under pressure
Don't make a permanent decision in a temporary emotional state.
The talk is called 15 More Minutes. Russ Ward learned this the hard way, and now he hands audiences the one idea that changes how they decide for the rest of their lives.
15 More Minutes
It opens on a single text message. Three words long. For the next ten minutes, the room is certain they know exactly where the story is going.
Then Russ pulls the rug out.
What looks like a talk about one man almost losing the love of his life becomes something every person recognizes instantly. The moment they realize they make their worst decisions the exact same way. In the middle of a storm. Certain they already know how it ends.
It is not a talk about a relationship. It is a talk about the most human thing there is. How we decide when it hurts.
Never make a permanent decision in a temporary emotional state.
Most people don't have a decision problem. They have a timing problem.
There is always a decision before the decision.
It started with three words.
One text, sent from a parking lot, at the worst possible moment. What came back was an address. What happened next became the whole philosophy.
Read the whole back story →
The keynote
The full 15 More Minutes talk. One idea, one true story, and a framework the room can use immediately. Eighteen to forty five minutes.
The workshop
A half day on the decision before the decision. Teams learn to name their own storms and build the pause into how they operate, hire, sell, and lead.
Fireside & Q&A
A moderated conversation on decision-making, resilience, and rebuilding after the worst call you ever made. Honest and unscripted.
He learned this one the hard way.
Russ Ward is a combat veteran and entrepreneur who spent nearly a decade building companies from the ground up. He is a two time SaaSpreneur Gold Award winner and the founder of The Lead King.
Then one decision, made in the wrong emotional state, nearly cost him everything that actually mattered. The two weeks that followed took him apart and put him back together. What he learned in that furnace became the philosophy he now brings to the stage.
He speaks the way he learned it. Direct. Honest. Without the polish that lets hard lessons slide off.
So I made myself a promise.
The lesson does not stay learned. Another storm always comes. So Russ marked the reminder somewhere he cannot ignore it. Before the text. Before the walk away. Before the decision.
For the rest of my life.
Russ didn't give us a speech. He gave our leadership team a shared language for the decisions we make under pressure. Weeks later, people here still say ‘fifteen more minutes’ before they hit send.
I have booked more than a hundred speakers. Almost none of them actually change behavior. Russ is the exception. The room went silent, and then it stood up.
He walked into a room of skeptical founders and had every one of them thinking about a decision they were about to make that week. Honest, disarming, unforgettable.
Bring 15 More Minutes to your stage.
Tell me about your event and your audience. I read every message and I will get back to you personally.