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Keynote SpeakerMark Denton

Captain of the ‘World’s Toughest Around-The-World Yacht Race’ and Expert on Leadership, Teamwork, Resilience and Navigating Change, voted the ‘Bookers Choice’, Speaker Awards 2024

As a professional sailor and Captain, Mark had raced in many of the sport’s most gruelling events. But it was the opportunity to lead an amateur team in the ‘World’s Toughest Around-The-World Yacht Race’ that was to be his making, an experience so rich that it’s Mark’s sole focus for... Read more

Topics

Popular Talks

Leadership: ‘Braving Uncertainty’ - rewriting the rules for a brave new world
Teamwork: ‘Together We Triumph’ - making the impossible possible
Resilience: ‘Navigate The Storm’ - 8 steps to unstoppable

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Biography

This epic event sees 12 teams in identical yachts vying for glory across 10 months and 32000 miles, the ‘wrong way’ around the world. But these are not crewed by hardy professionals from the rarefied world of elite sport. Rather 100% amateurs, male and female, of different ages, backgrounds and nationalities, 70 % having never sailed before!

It’s the toughest Leadership and Team challenge in the book, and the ultimate laboratory to discover what culture really allows a disparate group of people to achieve the extraordinary when facing constant adversity, change and competition. And the results were surprising, in many ways rewriting the rules of how Leaders and Teams need to be to thrive in a brave new world.

“Exceptional speaker, remarkable story, profound insight.” Jonathan Hirst, CEO, Dreams PLC

“Mark’s story gave us some very powerful messages about leading people in an engaging, human and well-grounded manner. Entertaining, refreshing and so thought provoking!” Lorraine Mildner, Group HRD, IBP Group

“A game-changing speaker everyone will remember forever.” Pierre Olivier Landry, CHRO, CEVA Logistics

“It couldn’t have been more perfect from our perspective. The feedback has been extremely positive with everyone saying it was the most impactful session of the day, and people are already referencing the ‘NAVIG-8’ model.” Victoria Roberts, Commercial Director, Draeger Medical

“It exceeded my expectations which were already sky high, and aligned so well with the key messages we are trying to drive out to the teams this year around the need for resilience.” Adam Tesan, CRO, Chargebee

“A truly inspirational speaker who provided so much transferable learning for our members who are really challenged by change.” Mark Campbell, Head of Learning and development, AHDB

“An inspirational and enthralling session which was utterly captivating and resonated so well with our audience.” Rob Miatt, Chief Communications Officer, Balfour Beatty PLC

“The highlight of the conference and very well received by all participants who felt it was just so relevant.” Johanna Schmidt, Programme Director, Mckinsey & Co

Popular Talks by Mark Denton

Leadership: ‘Braving Uncertainty’ - rewriting the rules for a brave new world
‘BRAVING UNCERTAINTY’ is Mark Denton’s signature Leadership Keynote, taking audiences on a roller-coaster of a journey through the twists, turns, triumphs and tears of leading an amateur team to success in the world’s toughest around-the-world yacht race.

This gripping multi-media account, challenges many of the existing outdated beliefs of...

‘BRAVING UNCERTAINTY’ is Mark Denton’s signature Leadership Keynote, taking audiences on a roller-coaster of a journey through the twists, turns, triumphs and tears of leading an amateur team to success in the world’s toughest around-the-world yacht race.

This gripping multi-media account, challenges many of the existing outdated beliefs of how a Leader should be, rewriting these with new and proven frameworks that deliver sustained performance for a brave new world. Mark will inspire and equip your leaders to:
· Blur the lines between Individual, Team and Organisation Purpose
· Let go of control in favour of collaboration
· Value being vulnerable rather than being invincible
· Overcome obstacles with questions not answers
· Set bold goals and achieve more than you ever thought possible

And it’s all summarised neatly in his 3C’s model of how leaders need to be to deliver sustained performance in these turbulent times: Compassionate, Collaborative and Courageous.

Great for: Challenging mindsets of Leaders & Managers at every level, and for educating those looking to step up.
Teamwork: ‘Together We Triumph’ - making the impossible possible
‘TOGETHER WE TRIUMPH’ is Mark Denton’s signature Teamwork Keynote, an ‘edge of your seat’ multi-media journey through the ups, downs, twists and turns of an amateur team taking part in the ‘world’s toughest’ around-the-world yacht race.

This gripping account also reveals what allowed this team to thrive when facing...

‘TOGETHER WE TRIUMPH’ is Mark Denton’s signature Teamwork Keynote, an ‘edge of your seat’ multi-media journey through the ups, downs, twists and turns of an amateur team taking part in the ‘world’s toughest’ around-the-world yacht race.

This gripping account also reveals what allowed this team to thrive when facing constant adversity, change and competition. Mark summarises these into the 3 cultural factors that teams must embrace in order to achieve the seemingly impossible, no matter how choppy the waters:
· Safe: Create an environment of psychological safety that supercharges collaboration and unlocks high performance.
· Happy: Prioritise Team, Customer & Stakeholder happiness to achieve sustained success.
· Fast: Embrace experimentation and reframe failure as the catalyst for learning, innovation and agility.

Great for: All staff conferences and department events with a mix of Leaders and Team Members.
Resilience: ‘Navigate The Storm’ - 8 steps to unstoppable
‘NAVIGATE THE STORM’ is Mark Denton’s signature ‘Resilience’ keynote, a roller-coaster multi-media journey through the ups, downs, twists and turns of an amateur team taking part in the ‘world’s toughest’ around-the-world yacht race.

And as the gripping account unfolds, Mark shares his unique perspective on what kept him and...

‘NAVIGATE THE STORM’ is Mark Denton’s signature ‘Resilience’ keynote, a roller-coaster multi-media journey through the ups, downs, twists and turns of an amateur team taking part in the ‘world’s toughest’ around-the-world yacht race.

And as the gripping account unfolds, Mark shares his unique perspective on what kept him and the team resilient, including top-tips on how to nurture the 8 key factors summarised in the ‘Navig-8 Compass Model’; Purposeful Direction, Collaboration, Emotion Regulation, Optimism, Creativity, Anticipation, Courage and Persistence.

This simple but comprehensive framework that’s shared with attendees post event, equips them to:
· Recognise that resilience is multifaceted and accessible to all
· Understand the different factors, and why each are key
· Learn practical ways of accessing these, to get back on track
· Navigate any storm in their personal or professional lives

Great for: Leadership/Management conferences and All-Staff conferences, especially where Organisations are facing turbulent times.