An Olympic Gold Medalist, Journalist, Adventurer and Social Entrepreneur, Adam is a corporate trainer who walks the talk. During his 13-year rowing career, Adam won over 60 medals, including 43 gold medal performances.  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 is presently a Journalist with CBC Sports; in his columns, he shares health and wellness strategies for Peak Performance. A seasoned corporate trainer, Adam teaches strategies of high performance to clients globally. He began training students as a young athlete, then moved into full-time corporate training after his team won Olympic Gold in 2008. Adam is well read. His real-life experience enables him to offer practical, powerful, and transformative teaching on Personal Leadership and effective Teamwork that result in changed perspectives, behaviours and ultimately, revitalized organizational cultures.

Adam holds a degree in Geotechnical Engineering and Hydrology from Stanford University.

Speaking

Adam has found his purpose: to offer relevant, powerful, and transformative teaching on Personal Leadership and effective Teamwork.  The method?  Communicate key lessons on high performance, framed in compelling narratives and supported by cutting edge research.  This formula changes perspectives, behaviours and ultimately, organizational culture.

Adam’s personal story and narrative ingenuity propel audiences to realize their untapped inner excellence. Through powerful teaching, Adam shares practiced and science-based strategies that allow individuals to put their newfound inspiration to work.

Keynotes are offered in lengths of 20 minutes to 3 hours and include a combination of multimedia presentation, audience participation, and a Q&A session, as per client requested.  Workshops are offered in 2 hours, ½ day and full day formats.

Adam conducts an extensive pre-event interview to ensure that his story speaks authentically to each unique audience as well as fit within the broader context of conferences and events.  He works closely with his team to craft an authentic message that reinforces the best organizational goals, interests, and cultures.

Keynotes

Why Our Fear of Failure Fails Us

How to Empower Drive, Engagement, and Growth

We’ve got the balance wrong.

A healthy fear of failure is essential. It reminds us of our accountability and emboldens the threat of consequence.  But excessive emphasis on failure can paralyze productivity and stop us from achieving our best work. 

Risk aversion, inner-resistance, self-sabotage, procrastination, anxiety, and perfectionism are all signs that we hold an unhealthy fear of failure.

Successful teams and organizations require a healthy relationship with failure. Too much fear – or too little – signals future disaster. Managing your fear of failure effectively allows for individual authenticity and reclaimed confidence.  And we need both for sustained success and performance.

It’s time to reframe our fear of failure.

Learn Key Lessons to Empower Drive, Engagement, and Growth:

• How an inaccurate conception of failure cripples engagement, growth, and ability
• How to separate self-worth from past success and failure
• Differentiate between blameworthy failure and praiseworthy failure
• Reclaim lost confidence: the action-growth connection
• Big dreams and small steps can increase your capacity for achievement

Inches: Create and Sustain Peak Performance

It’s not Sexy and it’s True: Slow and Steady Separates the Best from the Rest.

At the Beijing Olympic Games, my team’s goal was to gain one inch over our competition with every stroke. We won Olympic Gold by just over one second—or 220 inches. That’s one inch for every stroke.

The inches add up.

The same is true in business, entrepreneurship, career and life: quick fixes do not drive excellence.  

Too often, we race for quick fix solutions, clinging to claims of easy success: “If only we could fail faster, schedule smarter or work harder”.  We maintain unsuccessful strategies at all costs to evade slowing down, re-strategizing and regaining our focus.

The truth is, it takes focus and consistency to establish effective habits. We achieve peak performance when we prioritize the inches: powerful habits, strategies, and tools that drive results.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result.  It’s time to take time. Step back and implement the inches that will create and sustain peak performance.

Learn Key Skills for Sustained Results, including:

• Focus on what you can control
• Embrace a growth mindset: inspire intrinsic persistence
• Reject instant gratification: find happiness in effort, drive, and process
• Harness the power of authenticity
• Capitalize on the value of active listening
• Do the work

Strong Teams, Shared Leadership

Strengthen team culture, improve communication and energize staff.  
An incredible power is released when we work effectively together. When teams function optimally, they can be excellent tools to ensure resiliency, manage risk, and maximize achievement.  When the whirlwind takes over, busyness gains priority and stress levels run high. In a fast-paced environment, we often let communication and team dynamics suffer, and the costs are significant.
Strong team culture is essential to sustain success. How can we foster authentic and lasting team culture? Reunite your team under a higher goal. Embolden the professionals on your teams to lead from within. Adam combines inspiring stories with an interactive presentation to share the concept of Shared Leadership with teams across sectors.

Learn Key Lessons to Empower Shared Leadership:

• Why we must have clear roles in our teams
• Why it is important to “debate ideas not people’
• How airing our grievances in the Sahara Desert created a stronger Ocean Rowing Team
• How disagreements can be overcome by focusing on shared objectives
• Communication tips for better teamwork and team leadership