Chris Widener is recognized as one of the top speakers in the world today. Chris speaks to groups as small as 100 and as large as 25,000 people. His clients are a “who’s who” of American businesses and organizations including General Electric, Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Harvard Business School. His dynamic, practical and engaging speeches have audiences laughing one minute and learning timeless truths of success the next.

Jim Rohn, one of the most successful speakers in the world in the past 50 years, made Chris his last protégé and worked with Chris the last seven years of his life. Chris and Jim co-authored the Jim Rohn One Year Success Plan as well as Jim’s last book, The Twelve Pillars, which has become an international best-seller. Jim called Chris “The leader of the next generation of personal development and leadership experts.”

Zig Ziglar, considered to be the greatest motivational speaker of the 20th Century, personally chose Chris to co-host his television show, True Performance. Chris also hosted his own show, Made for Success, where he interviewed some of the top business achievers and thought leaders of our time, and most recently is co-host of The Real Man Podcast with Larry Winget. Chris is the author of 20 books and over 450 articles on success, leadership, sales and motivation.

In today’s conversation Chris shares how he got to work directly with some of the most legendary speakers in the world, and weaves in valuable lessons for connecting with leaders in any industry. Chris goes on to unpack some of the backstory in working with John Maxwell, Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar, and sheds light on the enduring qualities that made these men icons in the speaking world – qualities that he now teaches in organizations, through his own books, speeches, podcast, and training academy.

We explore the importance of character along with the foundational elements that determine whether people will trust, respect, admire and be loyal to you. Everybody makes mistakes. The question is, do you own it, are you self-aware and do you correct it?

We finish off our conversation with Chris revealing key tips for booking paid speaking engagements – specifically using LinkedIn, articles, and content marketing – along with a few fun success stories of Chris’ that demonstrate the effectiveness of these tips in generating 5 figure speaking engagements. It all comes down to being in service. Chris provides the insight and perspective to help you do this in a tangible way that also leads to profitability for your business. Enjoy!  

Key Takeaways

1. Instead of asking leaders in your industry to help you, find out how you can help them.
2. It’s just as easy to think big as it is to think small.
3. Be a voice, not an echo.
4. Influence is a core competency of both sales and leadership.
5. Integrity means that you operate out of a single set of morals and values.
6. When other people do something wrong we judge their actions. When we do something wrong, we judge our intentions.
7. Everybody makes mistakes. The question is, do you own it, are you self-aware and do you correct it?
8. Booking paid speaking engagements is all about marketing.

Favorite Quote

“Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” ~ Jim Rohn

Episode Show Notes: https://leadersoftransformation.com/podcast/business/chris_widener 

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