Leaders are in the new time zone
Senior leaders have been living with the change for months. They’re acclimatised, so it feels obvious to them.
Leading through change keynote speaker.
People aren’t bad at change. They’re fed up with how change is done to them. Dean Leak helps leaders build movements, not mandates, through keynotes, workshops and consulting.
“100% the most powerful talk I’ve ever attended.”PwC Director
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- 15+ yrs
- Olympic high-performance sport
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People don’t struggle with change. They struggle with how it’s done to them.
Leaders say “we need our people to adapt, to embrace change, to be more resilient”. People spot it. Through wars, pandemics, displacement and technology disruption, humans have shown an enduring capacity to navigate change. They don’t have change fatigue. They’re fed up with how change is done to them.
For too long, companies have tried to install culture change like an iOS software update. Enforce compliance. Send an instruction by email to save time. Be “transparent” through all hands broadcasts. On the surface, the nodding heads and smiles around the table suggest alignment. Underneath, people have disengaged.
Mandates trigger the brain’s threat response. People start self policing their contribution, and you get agreeableness and artificial harmony instead of real commitment.
Emotional jet lag.
Why organisational change never just lands.
Emotional jet lag is the lag between the speed of organisational change and the speed of human adaptation. A reorganisation, a new system, redundancies or a strategy refresh lands overnight. Emotional clocks don’t reset on command.
Teams have just stepped off the plane
Frontline teams hear about it last, yet they’re expected to roll with it. “We explained it once in a town hall” isn’t good enough.
People need time to make sense
Change is an emotional experience. People need time to grieve, reorient and make sense of it, and everyone processes it differently.
Build a movement, not a mandate.
The keynote: leading organisations through change.
How do you overcome resistance when leading change? Dean inspires leaders to think movements, not mandates. Through his three imperatives of trust, clarity and agency, he offers practical tools to inspire everyone to be part of the change.
Enable a city of builders
The traditional change model designs it at the top, packages it and cascades it down. Instead, give teams a problem and a boundary, and let them figure it out. When people design the change, they don’t need to be sold on it.
Make room for disagreement
Disagreement is how organisations update their understanding of reality. Structured, routine forums for dissent let people stress test ideas safely, before misalignment slows everyone down.
Name the loss
People don’t resist the new, they grieve the old. Every change involves a loss: of competence, of status, of relationships, of identity. Name what people feel before you paint the picture of where you’re going.
Keynotes, workshops and consulting.
Start with a keynote, equip your leaders to bring people with them in a workshop, or go deep 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 is Dean Leak’s leading through change keynote about?
How to overcome resistance when leading change. Dean inspires leaders to think movements, not mandates, and through his three imperatives of trust, clarity and agency offers practical tools to inspire everyone to be part of the change.
What is emotional jet lag?
Emotional jet lag is the lag between the speed of organisational change and the speed of human adaptation. Leaders have often lived with a change for months before their teams hear about it, so people need time to grieve, reorient and make sense of it.
What does “movements, not mandates” mean?
Instead of designing change at the top and cascading it down, leaders give teams a problem and a boundary and let them shape the answer. When people design the change, they don’t need to be sold on it.
Who is it for?
C-suite leaders, executive leadership teams, whole divisions and functions, departments and their teams, and managers and team leaders, especially those leading people through a restructure, a new strategy or a transformation.
Can Dean run a workshop for leaders going through change?
Yes. Dean runs half day and full day workshops in person or virtual for leadership teams guiding their people through change, and longer High Performance Sprints that start with discovery.
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.
- Why are we treating workplace culture like an iOS update?Culture can’t be installed from the top down.→
- Healthy conflict keynote speakerKeynotes and workshops on disagreeing well.→
- High performing teamsKeynotes, workshops and consulting to build a high performing team.→
- Plan on a PageThe one page strategy framework Dean uses with executive teams.→
Keynotes. Offsites. Retreats. Workshops.
- Enquire
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- Tailored to you
- On the day
Let’s talk.
Keynotes, offsites, retreats and workshops. Formats and fees on request.