Ray Bender

Ray Bender is a speaker, consultant, and author with over 16 years experience advising Chief Information Officers and other Senior Executives on the management aspects of Information Technology. In this area he specializes in creating both internal and external alliances to support the technology requirements of the organization. Dr. Bender was a Vice President and Research Director for Gartner Group's North American IT Executive Program where he developed the research agenda to support CIO's from companies of over one billion dollars. Prior to joining Gartner, Ray was a Consulting Instructor at IBM's Advanced Business Institute where he specialized in organizational change, creating alliances, leadership, and communications.

Ray has over 25 years experience with technology organizations in sales, consulting, and management. He has successfully lead many organizations, the largest with over 700 people and $500 million is assets.

Ray Bender has a B.S. in History and Sociology, an MBA, and a Ph.D. in Management. Dr. Bender is a graduate of the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College. While in the Army he served two combat tours in Viet Nam as a helicopter pilot. He retired with the rank of Colonel. Ray is currently a member of the adjunct faculty, teaching management courses at Southwest Texas State University.

Dr. Bender is the co-author of Culture.com: Building Corporate Culture in the Connected Workplace, which describes how organizations can create a corporate culture to match their dot com business strategy and I Should Be Burnt Out by Now. He is currently working on a book to help technology executives lead their organizations.

Most Requested Topics:

Culture.com: This topic is expandable from a one-hour overview of the changes in organizational culture necessary to respond in the connected world. It can be expanded to a one-day workshop to develop the necessary strategies to move your organization from bricks and mortar to a clicks and mortar organization moving at the speed of dot com. It is based on the book, Culture.com: Building Corporate Culture in the Connected Workplace.

The Human Aspects of Change: This topic can be covered as a one-hour stand-alone presentation or expanded to a day and a half seminar with case studies and workshops. It defines the change process, the necessary skills, and the required roles. It defines the types of action leaders must take to bring about organizational change.

Creating Alliances: This topic can be presented as a one-hour overview on the types of business relationships from a transaction to a partnership. Included will be the six determinants of partnerships and the actions necessary to build and sustain relationships. The topic can be expanded to a one-day workshop to determine the strength of relationships and to develop a strategy to create the appropriate alliance.

Leadership: This is a one-hour session on the different types of leadership style and the how to determine which style is appropriate.

Leadership and Communications: This is 90-minute workshop on how leaders need to communicate to provide the necessary direction to their organizations.

Service Mission: This is a 90-minute session primarily directed at information technology managers detailing how to create the “WE” space with their customers and become service oriented.

Strategic Planning: This topic is expandable from a one-hour overview to a detailed strategic planning session to develop goals, objectives, and tactics.

Executive Perspective on Technology: This topic is for senior management teams, CEOs and their staff and is designed to give them an understanding of the actions necessary to get the most out of their technology expenditures.

Selling to Executives: This topic is designed to provide sales representatives with the skills necessary to build relationships and sell successfully to executives. The session may be presented as a one hour overview or a half-day session that includes the thinking preferences of executives, how to build relationships, advocacy – getting your message across, and how to improve the cost- value relationship of your product or service offerings.

Building Personal and Organizational Resilience: This topic is designed to help leaders develop the resilience and stamina to move their organizations through the change process. The session is based on the research done for the book I Should Be Burnt Out By Now and provides tips and techniques leaders and followers can use to survive and thrive in today’s hectic, fast paced world.