Stefanie Voss

Profession:
circumnavigator, leadership and communications expert
Expertise:
Sailing, team, leadership, communications, diversity, change, VUCA
Languages:
German, English

Sailing is equal parts passion and hard work!

As a circumnavigator and executive, Stefanie Voss learned that not the wind direction but our actions decide whether the ship remains on course or not. To the dynamic speaker it is quite clear: Leadership equates responsibility and self-guidance means to take the sails into your own hands! Stefanie Voss takes her audience on a journey to themselves and demonstrates how one does not lose sight of one’s goal – even under unfavourable conditions!

Peter Fierl - BayWa AG

"In the middle of a change project, Ms. Voss hit the nerve of the team in exactly the right place. The topic of change has become even more tangible for our managers through her presentation. She explains the phenomenon of complaining, but also encourages constructive design. With her forceful message "Get out of your comfort zone, because that's the only way to success!" she manages to imbue a thoroughly difficult and painful topic such as a major reorganization with optimism and confidence. The clear announcements, the gripping story and also the forceful words of Stefanie Voss have worked. Our conclusion: a great presentation on the topic of change! "

Verena Schmatz - Continental Automotive GmbH

"Dear Ms. Voss, thank you very much for your successful presentation at our event. Thanks to the active parts and your friendly, open manner, you got the participants involved in a great way and we received positive feedback throughout. We will not forget the dental mirror so quickly! ;-)"

Eckart Seitter - Vincotech GmbH

"With her VUCA presentation, Stefanie Voss hit the nerve of our international management team at exactly the right spot. Her keynote fit perfectly into the context of our Global Management Meeting and we were all enthusiastic about her messages to us.
Particularly memorable were the many concrete tips and examples that can be put into practice immediately. The subsequent session moderated very eloquently by Ms. Voss to deepen and transfer the VUCA challenges to our organization also provided many, good food for thought for our management development."

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Dr. Suntje Sander-Struckmeier - Abbott Laboratories GmbH

"Dear Stefanie, thank you very much for the terrific pirate lecture. Making the topics so tangible, with stories, with heroes, with their suffering and their strengths and weaknesses - that's a great method. You did a great job and it was really exciting to listen to you. You also motivated me to go straight into implementation - thank you for that!"

lectures by Stefanie Voss

SAILING TO SUCCESS: Strategies of a circumnavigator

What is the secret of success? Passionate sailing enthusiast Stefanie Voss has a simple, pragmatic answer to this exciting question: “Successful people are able to mindfully lead themselves. And that is also exactly what makes a good sailor.“ If one wants to cross the open seas, they must have a clear focus on their goals, confidence in their own capabilities, and a willingness to deal creatively with adverse circumstances.

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LIVING DIVERSITY: succeeding outside your comfort zone

Global Topspeaker and sailing circumnavigator Stefanie Voss knows from personal experience: With an ambitious voyage ahead, a wise skipper would never form a crew from people of the same background, education, and skill sets. For it is precisely the diversity of talents on board that determines a trip’s success or failure.

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Pirate strategy: What organzisations can learn from buccaneers

Since the beginning of seafaring, pirates have always ruled the seas as well. Their stories in books and on the big screens - even today - still have the power to fascinate us. But the brutal villains from so long ago also had to be smart strategists. In addition, they often used to be remarkably loyal comrades. Characteristics that - in the opinion of business expert and circumnavigator Stefanie Voss - play a major role in our working environment still today.

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agility in business is what makes teams strong: today and in the future

In competition, agile companies have the tremendous advantage that they can adapt more flexibly to changes in today’s fast-moving world. That way, they are able to position innovations with a head start in the market. For Global Topspeaker Stefanie Voss, however, agility doesn’t start with faster change processes or process optimisations but in the minds of all employees and executives. In her trendsetting presentation, Voss therefore provides her audience with the proper mindset and the practical methods to think with greater agility from now on and to act faster, more flexibly and more clearly.

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Profile

She has set the sails, the wind blowing around the prow, and her destination is clear. And for this trek circumnavigator and Global Topspeaker Stefanie Voss invites her audience on board. As a former manager of a Germany DAX-rated company, Voss shows her passengers what it means to lead others. She encourages her audience to take responsibility, to live leadership, embrace diversity and gender equality, and to work together as a team. And at the same time one must assume a leader’s responsibility for one’s own self, whether on land or at sea. She loves change and the challenges that come with it, and with this passion she inspires and animates others. Because in her mind one thing is clear: "A leader lies in everyone. But only those ready to create a clear direction for themselves can truly make an impact on others and create positive change.”

The seasoned mariner and former corporate department head Stefanie Voss takes the helm, inspiring her audience to seize their own life and not just let it pass them by. "It’s always possible to set course for yourself, time and again," she says. She illustrates strategies of self-management and self-responsibility and at the same time enthuses her audiences through her dynamic and lively presentation. With a passionate delivery, Stefanie Voss encourages us to accept failures, always learning from them and always looking ahead. By also tapping into her vivid experiences in long distance sailing, she shows how stepping out of one’s personal comfort zone motivates clear decision making while pursuing new paths, with improvement and steady progress always in the wind. It is clear to see in her presentation that she lives these philosophies of personal responsibility, every day and with all her heart.

The refreshing sea breeze surrounding Global Topspeaker Stefanie Voss can be felt throughout the room as the internationally active speaker brings her experience circumnavigating the globe and as a leader in a DAX-rated company to her audience through authentic, inspiring, open, and clear language.

