SPEAKING
To inquire about speaking engagements, please contact Alex.
TEDx: You Don’t have to be a CEO to be a Leader // TED EDitors’ Pick, 2023
Keynote: Becoming a Changemaker @ Culture Summit // San Francisco
VIRTUAL: Sparking Change @ European Investment Bank
Alex regularly delivers talks, keynotes, and workshops for companies, organizations, and community groups around the world (both in-person and virtually). Get in touch to check availability for your event.
Alex has delivered keynote speeches, presentations, and workshops to audiences around the world, including:
Keynote Topics (Companies, Organizations, & Events):
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Overview:
If the word “leader” didn’t exist, what word would you use instead? For UC Berkeley faculty member and best-selling author Alex Budak, the future of leadership means each of us becoming a changemaker.
We can all lead change from wherever we are, and this actionable and inspiring keynote shares the research-backed steps to help individuals, teams, and organizations lead with courage, purpose, and impact. We'll cover how to question the status quo (in ways that actually work); how to lead change through influence (not just authority); and how to inspire others with your vision (no matter your title).
Key Takeaways:
-The 5 influence supepowers and how to put each one into practice right away.
-How to lead with vision (even if you aren’t a CEO or senior leader).
-The secrets of leading change from where you are.
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Overview:
While there are countless strategies for change management, they are rendered totally ineffective if you and your team lack the proper mindset. This talk will explore what it means to cultivate a "Changemaker Mindset" - the perspectives and mental frameworks required to embrace change as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. Grounded in social science and lots of practical, real-world examples, this session on developing a Changemaker Mindset lays the essential foundation for your change efforts to take root and thrive.
Key Takeaways:
-How to engage champions and overcome cynics, and lay the groundwork of a culture ready for your change efforts.
-Embrace experimentation and failure throughout your organization.
-Build resilience through small wins - Changemaking is a marathon, not a sprint.
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Overview:
In his groundbreaking TEDx talk (a TED editor’s pick with over 200,000 views), Alex challenges traditional notions that leadership is reserved only for those at the top. This keynote lecture introduces Budak's revolutionary concept of "Microleadership" - the idea that leadership can be practiced through small, intentional actions by anyone at any level. Attendees will learn how to identify opportunities for Microleadership in their daily lives and organizations.
Key Takeaways:
-Leadership is not a title, leadership is an act.
-Leaders might be scarce, but leadership is abundant.
-The 3 steps of microleadership: give yourself permission / help others / do it again and again.
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Overview:
Traditional markers of success like wealth, status, and achievement often leave us feeling emotionally and spiritually unfulfilled. Chasing happiness alone is a temporary high that inevitably fades. True fulfillment is a deeper, more sustained sense of satisfaction and meaning with one's life that transcends momentary pleasures. In this talk, you'll learn pathways to cultivate genuine fulfillment in ways true to who you are, and the person you hope to become.
Key Takeaways:
You’ll lear the ABC’s of fulfillment:
-Align Values: Identify and develop the courage to live by your core values.
-Build Connection: Develop and nurture personal and professional relationships to share in the highs, lows, and everydays of life.
-Create Impact (Anywhere): When your time on earth has come to a close, how will you have left the world a bit better off than you found it?
Keynote Topics (University / Students):
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Overview:
Impact Anywhere is an inspiring keynote lecture that explores the profound ability we each have — as individuals and as teams — to spark positive change in any setting and at any level. We’ll explore the universal principles of impactful action, illustrating that making a difference doesn't depend on where you are, but on your approach and commitment. Through a series of data-driven insights and relatable real-world examples, Alex reveals how passion, innovation, and resilience can lead to significant contributions in any context - at work, in the community, and beyond. Based on Alex's wildly-popular classes at Berkeley Haas and his best-selling book, Becoming a Changemaker, you'll leave with a brand new identity as a Changemaker — and the tools and inspiration you need to go lead from wherever you are.
Key Takeaways:
-Principles of impactful action transcending geographical and situational boundaries.
-Strategies for cultivating a mindset that sees opportunities for impact where others just see barriers.
-The Impact Equation which shows how simple and achievable impact can be — and how it all starts with small actions.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
✔️ ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS:
Clear, tangible takeaways that individuals and teams can begin applying to their work and life right away.
✔️ RESEARCH BACKED:
The ideas and approaches I share are data-driven and empirically based (including some from my research at UC Berkeley). Real ideas for real change.
✔️ INCLUSION-FOCUSED:
I meet people where they are, speak to both individual and systemic approaches to change, and make sure everyone feels seen and heard.
✔️ FUN & ENGAGINC:
Teaching is my calling. At UC Berkeley I teach everyone from first years to senior executives and know how to meet people where they are with creative, hands-on, and collaborative approaches to learning.