Adam Kreek

Olympic gold medalist & conference keynote speaker Adam Kreek is one of North America’s top Executive Business Coaches, who specializes in and speaks on teamwork, leadership development, strategic planning and values driven achievement.

A two-time Olympian, and during his 13 year rowing career, Adam won over 60 medals, 27 in international competitions, with 43 of these being gold medal or first place performances. Adam and his team powered their way to a gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Following his Olympic career, Adam was elected to the Canadian Olympic Committee to direct sports policy in Canada. In 2013, Adam made the first-ever attempt to row unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to America, the subject of the NBC Dateline Documentary, Capsized.

Adam combines high-performance experience with real-world business insight. His Olympic background and years of executive coaching help him bridge performance psychology with practical leadership. He guides organizations to build strategy, resilience, and teamwork in times of change.

Adam wrote the bestselling book The Responsibility Ethic, recognized by Forbes as a “Top Business Book.” He earned a degree in Geotechnical Engineering from Stanford University and holds advanced certifications in executive coaching. His blend of technical knowledge, coaching skill, and elite performance experience helps him connect with both analytical and values-driven leaders.

Values-Driven Achievement™: The Foundation of Peak Performance +

The foundation of lasting success isn’t motivation, strategy, or talent — it’s values.

After two decades powering peak performance inside Olympic teams, Fortune 500 companies, and front-line organizations, Adam Kreek has learned this: the best leaders aren’t just driven — they’re aligned. They know what they stand for, and they act on it consistently.

Adam’s perspective shifted forever the day his wife and son nearly lost their lives in a fall. In that moment, what mattered most became crystal clear. His message: don’t wait for crisis to discover your values. Misalignment creates friction, burnout, and micro-disruptions that quietly destroy performance.

This keynote strips the theory out of “values work” and replaces it with straight talk, practical tools, and simple systems to align personal integrity with organizational purpose. Because without values alignment, resilience can’t hold and success won’t last.

Audiences learn to:

• Identify the values that drive performance — and translate them into daily action
• Align personal purpose with organizational mission
• Eliminate friction and burnout caused by misalignment
• Build cultures of trust, accountability, and resilience that endure

Key message: Lasting success demands resilience — and resilience begins with living your values. --

Built for Hard™ – The World Is Hard. Let’s Build for It. +

Topics: Teamwork • Leadership • Resilience • Values • Change Management

In today’s era of disruption, leaders don’t need more hype - they need more honesty, alignment, and proven tools that hold up under real pressure.

Built for Hard™ reframes how teams approach challenge. Adam normalizes the hard, reconnects people to what matters most, and delivers practical systems that drive performance through uncertainty.

Because the problem isn’t the hard itself; the problem is the energy we waste resisting it.

Adam shows leaders how to stop fighting reality and start using it - transforming challenge into clarity, resilience, and results.

Audiences leave with:

• A healthier, more productive relationship with challenge
• Renewed trust, focus, and energy across teams
• Systems for clarity, execution, and sustainable performance; performance rooted in reality and alignment that lasts.

Key Message: Built for Hard™ shows that resilience doesn’t come from resisting difficulty, but from designing systems that thrive within it. --

Sales Team Success:  Proven Strategies to Motivate, Adapt, and Achieve Results with Confidence +

In today’s economy, sales have never been harder - or more essential. Markets shift, budgets tighten, and customers hesitate. The best sales professionals don’t resist those realities - they adapt and outperform.

Drawing on lessons from Olympic sport and 15 years of coaching high-performance teams, Adam equips sales organizations with the mindset and systems to perform under pressure. He helps teams stay confident when targets move, focused when markets change, and effective when rejection hits.

An Olympic Gold Medalist who rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, Adam brings rare credibility - he knows what it takes to sustain performance when conditions are tough and outcomes matter.

Audience Takeaways:

• Unshakable confidence: Build the mindset and systems that hold up when the market doesn’t.
• Adaptability under pressure: Stay sharp, flexible, and effective when conditions shift.
• Alignment that drives results: Connect purpose, process, and accountability so every rep performs with conviction.

Key Message: Sales success today isn’t about hype - it’s about discipline, adaptability, and the confidence to deliver results through the hard times. --

Built for Health: The Foundation of Leadership and Performance +

Adam Kreek’s health keynote is unlike any health talk you’ve ever heard - or ever will.

Coming from an Olympic gold medalist, engineer, and executive coach, this isn’t a conversation about calories, sleep hacks, or step goals. You already know that stuff - we all do.The problem isn’t knowledge - it’s getting yourself to do it, consistently. 

This keynote goes beyond habits and hacks to the real root of lasting health: alignment. Adam shows people how to turn their values into action - consistently. He helps leaders align how they live with what they stand for, and strips away the theory to focus on what it actually takes to live your priorities in a demanding world.

Through relatable stories, performance psychology, and clear, actionable insights, Adam reframes health as the foundation of leadership and resilience - not an add-on. Because when your physical foundation fails, so does everything it supports: focus, relationships, decision-making, and impact.

Audiences will learn to:

• Identify the real drivers behind health behaviour - and remove the friction that blocks consistency.
• Align hearts before habits: build sustainable habits rooted in values, not guilt or trends.
• Strengthen resilience and decision-making under pressure.
• Treat physical health as strategic infrastructure - the system that supports every goal.

Key message: Your body is the house that holds your mission. Maintain it - because everything else depends on it. --

Teamwork for Engineers: Proven Strategies to Lead with Balance, Collaboration, and Influence +

Leadership • Collaboration • Results

In today’s engineering world, technical excellence is only half the equation. Projects are complex, timelines tight, and success depends on collaboration as much as code. The engineers who rise aren’t just experts - they’re communicators, problem-solvers, and calm leaders when the pressure mounts.

Adam equips technical professionals with tools to influence, communicate, and align teams without losing their technical edge. Drawing from Olympic teamwork and 15 years of coaching high-performance organizations, he shows how to balance precision with collaboration to deliver stronger results.

An Olympic Gold Medalist, Atlantic Ocean expedition leader, and engineer-turned-executive coach, Adam knows what it takes to lead with rigor, trust, and results.

Audience Takeaways:

• From expert to influencer: Bridge the gap between technical skill and leadership impact.
• Collaborate with precision: Strengthen communication and alignment across disciplines.
• Build performance trust: Create teams that stay accountable and deliver under pressure.

Key Message: The next generation of great engineers won’t just solve problems - they’ll lead teams that build what matters. --

Companion Workshop, Half or Full Day:

Values-Driven Achievement™ - Motivation Fades. Alignment Doesn’t. +

Burnout, disengagement, and low motivation aren’t random. They’re the natural result of disconnection - when what people do every day no longer connects to what they believe or why it matters.

Perks and quick fixes might offer a short-term lift, but they don’t create lasting engagement. The real solution is values alignment. When leaders and teams reconnect their work to their deeper purpose, energy rises, focus sharpens, and resilience builds.

That’s the heart of Values-Driven Achievement™. Adam Kreek equips leaders with practical tools to align values with action - creating teams that stay motivated, engaged, and effective under pressure. The result isn’t just higher performance. It’s performance that lasts.

Because when people understand why their work matters, accountability strengthens, motivation turns into momentum, and results follow.

Audiences learn to:

• Identify and define the values that drive behavior
• Align personal purpose with organizational mission
• Build accountability and performance systems rooted in meaning

Formats:

• 60–75 minute keynote, customized to your audience
• 2-hour to full-day workshop
• Half- or full-day senior leadership intensive --

To inquire about Adam Kreek's speaking schedule & booking Adam Kreek, contact us.