Professional Speaker
Journalist
Photographer
Corporate President
Management Consultant

Topics:
Modern Lessons of the Donner Party - Risk, Rewards & Cannibalism
Great Ideas Aren't Enough - Selling Ideas to an Indifferent World
Reducing the Risk of Corporate Politics
The New Definition of Leadership


Karl Ahlrichs is a journalist, corporate professional, program chair of the Indiana State Society for Human Resource Management Conference, and member of the Association for Psychological Type. Karl Ahlrichs is an observer!
Karl's business experience has come from his many roles in corporate life. He is Director of Business Development for Professional Staff Management Consulting; a similar position he held for Marsh & McLEnnan. Karl was President of Media Ink, Director of Marketing for USSI, an IBM Business Partner. He has run career centers in the swamps of Lake Charles, LA and remote Appalachia.

Karl Ahlrichs has lived overseas for several years in Scotland and Spain. This early exposure to travel began his fascination with other cultures and places, and Karl continues to travel with Barbara, his wife. He has won awards for his photography and video work.




Modern Lessons of the Donner Party
Themes: leadership, overcoming adversity, managing risk

Simply put, the Donner Party of 1846 was a failed business project, and many of the wagon team's problems apply to modern life. The goal was to reach California and secure the payoffs. As is true today, this "project team" was made of ordinary people trapped in extraordinary circumstances. Easily adapted to specific audiences, this presentation weaves the gripping tale of the ill-fated wagon train with clear lessons for modern organizations distilled from the embers of the tragedy. A direct descendant of party leader George Donner, Karl has conducted significant research, including retracing the path of the wagon train and documenting the trail with his award-winning photography.

Great Ideas Aren't Enough - Selling Ideas to an Indifferent World
Themes: understanding internal customers, applying sales & marketing to other disciplines

Today's professional needs all the skills of a company COO - operations, employee relations, compensation and benefits, finance, . . . and marketing. To sell new practices up and down the corporate pyramid, you need to learn practical strategies to motivate other to change, and to market your ideas to a complex and often indifferent clientele. This fast-paced talk offers a proven framework that separates internal client departments into four types based on the their values, then gives a concise explanation of how to best interact with each type. This session will then review proven marketing techniques that apply to your needs, and teach some core sales practices that effectively sell concepts.

Reducing the Risk of Corporate Politics
Themes: communications, productivity, leadership
"Politics" usually means something dirty or underhanded. Just say the words "Office Politics", and you sense the disdain. Nobody exists in an atmosphere where everyone agrees. In this presentation, politics is defined as the art of trying to accomplish things within organizations. We all compete for schedules, projects, money and training. This presentation teaches you to be better communicators and better corporate politicians.

The New Definition of Leadership
Themes: personal "branding", building leadership at all levels, keeping high standards.
Leadership is at the core of the issues on our collective front burners. At the same time, the new workforce has shorter attention spans and higher standards, and the leadership model must change to reflect this faster world. Karl shares how good leadership is the "silver bullet" for today's workplace issues, and gives "real-life" examples of how to grow a leadership culture in any organization. Very thought-provoking.


"Thank you for speaking at the May IABC meeting. I don't want to give you a big head, but you rated the best response, by far, of any guest speaker in recent IABC history in our post-program survey!"
Gordon Berry
IABC/Indianapolis Programs Vice President