Leland Maschmeyer is an American designer working at the convergence of creativity and business transformation. During his twenty-year career of leading companies to become industry powerhouses, he has developed battle-proven principles for accelerating growth with design thinking.

WHO IS LELAND?

He has built organizations honored as the most creative in the world: “Design Firm of the Year” (AdAge) “In-house Agency of the Year” (AdAge), “Most Innovative Company in the World” (Fast Company), “30 Most Important Design Companies in the World” (Fast Company), “Agency Creatives Would Kill to Work At” (WNW Magazine), “Agency Inventing the Future of Brand Building” (Forbes), “Brand that Matters” (Fortune), “Brands Changing the World” (Forbes).

These organizations have produced “the future of music videos” (Forbes), twice influenced federal legislation, and won every major global creative award with enviable financial results in tow. For these reasons, Leland earned recognition as a "Global 30 under 30” (Campaign), “Young Influencer” (AdAge), “Most Influential” (HOW Magazine), and a World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader”.

Play Button

Leland was previously the co-founder of COLLINS, a global brand and design consultancy. Forbes praised it as “an agency inventing the future.” Working not Working magazine ranked it as the 16th most sought after company for creative professionals, ranking it higher than Disney, Instagram, Tesla, The New York Times, and Google. COLLINS worked with United States Vice President Al Gore to launch WE, a climate change campaign that shaped US federal climate policy. Working with the founders of Instagram, he wrote the company’s vision and purpose. Fast Company heralded his subsequent redesign of the social platform’s  brand as the year’s best. This also happened with Spotify in 2014 with Fast Company and Wired awarding it as “Best of the Year.” His body of work, which also includes clients such as Target, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and ALDO has earned every major global marketing and creative honor from Cannes, AICP, Effies, and Communication Arts, among others . Leland also worked with the global chairman and CEO of Ace Insurance Group to integrate his company’s culture with Chubb’s during a $20 billion merger. Finally, he partnered with Circle of Blue to launch “Designing Water’s” — an initiative at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, which successfully put the crisis of clean water onto the Forum’s annual agenda the following year.

At 35, Leland became the Chief Creative Officer of Chobani—a multi-billion-dollar international Greek yogurt manufacturer. Overseeing a progressive scope of growth strategy, brand, consumer marketing and media, innovation, and new ventures, he has redefined the role of a creative leader. In doing so, he has helped expand the company from a single-product manufacturer into a design-driven nutrition company offering a portfolio of purpose-driven products. Fast Company ranked the company as one of the “30 Most Important Design Companies in the World” as well as among “The Most Innovative”. Bloomberg praised Leland’s re-imagination of the yogurt brand as a seminal moment in branding history. AIGA Eye on Design echoed that sentiment: “[the redesign] created a significant shift in the aesthetic landscape.” Today, this rebrand is considered one of the best of the last decade and a case study in brand reinvention excellence.

WHAT LELAND SPEAKS ABOUT

Leland customizes each experience for industry and audience (e.g. managers vs. front-line employees) through surprising stories and thought-provoking research, leaving people energized and with concrete ways to implement new ideas. In addition to Shane’s in-person keynotes, he delivers virtual presentations in a variety of formats.

THE MODEL OF LEADERSHIP IN THE 21ST-CENTURY: “LEADER AS DESIGNER”

This keynote may be customized to focus on:

  • A practical guide to practicing design-driven leadership

  • Supercharging growth by creating value, extracting value, and aligning value

  • A “big think” guide for finding opportunities hidden inside complexity

  • Designing narratives that inspire and unite diverse audiences

  • Cultivating entrepreneurial teams

  • Building your brand to become a growth multiplier

Over the past decade, design-driven companies have outperformed the S&P 500 by 228%. Envy of them is well deserved. However, all companies can achieve this greatness. To do so, they must break through old models of leadership to embrace the modern one: “Leader as Designer.” The same discipline that connects companies to its customers can superpower leaders at all levels to build teams and companies envied for their creativity, speed, flexibility, and profound effectiveness. 

USE YOUR PAST TO TRANSFORM YOUR FUTURE

Whether your company is struggling with new economic dynamics, has slipped into irrelevance with consumers, or has fallen from leadership, Leland offers a playbook for tapping into your organization’s past to drive authentic change. 

This keynote may be customized to focus on:

  • Finding your future in your past

  • Defining your vision of a purpose-led, authentic future.

  • Translating a vision of the future into action today

  • Mastering brand, organizational, or culture transformation leadership

Contrary to popular belief, business transformation does not require a company to overhaul who it is and what it does. The best transformations use an organization’s past to fuel its future. The goal isn’t to reinvent the company, it’s to bring the truest and most authentic parts of its ethos to the forefront, and a smarter version of itself.

DESIGN IS HOW YOU MAKE AMBITION REAL

This keynote may be customized to focus on:

  • The fundamentals of design thinking 

  • Using design for personal and career growth

  • Shifting your mindset for avoiding change to embracing it

  • Skills for turning unexpected and unwanted change to your advantage

Our uncontrollable world leaves many of us feeling powerless. Rather than resign ourselves to this weakness, we can find strength in design. Just as science is the best discipline for finding truth, design is the most powerful discipline for creating and catalyzing change we seek. Anyone dissatisfied with the present can wield design to unlock tomorrow’s potential today.

Leland was the highlight for many people at our Global Assembly. Not only did he say exactly what our organization needed to hear, he said it in a way that made it stick. His talk has become a point of reference for many internal debates we’ve had since.

President of T-Brand, a division of The New York Times Company

Leland is one of the most captivating speakers I’ve ever seen. He commanded the stage with an easy grace, makes exceedingly complex ideas accessible and clear, and stuns audiences with his blend of visuals and message.

Senior Director of Consumer Experience, Nike

Leland delivered such a powerful message at the conference and it helped me rethink the world as I knew it. It’s easy to see why he is such an inspiring leader and teacher.

Senior Vice President, Nationwide

LELAND IN ACTION

Play Button
Play Button