Empowered Entitlement

In his engaged employee speech, Mike Derheim discusses how his company turned a sense of entitlement into the organization's greatest asset. At Nerdery, everyone is considered a co-president. This gives employees a sense of ownership over the success of the business and also results in a much more engaged organizational culture. He notes that this distributed leadership style is different than almost all other workplaces, and stresses the importance of measuring what matters. He dismisses 'useless rules' and values autonomy.

The speaker encourages leadership to embrace the concept that employees need to be empowered in order to be engaged. He believes in giving workers opportunities they might not be prepared for so they can learn and thrive. This unconventional work environment allows everyone to make a difference and adapt to a changing workforce. His engaged employee speech appeals to the entitled generation of millennials to reject mediocrity and to build something meaningful.