Doug Keeley

Our CEO and Chief Storyteller, Doug Keeley, is one of North America’s leading communicators, and a self-professed “leadership junkie”.

Doug started his first business in 1977, just weeks after graduating from York University in Toronto with a degree in Fine Arts, Music. A working musician and producer at the time, he was intrigued by the power of storytelling using multimedia, and his company, ICE, became a pioneer in the world of corporate communications.

Over the next two decades, he continued to chart new courses in the marketing and communications industry, particularly in multimedia, live events, television, and the Internet. His companies became creative powerhouses, and he traveled the globe working with many of the world’s top corporations and executives.

In 2004, it was time for a change, and he embarked on a journey to help create a new generation of leaders with The Mark of a Leader program.

In addition to writing The Mark of a Leader book, he has appeared as a subject expert in two books on creativity and corporate culture, and been interviewed many times on radio and television on the subjects of leadership and innovation.

• 1. THE MARK OF A LEADER

  The core program is based on the belief that leadership is everyone’s job in an organization today, and that there is no “secret sauce” to leadership. Our principle called Five Level Leadership, explores how, when human beings are fully engaged on all five of our levels (Spirit, Imagination, Intellect, Heart, Hands), there is virtually nothing we cannot do.
  
  We bring this to life with incredible video stories of many of the world’s greatest leaders, teams and companies, and show how their leadership successes can be applied in today’s workforce.
  
  The program can be used to create an unforgettable keynote, or Doug can facilitate/MC an event, interspersing the amazing stories throughout and customizing the messages to any audience and theme.

• 2. FIVE-LEVEL LEADERSHIP

  This hands on workshop takes the basic messages of Five Level Leadership and shows how they have been implemented by successful companies around the world. We then challenge and work with audiences to discuss how they can better bring these ideas to life in their environment. Like all of our sessions, this workshop uses video examples extensively, and is a mix of leader-led presentation and audience interaction.

• 4. COMEDY IMPROV

  One of our most beloved leadership stories is Second City, the most successful training ground in the world for young comics. In this workshop we tell the hilarious story of Second City’s success, highlighting many of the communication and leadership skills which they employ. We then lead the audience through a basic comedy improv exercise which dramatically (and hysterically) illustrates the challenges of day-to-day communication, and provides insights into being better listeners and communicators.

• 3. THE ART OF BUSINESS

  In this session, Doug and a team of experienced artists teaches the audience the basics of visual expression and gets them to create theme-based art works in teams. Typically they are asked to create works expressing ideas about their market, challenges or opportunities, competitive pressures, the future, and so on. This session gets participants outside their comfort zones by challenging them to create art, to work as teams, and to communicate abstract ideas. It is an incredibly powerful, hands on session which produces powerful insights into your business and how your people work together.

• If your organization is ready for inspired leaders - and never before have we needed leaders more - then use The Mark of a Leader. It will help take your corporation from where you are to where you want to be.

  Mark Victor Hansen
  Co-Author, Chicken Soup for the Soul

• I would highly recommend this program to other companies thinking about how to get all their different employees to really focus and drive together. It's a great program.

  Mike Smith - Chief Executive Officer, CIM

• Doug, I believe you have done 3 different conferences for us this year, and, once again, we were thrilled with the result of our recent Senior Leadership Conference and your outstanding contributions to the success of our meetings. Your stories injected energy and creative thinking through the meeting. The way you customized them to the Frito Lay messages for the year really hit home. These stories were truly inspirational to our teams and helped us reinforce our objectives in a unique and powerful way.

  Marc Guay - President, Frito Lay Canada

• From the initial meeting, the preparatory sessions, the rehearsals in Mexico, the delivery of each session through to the grand finale, you were polished and energetic. This translated very effectively into focusing the audience on the task at hand and had everyone very upbeat about the changes we were introducing. Many people in the audience told me how important a role you played and how your messages touched them personally and professionally. Thanks again for your significant contribution to our success.

  Paul Leblanc - SVP Sales, Scotiabank

• A great conference at a fraction of the cost of producing original materials.

  Adrian Horwood - SVP Marketing, National Bank Financial

• A fantastic multimedia approach combined with passionate storytelling, it truly does connect and bring an energy throughout an entire conference. I’d strongly recommend The Mark of a Leader to anyone holding a conference where leadership is important.

  Scott Lorimer - Director of Impulse Marketing, Frito Lay Canada

• As you know, the challenge for recognition programs is coming up with something new and inspiring every year. The Mark of a Leader was both. It was fun, and motivational, and helped us create a whole new agenda structure. The interview session that you hosted with our SVPs was also very highly rated. In fact those very same SVPs thought you resonated with our organizations so well they now want you to come and speak at our Managers Forum at head office and with our fraternal partners in the field.

  Amanda Harper-Savonty, Foresters

• Doug Keeley and his inspiring modules on Leadership helped make our recent conference a huge success and were amongst the highest rated elements of the event. His ability to connect with our audience by motivating, illuminating, inspiring, and entertaining really helped illustrate what sets great leaders and great brands apart.

  Derek Estabrook, Pepsi-QTG Canada

• We run meetings annually where we plan our business and The Mark of a Leader was by far the best annual meeting we've had in the last decade.

  Stefan Danis - Chief Talent Officer and CEO, Mandrake

• You hit a huge home run! That was incredible. You could tell how well your General Session presentation was received by the fact that your breakout session afterwards was filled to capacity. I will recommend you to anyone looking for an inspiring and unique presentation for their conference.

  Jim Graham, American Health Information Management Association

• We have now done 8 or 10 programs with you for thousands of Fortune 500 CIOs and Senior Managers and in every city, you are the top rated speaker. Our audiences love the intelligence and insight you bring to the difficult job of leading in today's corporate market, and the passion and inspiration of your delivery and your incredible stories.

  Bethany Simpson, CIO Executive Summits

• Thanks for making our conference so successful! Friday afternoon Jim and I received an email from a VP in Credit who said it was the best conference in his 27 years at the Bank. Wow, what a compliment! I received a lot of other emails and comments of a similar vein.

  Allison Hakomaki - BMO Bank of Montreal

• Doug, you have now MC'd and told your amazing stories 3 years in a row at our most important event, our annual Hosting Summit. Once again you were the highest rated element of the conference. Our global audience of IT leaders never tires of your energy, your insights into leadership, and the incredible stories. And I never tire of how great you make me and Microsoft look. Thanks again!

  Monish Sood - Microsoft Corporation

• 
  January 2007

  The Mark of a Leader

  The Mark of a Leader book contains some of the most popular stories from our acclaimed live production, and many new ones.  It will inspire you deeply as you read the amazing tales of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things with their lives.  The book features stories from history and from the present day, of people and companies. These great stories will spark your imagination, make you think, touch your heart, and hopefully prompt you to do even more exciting things yourself.