LinkedIn Speaker Series

In partnership with our Black Inclusion Group and Veterans at LinkedIn, we are thrilled to welcome Doug Melville, an Army veteran turned creative powerhouse, to our next Speaker Series event.

Our own Ty Heath, director for The B2B Institute at LinkedIn, will have the opportunity to sit down with Doug and discuss themes from his new book, Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals. 

They will discuss the significance of diverse perspectives in driving innovation and problem-solving, strategies for overcoming adversity and turning obstacles into opportunities, the importance of inclusive leadership in creating environments where every voice is heard and valued, and how to cultivate resilience and adaptability in the face of change and uncertainty.

You will gain practical insights and actionable strategies that you can apply both personally and professionally from this powerful session.

Trying to say the exact right thing can feel overwhelming at times, and it may even cause us to feel stuck when it comes to moving from having good intentions to taking concrete action. That’s what this Speaker Series event is all about—giving us the tools to have constructive, compassionate conversations across differences.

Our own Blake Lawit, SVP and general counsel, will sit down with Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law, to discuss the nuanced subject of his new book (co-authored with David Glasgow), Say The Right Thing: How to Talk About Identity, Diversity, and Justice. Together, they will explore how we can move from potentially unconsciously hurting people when we communicate, to consciously helping them. 

Leah Smart, LinkedIn editor and host of the “In the Arena” podcast, sits down with Yung Pueblo—author, meditator, and one of social media’s leading voices on the topics of healthy relationships and knowing ourselves. They explore self-awareness practices that can help us experience the world around us in crisp and newly vibrant ways.

In partnership with our Black Inclusion Group, we’re thrilled to welcome trailblazer and change agent, Bozoma “Boz” Saint John—one of the world’s most dynamic, influential, and accomplished marketers—to our next Speaker Series. This special Black Heritage Month event will be a live streamed conversation in our NY editorial studio followed by a book signing.

Boz brings unparalleled energy, transformative thinking, and innovative ideas to everything she touches, and we’ll experience this ourselves when she sits down with Ty Heath, market engagement director for The B2B Institute at LinkedIn, to discuss themes from her new book, The Urgent Life: My Story of Love, Loss and Survival. They’ll delve into the lessons Boz has learned throughout her extraordinary career, and her exciting new role as ambassador for the African diaspora and special envoy to the president of Ghana. Get ready for some inspirational gems!

The Urgent Life draws from Boz’s own experiences of tragedy and grief to lay out a roadmap for those of us who are navigating our own battles. Through her stories and insights, Boz lets us know that we are not alone, that we can make it through, and that there is light and peace, and even inspiration, waiting for us when we do.

Restaurateur Will Guidara was 26 when he took over as manager of Eleven Madison Park (EMP), a struggling NYC brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic location. Within a decade, EMP was named the best restaurant in the world.

How did Will pull off this unprecedented transformation, and what did he learn about business leadership along the way? As it turns out, every business can choose to be a hospitality business—and we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences and lasting relationships, within teams and with our clients. 

Jann Schwarz, head of LinkedIn's B2B Institute and one of Will Guidara's frequent collaborators, will lead a conversation with Will about his new book, Unreasonable Hospitality: Giving People More Than They Expect, and uncover Will’s secrets on how to become a better relationship builder and charismatic convener of any group of people.

On Learning InDay, we have an epic opportunity to hear from Seth Godin, blogger, author, entrepreneur, author, and founder of The Carbon Almanac, a global movement to educate and lead urgent action on the climate crisis. 

This group, a collaboration between hundreds of writers, researchers, thinkers, and illustrators has published a powerful tool by the same name that focuses on what we know, what has come before, and what might happen next with our global climate. It’s a remarkably readable and impactful exploration of climate science to help ensure we all know the facts about this complex subject.

In our live session, we’ll discuss the biggest lessons from The Carbon Almanac and why it isn’t too late for us to make a positive impact on climate change—if we act now. And we’ll gain insight from Seth on leadership and group dynamics to improve the way we work on a daily basis.

Join us as LinkedIn's Vice President of Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, Rosanna Durruthy sits down with Susan Cain to discuss her new book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, the power of a bittersweet, melancholic outlook on life, and why our culture has been so blind to its value. 

Her previous bestseller, Quiet, urged our society to cultivate space for the undervalued, indispensable introverts among us, revealing an untapped power hidden in plain sight. Now, she uses the same mix of research, storytelling, and memoir to explore why we experience sorrow and longing, and the surprising lessons these states of mind teach us about creativity, compassion, leadership, spirituality, mortality and love.

-- Do you feel like you’re running faster but not moving closer to your goals? -- Or that you want to make a greater contribution, but lack the energy?  -- Are you feeling like everything is so much harder than it used to be?-- Maybe you even feel like you are teetering right on the edge of burnout?


If any of this resonates with you, you won’t want to miss our Speaker Series event featuring Greg McKeown, author of two New York Times bestsellers, Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most, and Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. Our own Dr. Chrissy Roth-Francis hosted a conversation and delved into Greg’s actionable advice for making the most essential activities the easiest ones—so you can achieve the results you want, without burning out.

The effortless way isn't the lazy way. It's the smart way. It may even be the only way.  

"The secret of life,” Diane Von Furstenberg says, is to “own our imperfections. Own our vulnerability; it becomes our strength. Whatever the challenge is, own it. Owning it is the first step to everything.” 

Up next in our Speaker Series, LinkedIn's  Catherine Fisher sits down with iconic luxury fashion founder and dedicated advocate for empowering women, Diane von Furstenberg. Together with Gabby Hirata, the current president of Diane’s namesake company, DVF, they share lessons from life, leadership, and their experiences with mentorship and supporting emerging women leaders. 

Discover the basis of Diane’s empowering philosophy in her new book, Own It: The Secret to Life, an A-to-Z dictionary of life-enhancing ideas. It’s a manifesto that will guide you to turn problems into assets and enjoy personal growth at any age.

Are you ready to hear the secrets behind the most extraordinary industry success stories of our times? In our next Speaker Series on September 9, you’ll have that chance. Please join us for a discussion between LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock partner, Reid Hoffman, and our very own Leah Smart.

In Reid’s critically acclaimed podcast, Masters of Scale, he sits down with visionary founders and leaders from iconic companies such as Apple, Nike, Netflix, Spotify, Starbucks, Google, Instagram, and Microsoft, as well as bold, disruptive startups, such as 23andMe, TaskRabbit, Black List, and Walker & Co.—and digs into the surprising strategies that have powered these companies' growth. Our host Leah is behind the also-wildly-successful podcast In The Arena, so this event will be one amazing podcaster interviewing another. You won’t want to miss it.