gerstandt

Joe Gerstandt

Joe works toward the goal of building next generation organizational and community cultures that deliver on their promises and produce better and more sustainable outcomes for more stakeholders.

He is passionate about helping people to interact in their world differently by throwing out the old rules and replacing them with creative and innovative new ideas and tools that serve today's society better. He coaches individuals and organizations on how implementing new strategies can help them to realize their personal and professional goals.

Joe's core message is simple: difference can be a great source of value. He encourages us to create authentic relationships and cultures where people can participate fully and share their gifts. This is how you become innovative. This is how you become a one-of-a-kind organization or community. This is how you make good use of the resources to which you have access.

Joe Gerstandt

Joe speaks to local, regional, and national conferences and facilitates workshops and retreats for corporate and professional groups. He has consulted for Fortune 500 corporations, public school districts, religious congregations, and nonprofit organizations.

Partial Client List

roots

roots

Interweaving art and science, Joe uses a robust combination of stories and research to help people better understand what next generation culture can look like for our organizations and communities. Joe believes that at their roots, next generation organizational and community cultures are inclusive, innovative, integral and intentional. Joe's work is available in the following formats:

Keynote Address

Lecture Series

Interactive Workshop

Lunch and Learn

Webinar

Video or Podcast

Newsletter or Intranet Article

  • Joe can also create messages tailored to your specific organization or event.
being inclusive

being inclusive

The nature of how people work and create value is changing. Real opportunities to pursue competitive advantage are harder to come by. Organizations and communities cannot afford to be wasteful with the resources that they have access to especially their intangible resources and their people.

Joe provides timely and actionable insights into the true nature of diversity and inclusion. He highlights the value of being inclusive and the role inclusivity plays in making better decisions and delivering better outcomes. Now is the time to hit the reset button on the diversity conversation. We can no longer afford to take a 20th century approach to increasingly critical 21st century business issues.

Messages

  • Diversity Ain't What It Used to Be: The New What, The New Why, The New How
  • Your Mind is a Terrible Thing to Rely On: Facts, Fictions, and the Naming of Elephants
  • Are You Talking to Me? Inclusive and Collaborative Communication Skills
  • New Rules, New Tools: Web 2.0 Meets Diversity and Inclusion

being intentional

being intentional

We can all breathe a sigh of relief as we bid "Good riddance!" to the days of "networking" at the impersonal, pre- planned, after 5, cocktail meet-n-greet. But relationships do matter. They can be a driving factor in our individual and collective success. Building your social capital is critical in today's highly-networked world.

There is value in being intentional. Joe's insightful thought leadership on this issue defines how being more intentional about the relationships we choose to create and nurturing them with open, honest dialogue can unlock untold potential via our social networks.

Messages

  • Get Connected, Get Ahead: Putting Social Capital to Work
  • Are You Talking to Me? Collaborative Communication Skills
  • May the Force Be With You: Empathy, Listening, and Other Jedi Mind Tricks
being integral

being integral

Leadership has nothing to do with having a title or being "in charge". But it has a lot to do with your willingness and ability to answer these questions:

  • 1. Do you know who you are?
  • 2. Do you know what you are here to do?
  • 3. Do you know what your gift is?
  • 4. Do you act accordingly?

Joe discusses the value of being integral and the first principles of leadership for today and tomorrow. He highlights how all of us can use those principles to bring about real and positive change in our communities and organizations.

Messages

  • What Leadership Means Today
  • Who Are You and What Are You Here For?
  • Making Things Happen: How to Drive Change
being innovative

being innovative

Facebooking, murder-boarding, blogging, oh my! There are a lot of people shouting a lot of things about innovation these days and Joe helps us sort it all out. Regardless of your role in your organization, there is value in being innovative and you can be a source of creative, innovative solutions. Joe discusses how you can benefit from integrating innovative practices into the work that you do.

Messages

  • Making Stuff Up: Creativity and Innovation in the Workplace
  • Getting Clued Up: New Practices for Deliberation, Decision Making, and Dialogue
  • New Rules, New Tools: What Web 2.0 Means for You and Your Organization
  • Got Blog: Blogging for Business
  • How (and Why) to Tweet Your Ass Off: Twitter 101
  • twitter