Dan Pontefract

Dan Pontefract has first-hand experience in turning leaders and corporate cultures into a competitive advantage, and he believes that the future of work is now. He is a renowned leadership strategist, author, and keynote speaker with over two decades of experience in senior executive roles at companies such as SAP, TELUS, and Business Objects. In these roles, he focused on corporate culture change, leadership development, employee experience, and overall performance improvement.

Since then, he has worked with organizations worldwide, including Salesforce, Amgen, the State of Tennessee, Nestlé, Canada Post, Autodesk, BMO, the Government of Canada, Manulife, Nutrien, and the City of Toronto, among others.

As an award-winning and best-selling author, Dan has written four  books: LEAD. CARE. WIN., OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT, and FLAT ARMY. His fifth book, WORK-LIFE BLOOM, will be published in 2023. His third book, OPEN TO THINK, won the 2019 getAbstract International Book of the Year. His fourth LEAD. CARE. WIN. won the 2022 Nautilus Awards Silver Medal for Leadership. Dan also writes for Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and other outlets.

Sample Keynotes:
(Live or Virtual)

How to Nurture Your Team So They Can Flourish: Work-Life Bloom +

By choice or out of necessity, the manner in which many workers make a living is undergoing a fundamental change. And to make a living is to accept that there is a congenital bond between work and life, between what people do and their definition of self.

But to be clear, there is no such thing as work-life balance. It’s an utterly useless phrase that makes no sense in a post-pandemic world. Primary research conducted by award-winning author Dan Pontefract proves not only the point, but he has outlined the key work and life factors that will allow team members to flourish in both work and life. It is possible!

Thus, in this talk, Dan will introduce a new, if not more benevolent work-life philosophy. It’s time for leaders to understand what it means to adopt a Work-Life Bloom mindset. Yes, it is finally time for people at all levels of the organization to bloom. --

The Keys to Being a Truly Caring Leader +

There are only two kinds of leadership in this world: leading self and leading others. It’s that simple, only two. Your ultimate goal is to master and deliver on them both. Now, more than ever, how you lead yourself and others might become the defining moment of your leadership career.

There are nine key leadership lessons that make up a “Lead. Care. Win.” leader. Considerate and engaging leaders—ones who fully understand the critical importance of crafting meaningful, respectful relationships—are people who know how to truly reach their team members.

Every human interaction is crucial. Every exchange can be mutually beneficial. The 9 leadership lessons we will discuss center on your willingness to:

• Be relatable and empathetic
• Act not out of ego but out of purpose
• Share knowledge to build a wise organization
• Stay present and attentive to the needs of others
• Embrace change and the opportunity for growth it offers
• Stay curious and adopt lifelong learning
• Think and act with clarity
• Commit to balance and inclusivity in all your dealings
• Act with humility and thoughtfulness

The bottom line is that when you care enough to champion others, the workplace becomes happily engaged and your organization benefits in more ways than one. --

Purpose Fuels People: Why a Meaningful Role & Purpose-Driven Organization Matters +

Having a sense of purpose has become table stakes for many employees at work. Equally important, today’s organizations are being pressured to begin exhibiting purpose in their operating practices. If there is a positive interconnection between both, the benefits will be felt by all stakeholders.

Award-winning author Dan Pontefract refers to this balanced state of purpose as the ‘sweet spot.’ The alignment of purpose between self, role and organization is critically important for both employees and leaders. The more a leader can assist team members to understand this alignment of purpose, the quicker everyone will recognize how important the ‘sweet spot’ is to an engaging and fulfilling lifetime of work. The quicker an employee defines, develops and decides their purpose—alongside how bought in they are to the organization’s purpose—the more engaged and innovative they will be in their role … and in their life in general. --

Collaborative Cultures are How Organizations Need To Operate +

Ever wonder why global levels of employee engagement in organizations continue to wane and remain so incredibly low? For leaders in any organization seeking to improve productivity and business results, they must first start with their own operating culture. To improve organizational culture is to build up and unleash behaviours that permit employees to connect and collaborate with one another effortlessly and full of goodwill. An employee only becomes engaged when the culture is open, transparent, communicative, collaborative, and trustworthy. These are just some of the behaviours that must define how an organization operates.

Award-winning author Dan Pontefract implores organizations to rethink their workplace culture by instituting systemic-wide behaviours that encourage one another to work together versus operating in silos or competitively. The engagement of employees occurs as a result of how they feel about the organization’s culture and its purpose. There is a way to fix it, and Dan has a way to help you out. --

We are Losing the Ability to Think and What to Do About It +

Many of our current systems train us merely to function. We learn the routine. We master the process. The regiment starts at school, continues at university, and goes into overdrive when we begin to work. The problem? Ultimately we have lost the ability to think critically, to be creative, and to contemplate ideas of the unknown. Standards, procedures, technology, and an incessant demand for short-term results over long-term planning are the big winners. In order to mitigate such calamities including the relentless pursuit of action and the pressure to “do more with less,” individuals must return to a state of balance between the three components of productive thought: dreaming, deciding and doing.

In this talk, award-winning author Dan Pontefract introduces tangible, actionable strategies to improve the way we think as organizations and individuals through the cyclical process of Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking and Applied Thinking. To become an Open Thinker, one must understand the relationship between reflection and action, and how it can negatively or positively affect an outcome. Dream. Decide. Do, Repeat. --

Dan Pontefract is represented by K&M Productions (Toronto). For more information on Dan Pontefract's speaking schedule, speaking fees, and booking Dan Pontefract as your conference keynote speaker, contact us.