We were lucky to catch up with Stephen Shapiro recently and have shared our conversation below.

Stephen, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission is to help organizations grow through innovation. This started in 1995 when I had an existential crisis. Early in my career with Accenture, I was actively involved in work known as business process reengineering.” We would assist companies with the optimization of their processes. I eventually realized that when a company optimized its processes, it often downsized its workforce. The tipping point came when I led a project for a major manufacturing company. Before we even began, the CEO announced that ten thousand people would be laid off due to our reengineering efforts.

That was a staggering number, but I wasn’t naive. I understood that people would lose jobs as we made companies more efficient. Somehow, I managed to rationalize the impact on the lives of so many. However, the devastating consequences of my work didn’t truly hit me until one evening. After a long day, I returned to my hotel room and switched on the television.

The news program I tuned in to featured a story about three executives from my client’s company who had lost their jobs a year earlier. These were leaders within the organization who had been handed pink slips.

The most optimistic of the three was an executive who had saved a significant amount throughout his career and recently received an inheritance. Even though he hadn’t secured another job yet, he remained hopeful. Another executive was visibly emotional throughout the interview, being deep in debt and having resorted to mowing lawns to support his family. Tragically, the third individual had taken his own life.

The following day, while at the client’s location, I confirmed that the stories were accurate. I immediately left the project and never looked back. After watching that television segment, I couldn’t bear to contribute to even one lost job.

Although the loss of ten thousand jobs didn’t stir me enough to prompt change, witnessing the impact of a single job loss became unbearable.

It impacted me so deeply that I decided to take a six-month sabbatical to look back on my contributions to the world—both positive and negative. After several months of reflection, I had an epiphany: I wanted to shift gears. I no longer wanted to eliminate jobs; I wanted to create jobs. It was then that I decided to dedicate my business life to helping companies grow through innovation.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

After graduating with an engineering degree from Cornell University, I joined Accenture. Midway through my 15-year tenure there, I founded and led a 20,000-person process and innovation practice. This proved a great opportunity as it led to a major publisher wanting to publish my first book, “24/7 Innovation.” The book launch party was also my last day with the firm. I decided to start the next phase of my career as a keynote speaker.

I always have a provocative perspective on innovation in life.

For example, my second book, “Goal-Free Living,” provides perspectives on why living without long-term goals can benefit creativity. It was so counterintuitive that O, The Oprah Magazine wrote a 2-page cover story about the book.

I continued my journey by creating a card game called “Personality Poker®.” It’s a fast-paced, interactive experience in which people learn how they contribute to innovation, how they detract from innovation, and which team members they need to collaborate with. This game has been played by hundreds of thousands of people in 25 countries.

In 2011, I continued my counter-intuitive journey when Penguin published “Best Practices Are Stupid.” This book was selected as the best innovation and creativity book of that year and was rereleased last year with all new content.

However, the biggest changes to my career started in more recent years. I realized that delivering hour-long speeches did not make the impact I wanted. So, I transitioned to adding in my FAST Innovation® Mastery Program. This deep-dive apprenticeship program helps people truly master what I do so that they can achieve the same results. It has been so satisfying to see the impact.

And speaking of impact, I had an epiphany just a couple of months ago. I enjoy delivering impact, but I also want to have fun. My Personality Poker game is a blast. Every time I deliver a session for clients, they love it, and I have a great time playing. Given my love of impact and games, I recently launched a business called Impactful Games. In addition to Personality Poker, I am developing and licensing games that make a difference for individuals and businesses.

I just turned 60 and have been in business for 40 years. I am excited to see what I can create for the next 20 years!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I’ve analyzed where my clients come from, and 90% of the time they are connections to people I’ve known in the past. They are either past clients, past prospects, someone who was in the audience of a speech, someone who got a referral, or a bureau I’ve done business with in the past.

Given this, I’ve spent less time on traditional marketing and social media and more on building deeper relationships with the people I know. If they are the best source of business or a referral, I should put my energies there.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

As mentioned in my previous answer, people who know me are my best source of business. Given this, my most effective strategies involve staying connected to past contacts.

To do this, I have a CRM where I reach out to people on a regular basis. I never sell when contacting individuals! My only goal is to offer value.

For example, my seventh book, “PIVOTAL: Creating Stability in an Uncertain World,” was just published. I am reaching out to the people in my CRM and offering them a digital copy of the ebook or audiobook. I also offer the hardcover to some clients. Each email is customized for the individual, and I personally send them. I am making the same offer to about 20% of my 12,000 LinkedIn connections via DMs.

None of my strategies involve cold outreach. All are warm leads/contacts.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stephenshapiro.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Shapiroinnovates
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shapiroinnovates/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/247innovation