Let her inspire you with creative ideas on the great variety of possibilities that life has to offer, both personally and professionally. Being a sailor, a leadership expert and passionate speaker, she makes it clear how easy it can be to set a new course and reach challenging goals. Start your journey and become your own leader with the lectures of Stefanie Voss!

Keynote Speaker Stefanie Voss

News, Presse und Blog

Global Topspeakers inspire worldwide on TEDx stages

Global Topspeakers are on the stages of the world, in corporations, banks and companies. Some of them also make their way to the well-known stages of TEDx Talks worldwide. On the TED website, lectures from TED conferences are published almost daily. These lectures share the idea “Ideas worth spreading”.

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Why striving for progress makes you more successful than perfectionism

Perfectionism is known to be a “vigor” of many people, a lot of them are successful, but is it really because their perfectionism? Most of the time perfectionism turns out to be more of an affliction rather than passion. To be successful in the job you’re doing you have to love and really enjoy it. If that is the case, you will be incredibly annoyed if something doesn’t turn out the way you’d have expected.

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Expert for communication releases an e-book about saying-no

It is often the case that we say “yes”, but secretly want to say “no”. Instead of expressing our true opinions and wishes we tend to hum and haw. Global Topspeaker and expert for communication and leadership Stefanie Voss thematises this topic in her recently released e-book. In “So werden Sie zum wertschätzenden Nein-Sager” (How to become a respectful nay-sayer) the former top-manger names 17 situation in which we would like to say no and gives tips how to say no - being honest and at eye level.

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Circumnavigator Stefanie Voss encourages to become more self-confident

Leadership expert and Global Topspeaker Stefanie Voss sailed around the world – during this long and strenuous voyage, she learned what it means to leave one’s comfort zone. Because it is not the wind direction but our actions that decide whether the ship stays on course or will drift off. This experience has also helped the keynote speaker during her time as a manager in a DAX corporation: Leadership means self-guidance and responsibility.

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Speakers agency Global Topspeakers hands out Speakers Awards 2016

Once again this year, the speakers agency Global Topspeakers honoured the most outstanding speakers with the prestigious Global Topspeakers Award. A jury of five renowned industry experts nominated the award-winners of the trophies which are highly sought after in the speakers’ world. At the end of the year, the Global Topspeakers agency honours the most successful speakers of the past year with a special trophy – the Speakers Award. Only speakers belonging to the circle of Global Topspeakers can be nominated for this price. The awards are presented in the categories „Best Brand“, „Best Newcomer“, „Most Outstanding Speaker“, „Best Media“, and „Best Performer - Speakers“ as well as „Best Performer - Coaches“. In addition to that, a special award is granted for the most outstanding performance outside the speakers’ scene. 

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A glimpse into history: A woman changes the world’s power structure

When we hear „Queen Elizabeth“, we all immediately think of the current queen of Great Britain with her colourful suits. But she is Elisabeth II and there had already been an Elizabeth I before her who was Queen of England and who ascended the throne almost exactly 460 years ago: On January 15, 1559 Elizabeth Tudor was crowned in Westminster Abbey and her reign of almost 50 years completely changed the power structure in the old as all as in the new world.

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NEW SLOGAN OF GLOBAL TOPSPEAKERS AGENCY FOCUSES ON PEOPLE

Personal. Reliable. Emotional. With these three attributes, the new slogan of the Global Topspeakers Agency gets to the heart of what the renowned speakers agency has been standing for since its founding in 2010. Cooperation is characterised by focusing on humanity – either internally among the team’s employees or with regard to the procurement of their speakers and the support of their customers who are looking for the right speaker for their individual event. As this attitude is put into practice every day, the Global Topspeakers Agency now ranks among the top agencies in all of Europe and is present on the international speakers’ platforms.

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Pressure, routine and hierarchical definition destroy the work-flow

To help develop creativity and innovative power of teams and employees, flow is the state called for. It basically means those circumstances, in which employees work with a productive and joyful atmosphere. Sadly, most executives pressurize their employees through rigid structures, bureaucratic processes and long-winded work.

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Diversity is an important aspect in the fight for applicants

Companies must become more and more creative to enthuse qualified employees. Therefore, it needs an appealing depiction in all kinds of job advertisement. Salary, a company car, the weekly fruit basket and the foosball table aren’t that appealing to new employees anymore. Instead, it is important that the values and goals of a company convince the applicant and turn them into a long-time employee. Colleagues who share the same values bond with each other and the company. Therefore, it is necessary that the companies know what the right values and goals are to make them appealing. When those are defined, they also need to be clearly communicated.

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Gender at work: How diversity empowers companies

The replacement of the EU-parliament shows how important the gender issue is. There is the suggestion to fill half the seats with female and the other half with male politicians. So far only one third of the seats are filled by women. Global Topspeaker and gender-expert Stefanie Voss emphasizes the importance of diverse teams. In her lectures she also shows how to avoid misconceptions in the communication between men and women. The two different behavioural patterns on one hand complement each other, on the other hand hold the potential for conflict.

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Once around the world – and never back onto the beaten track

Global Topspeaker Stefanie Voss went to the USA at the age of 16, moved to Argentina for her employer when she was 23 years old, and signed up on a sailboat to circumnavigate the world with 25. After 15 years of corporate career (last assignment as department head in corporate communications), she started her own business as speaker, facilitator and coach in 2009. With her topics of communications, team work, leadership and self-management, she works with freelancers, middle-sized companies as well as international corporations in Germany, Europe and overseas.

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