A captivating and award-winning speaker who led an amateur team to success in the ‘World’s Toughest’ Around-The-World Yacht Race. Mark shares the secrets and rewrites the rules of how to achieve the seemingly impossible, when facing constant adversity, change and competition.
Mark is a leadership, teamwork and resilience expert, with vast experience navigating turbulent waters. As a professional sailor and Captain, he’s 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 his speeches.
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.
And so it’s been Mark’s mission since to share the learning, recognising that the parallels for business were remarkable. His audiences from many of the world's greatest organisations agree, captivating them in over 31 countries to date, and with consistent 5-star reviews.
How to hire Mark Denton
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Mark Denton for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
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Mark Denton's official speaking topics are listed below:
Leadership: Heart on My Sleeve - Rewriting the Rules for a Brave New World
‘HEART ON MY SLEEVE’ 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This gripping multi-media account, challenges many of the existing outdated beliefs of how a Leader should be, rewriting these with new and proven frameworks that deliver sustained performance for a brave new world.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
It’s all summarised neatly in his 3C’s model of how leaders need to deliver sustained performance in these turbulent times: Compassionate, Collaborative and Courageous.
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 constant adversity, change and competition. Mark summarises these into the 3 cultural factors that teams must embrace 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
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.
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 is key
- Learn practical ways of accessing these, to get back on track
- Navigate any storm in their personal or professional lives
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"Exceptional speaker, remarkable story, profound insight" - Jonathan, CEO, Dreams Plc
"Everyone should see this" - Sam, Head of Learning, Leicester City FC
"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, Group HRD, IBP Group
"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, Commercial Director, Draeger Medical
"An incredible story full of key insights" - Richard, Chairman, British Aerospace
"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, CRO, Chargebee
"An inspirational and enthralling session which was utterly captivating and resonated so well with our audience." - Rob, Chief Communications Officer, Balfour Beatty Plc
"A game-changing speaker everyone will remember forever" - Pierre-Olivier, Head of HR, Ceva Logistics
"A truly inspirational speaker who provided so much transferable learning for our members who are really challenged by change" - Mark, Head of Learning & Development, AHDB
"The highlight of the conference and very well received by all participants who felt it was just so relevant" - Johanna, Programme Director, McKinsey & Co
"I’ve seen hundreds of speakers over the years, Mark stands head and shoulders above them all. Relevant, captivating, Insightful" - Rachel, Head of Sales, Chiesi Pharmaceuticals Plc
"Outstanding! We were hanging off every word and we also really enjoyed the psychological safety session. Some brilliant points to take back to the business and incredibly inspiring!" - Sara, Head of L&D, Dreams Plc
"We couldn’t have hoped for more from the 1-day Virtual Masterclass sessions we ran. 100% attention, 5-star feedback and our leaders visibly moved afterwards by what they’d experienced and heard. It was everything we were hoping for!" - Sunny, Human Resources Director, Geodis China
"Mark is an inspirational speaker on leadership and team development. He is a leader in his field of leadership development, executive coaching, team development and performance consultancy. I wholeheartedly recommend Mark and MAXVMG." - Simon, Managing Director, Prometheus Sailing Limited
"Mark delivers the most inspiring presentations and interactive masterclasses around teamwork, leadership and resilience, relating the lessons he learnt from "The World's Toughest Yacht Race" to the challenges teams, individuals, leaders and organisations are facing in today's challenging times. I would thoroughly recommend using his expertise to help develop the people at all levels within your organisation." - Ruari, Managing Director, High Performance Development Ltd
- 2020 - Partner of Amy Edmondson's "Fearless Organisation"
- 2017 - Became an Accredited Leadership & Team Coach
- 2016 - Member of the Professional Speakers Association
- 2015 - Leadership Faculty member of Barclays
- 2013 - Recipient of the International Visual Communications Association Gold Award
- 2012 - Recipient of the Procurement Leaders Gold Award
- 2012 - Partner of Insights Discovery
- 2011 - Leadership Faculty member for BP
- 2009 - Took a second company into the Top 100 Best Companies to Work for
- 2008 - Took a company into the Top 100 Best Companies to Work for
- 2006 - Founder of MAXVMG Limited
- 2000 - Race Skipper in the BT Global Challenge Around-the-World Yacht Race
