Bonnie Marcus is an internationally sought after speaker whose insights have helped thousands of women at major prestigious events including Harvard Business School Dynamic Women in Business Conference, MIT Sloan School of Management, Wharton Women in Business Conference, Massachusetts Conference for Women.

Bonnie’s keynotes and workshops are perfect for audiences of professional women who have to navigate highly charged political environments to get ahead. Her insights and perspectives give women the practical tools and inspiration to navigate the workplace successfully.

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Speaking Topics

The Anatomy of a Blindside

This keynote is based on Bonnie’s personal story and lessons she learned when passed over for a promotion. As women, our avoidance of office politics puts us in a vulnerable position and jeopardizes our efforts to advance our careers. Bonnie offers a practical approach for women to avoid being blindsided, to navigate the complexities of the workplace, and get the promotions they deserve without losing their integrity.

Bonnie will share with the audience:

  • The importance of understanding workplace politics.
  • How to identify key stakeholders who have power and influence.
  • How to build relationships of trust and confidence with key stakeholders and influencers.
  • Her proven method for getting promoted.

GPS Your Career. Navigate Your Path to Success

In today’s business environment, it takes more than talent and hard work to be successful. It takes an intentional, proactive and strategic focus. This presentation helps attendees create and maintain a strategic course and take control of their career advancement.

Attendees will learn:

  • The importance of strategic thinking for career advancement
  • Specific strategies and tactics including self-promotion and networking
  • How to create an action plan for their career
  • Tips to stay motivated and focused

Own Your Ambition

Women who have chosen to embark upon a professional career path are often described as aspiring, goal oriented, and driven individuals. They are ambitious. Bonnie addresses the nature of ambition– where it comes from as well as how to nurture and maintain ambition for long term career success despite obstacles.

In this keynote presentation, Bonnie helps attendees:

  • To explore their mindset about ambition.
  • To nurture and manage their ambition amidst stress, career roadblocks, and changing desires
  • Identify their internal barriers to owning their ambition
  • Uncover external/structural barriers in their workplace

Mastering the Art of Savvy Self Promotion: How to Gain Visibility and Credibility in the Workplace

Savvy self-promotion has always been a challenge for women in the workplace. In order to master this skill, it is critical to first understand your value proposition and then learn how to communicate this effectively to others. Bonnie offers specific tips on how to position yourself so that key stakeholders and decision makers see the value you bring to the organization.

Attendees will learn:

  • Savvy self promotion is a leadership skill
  • How to use self promotion as a powerful tool for career advancement
  • How to identify their value proposition
  • How to effectively communicate their value proposition with authenticity and confidence.

Strategic Networking: How to Identify and Cultivate the Workplace Relationships that Count

Women are great at building relationships but miss out on many opportunities because of their hesitancy to leverage these relationships. Cultivating relationships and mobilizing them on their behalf is a key exercise of leadership. Learning how to identify the decision makers and influencers in your organization and building relationships of trust and confidence is critical in order to move your career forward.

In this presentation, attendees will learn:

  • The importance of building a web of influence for their career
  • How to create their power network in the workplace
  • How to leverage relationships for their career advancement

The Politics of Promotion

The workplace is a highly political environment where key decisions about who gets ahead, who gets the plum assignments, and who gets access to scarce resources are not decided solely on merit. Women ignore the politics thinking their talent and hard work will get them ahead. Promotion and political savvy are critical to influence the decision making process for career advancement.

In this presentation, Bonnie addresses:

  • The importance of being politically savvy for career advancement.
  • How to use promotion as a political skill for access to informal networks, information, and opportunities.
  • How to build and nurture a power network to support their career ambition.
  • The impact of the rules, power, and culture of the organization on their career.

How Companies Can Support Women And Their Ambition

Savvy companies today know that a diverse talent pool benefits the bottom-line in numerous ways, including an increase in innovation, customer bases, and positive corporate cultures. But while many are exploring ways to attract and retain their female talent specifically, accomplished and skilled women are opting out or losing their passion and engagement for the work altogether. So how do organizations understand what women want and need to be successful?

In this presentation, Bonnie Marcus will draw from her extensive research on women and ambition to inform companies on how to best support their female talent. In helping organizations better understand women and their ambition, and how that varies by age, ethnicity, and upbringing, she will offer practical solutions for preserving women’s professional needs – and the largescale benefits for companies – over time. Bonnie offers surveys customized to audiences as an added source.

Live Webinars And Webcasts

When an on-site speaking event is not available, a live webinar or webcast is a great way to hear Bonnie speak on key topics on advancing your career or business or get valuable training in the comfort of your own home.

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Speaking Kit

What People Are Saying

Bonnie, you “rocked the house” again this year at the RSPA Convention. Thank you for a great presentation!— Debi Besmer
Managing Partner
Archelon Enclosures
www.ArchelonEnclosures.com
Bonnie is an excellent speaker. Her presentation to the Citi Women Network on “The Anatomy of a Blindside” was truly outstanding. Bonnie made it clear to all of the women who attended the presentation that in order to avoid being blindsided in their careers that they must embrace and understand the importance of workplace politics, assess their influence and value-add, and build allies and bridges across their organizations. Bonnie has forced all who attended her presentation to look outside of their comfort zones and embrace the informal influences that shape their careers. Bonnie is engaging and her insights and guidance should be heard by every professional women.— Heather Finn
Director
Citigroup Global Markets
I had the pleasure of working with Bonnie Marcus when she delivered "GPS Your Career" as part of the Harvard Business School's Career Management Webinar Series. Bonnie’s presentation focused participants on understanding the importance of strategic thinking in developing an action plan for career success. Sharing practical and actionable recommendations, Bonnie outlined strategies to leverage key relationships, promote ones value and identify ones power network. Her presentation was high energy, insightful and engaging. I look forward to partnering with Bonnie again.— Christine Paul Tetreault
Associate Director
Alumni Career & Professional Development
Harvard Business School
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Upcoming Speaking Events

Past Speaking Events

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Aug 07

You Surround Yourself With People Just Like You. That's A Problem

Keynote
Business Management Institute
University of CA, Santa Barbara
8:30 am
Apr 27

The Politics of Promotion

Keynote
Oliver Wyman
NYC
7:00 pm
Sep 26

The Politics of Promotion

Webinar
Bayer
11-1 pm EST
Apr 06

The Politics of Promotion

Keynote
Healthcare Businesswomen Association (HBA)
Novartis headquarters, NJ
5:30-8:30 pm
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