Paul Allen | SpeakerHub

Personal Details

Bio

As a serial entrepreneur, Paul has spent his career building motive-driven companies with talented individuals from different fields. As a founder of 8 companies, Paul has lead many executive teams to perform at high levels and engineer hyper-growth into their products and services. Although he is best known as the Founder of Ancestry.com (now worth 2.6 Billion), Paul is hoping to make a larger impact with his current company Strengths Inc.

The mission of Strengths is to help millions of people around the world know and use their inherent strengths. Paul is confident that when a person develops their strengths, they will be able to experience the joy of personal excellence. He has seen this happen in the lives of many, and it even rings true with Paul’s own story.

From a young age, Paul knew he loved technology. He began coding at age twelve and continued to cultivate this interest and skill throughout his life. After graduating from BYU, Paul delved into the world of technology as an entrepreneur. His first company’s mission was to “to digitize the most important books in every field of human knowledge and make them available on CD ROM.” Ancestry’s mission was similar to his first company in that they aimed to “digitize all the world’s genealogy records and make them available online.”

Paul is passionate about providing people with the platforms and tools they need to accomplish tasks and develop their personal and professional lives. In 2012 he discovered a tool called the StrengthsFinder 2.0. He was amazed the insight and direction that was given by the assessment. Recognizing the need to make this product available to everyone, Paul became Gallup’s Global Strengths Evangelist and is now considered one of the world’s leading authorities on the life and teachings of Don Clifton, the father of strengths psychology.

In a powerful presentation, Paul will bring to life the effects of strengths-based living as well as highly relevant topics including diversity/ inclusion, growth marketing, and leadership.

Current position (3)

CEO

Strengths Inc.

Founder

Ancestry.com

Global Strengths Evangelist

Gallup

Achievements (1)

Honored Alumnus

Paul was the honored alumnus of the BYU Humanities College in 2016.

Degrees (1)

Russian

BYU

1983 to 1990

Presentations

Presentations (3)

Unlocking the Strengths of All Your Employees

Executives often give lip-service to the “our employees are our greatest asset” mantra. But do they really value people—or deep down do they view them as a liability to be replaced with robots and AI as soon as possible?

Only 25% of American workers say they have the opportunity to do what they do best every day. This means that your greatest asset is likely being severely underutilized, leading to both lack of engagement and opportunity cost for the organization as a whole.

In this keynote presentation you will:

Realize that the people in your organization truly are your greatest asset, and that investing in their strengths development is the right thing to do
Learn about companies that have used StrengthsFinder to create billions of dollars of shareholder value
Discover 5 keys to spotting talent in others
Hear from 4 executives who have discovered the power of a strengths-based approach.
Learn 21 tools that you can use to unlock the talents in your workforce.

Sparking A Strengths Movement in Your Organization

A full two-thirds of American workers say they are disengaged at work. We’ve all seen what that looks like: glazed eyes, gaunt exhaustion written across the face. Work is a hated grind, and so even the most basic day-to-day work tasks can feel that they require almost insurmountable effort. Because of this, disengaged employees put in the bare minimum of effort required to get a paycheck.

Now what about that engaged one-third? What do they look like? They are excited to come into work because they get to do something they’re good at, and this builds remarkable satisfaction. These employees are invested in the company, and motivated to find traditional and creative ways to contribute.Since “Now Discover Your Strengths” was published in 2001, 17 million people have discovered their own unique Strengths. A work environment where employees personal strengths are acknowledged, utilized, and cultivated changes the entire work environment and culture from disengaged to fully engaged.

Using Strengths To Support Diversity & Inclusion

Many business and community leaders are calling for more action on Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace. Bias negatively impacts economic opportunity and personal development for many in the workplace, as well as in education.

In this keynote, you will see data and examples that suggest we can successfully confront bias with tools from positive psychology such as strengths assessments, strengths-based conversations with managers and employees, and individual and team coaching interventions.

It is possible to build workplace cultures that identify, develop, utilize, and celebrate the innate talents of every individual, regardless of background.

Strengths provide a new way of thinking, a new lens with which to see people, and a common language that helps us describe people in a positive way. These things can help leaders, managers, and employees confront bias in the workplace leading to greater diversity and inclusion.