James D. White

This talk centers on one essential question: “How can I make my people greater than myself?” In this talk, White explores how leaders can answer that question by building a strong, values-driven culture that thrives beyond the physical office, especially in hybrid environments. He presents a proven framework for unlocking the potential of individuals and teams through person-centered leadership. With his extensive experience leading top global brands, White offers practical strategies for managing teams, fostering cross-generational collaboration, and grounding organizations in a people-centric environment. He emphasizes uniting teams around shared purpose and using storytelling as a powerful leadership tool.

Regarded as a mover and shaker with a penchant for seeing out long-term goals, White’s commitment to the bigger picture is what has made the brands he’s led so successful. He sees beyond short-term revenue and profit goals and stresses the importance of long-term investment in culture and development to drive organizations forward. In this talk, White provides thought-provoking insights that stimulate audiences to consider what steps need to be taken to best position their organizations into the next decade and beyond.

Transformation doesn’t happen overnight, nor can it happen without a detailed strategy in place and the right leader to implement that strategy. In this presentation, White shares how he led the 3-year, disciplined strategic plan to turn around Jamba Juice, and how organizational culture is impacted when standard leadership is elevated to transformational leadership. Revealing the characteristics of transformative leadership, he provides his own experiences as leader at Jamba Juice, Nestle-Purina PetCare and other leading global brands, and shares actionable ways that any organization can implement strategy to drive change in their culture.

How can transformative initiatives be implemented in such a way that they serve as the catalysts for large-scale change? Having revamped not only the business, but the internal cultures, at brands such as Jamba Juice, Nestle-Purina PetCare, Safeway, and Gillette, White is an expert at analyzing organizational structures and identifying key areas where complexities can be simplified to create a winning culture. In this talk, he reveals to audiences the ways in which conscious leaders can scale and accelerate change within their organizations.