Trust, then clarity, then agency
Giving autonomy without clarity leaves people feeling the weight of ambiguity, not freedom. Trust, then clarity, then agency is how championship teams are built.
High performing teams, built one conversation at a time.
Business is a team sport. Most teams have never trained. Dean Leak brings 15+ years inside Olympic high performance sport to leadership teams, through keynotes, workshops and consulting.
“100% the most powerful talk I’ve ever attended.”PwC Director
- 200+
- Talks delivered
- 3
- Gold-medal Olympic teams
- 15+ yrs
- Olympic high-performance sport
Trusted by
What high performing teams do differently.
Over the last few years I’ve been studying, coaching and living inside teams across industries: finance, tech, media, construction, sport and government. The ones that consistently outperform are those who see the value in healthy conflict.
They don’t leave performance to chance. They get clear on what matters, they build trust deliberately, and they design how they challenge, decide and commit. Winning teams are built one conversation at a time.
How Dean works with teams.
The same principles Dean saw in gold medal Olympic teams, applied to leadership teams in business and government.
Disagree well
The teams that consistently outperform treat disagreement as something to design for, not avoid. Groupthink is an operational risk.
Freedom within a framework
Clear priorities and clear decision rights, then real ownership inside them. People can only take ownership of something they know is theirs.
The keynote: inside gold medal Olympic teams.
How to build a learning mindset.
Build a ONE team organisational mindset focused on sustainable and repeated winning. Dean shares how leaders and teams can create environments that produce sustained excellence under high pressure and constant change.
Workshops and consulting.
Start with one day, run like a match day, or go deep on your whole culture with a sprint shaped by what discovery reveals.
The One Day Workshop
A half day or full day, run like a match day, on the topic your team needs most.
What’s included
Choose your focus
- High performance culture
- Healthy conflict
- Leading through change
- Resilience
- Enterprise thinking
Every workshop includes
- A short discovery call and a team diagnostic before the day
- Content shaped around your team, your goals and your language
- Practical tools people can use the very next day
- Clear team commitments to take back to work
Fee on requestAsk about this
High Performance Sprints
Deep dive consulting to build a high performance culture, shaped by what discovery reveals.
What’s included
Starts with discovery
- One to one interviews, a team diagnostic and time in your real meetings
- A clear picture of what is driving performance and what is holding it back
- A sprint plan built around what emerges, from culture and change to decisions and conflict
- Working sessions and facilitation while you put it into practice
- A playbook of behaviours and rhythms your team owns and runs itself
Fee on requestAsk about this
Inside the Friction Lab
An immersive leadership offsite at Bylaugh Hall, for teams making high stakes decisions under pressure.
What’s included
- Co designed around your strategy and the pressures your leaders face
- Custom scenarios, from a hostage negotiation in a secret room to negotiating inside a fictional country
- Structured debriefs that turn pressure into lessons for your real strategic challenges
- Evening sessions built in, from award evenings to guest speakers
- Delivered with Rebecca Cant, former national police training lead for hostage and crisis negotiation
Fee on requestAsk about this
See Dean on stage.
What clients say.
“100% the most powerful talk I’ve ever attended.”
“Fantastic! The energy in the room was buzzing and there was some real practical takeaways!”
“Dean was a truly exceptional speaker.”
“Brilliant. It’s the second time we’ve had Dean back!”
“The best speaker we had in the whole conference!”
Questions organisers ask.
What makes a high performing team?
In Dean’s work, the teams that consistently outperform build trust deliberately, get clear on what matters, and treat disagreement as something to design for rather than avoid. Trust, then clarity, then agency.
What does a high performing teams workshop include?
A short discovery call and a team diagnostic before the day, content shaped around your team, your goals and your language, practical tools people can use the very next day, and clear team commitments to take back to work.
How long does it take to build a high performing team?
It depends on where you start. A one day workshop can reset how a team works together. Lasting change usually comes from a series or a 4 to 6 month High Performance Sprint, which starts with discovery.
Does Dean work with teams outside sport?
Yes. Clients include L’Oréal, PwC, LinkedIn, Mars, IBM, Specsavers, Visa, Rolls-Royce, the British Army, WeWork and Baker McKenzie.
Where is Dean Leak based?
Dean Leak Performance is based in Tonbridge, Kent, serving London and the UK, and working worldwide.
How do I book Dean?
Send an enquiry through the form on this page or email dean@deanleak.com. Dean usually replies within one working day.
Keep exploring.
Keynotes. Offsites. Retreats. Workshops.
- Enquire
- A 15-minute call
- Tailored to you
- On the day
Let’s talk.
Keynotes, offsites, retreats and workshops. Formats and fees on request.