About Dan
Dan Pontefract is a renowned leadership and culture strategist, author, and keynote speaker with over two decades of experience in senior executive roles at companies such as SAP, TELUS, and Business Objects. Since then, he has worked with organizations globally, including Salesforce, Amgen, State of Tennessee, Nestlé, Canada Post, Autodesk, BMO, Government of Canada, Manulife, Nutrien, UBC, McGill University, Virgin Media O2, City of Toronto, among others. Dan has firsthand experience in turning leaders and corporate cultures into a competitive advantage.
Dan has written five books: WORK-LIFE BLOOM, LEAD. CARE. WIN., OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT, and FLAT ARMY garnering multiple awards including the Thinkers50 Top New Management Book and the Axiom Business Book Awards Gold Medal. Dan has also written for Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Leader to Leader, and The Globe and Mail, Inc., among other outlets.
Dan is a renowned keynote speaker who has presented at four TED events and delivered over 600 keynotes. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria and has received over 25 personal awards.
View Popular Speaking Topics
Speaker topic and description: The Keys to Flourishing in Work and Life: It’s Not Work-Life Balance
The problem? Work-life balance is not the answer. The rising rate of employee burnout is a sign. In this talk, Dan Pontefract provides an assessment of the current state of work and life, offering an alternative. We must create the conditions to bloom in both work and life, not balance. After all, people bring their work into their lives and their lives into their work; an improved work-life model is vital.
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, people at all levels of the organization need to bloom not balance. Find out how it’s done.
Learn why work-life balance is a myth and how rising levels of anxiety, burnout, and stress are related symptoms
Be introduced to the work-life bloom model — an improved personal operating system for leaders and team members
Get insights from research conducted globally across 8,000+ leaders and team members across 15 countries
Discover the 12 work-life factors that allow people to bloom in both work and life
Analyze whether you are blooming, budding, stunted or renewing in your work-life persona
There is a crisis brewing. We have lost the ability to think critically, to be creative, and to contemplate ideas of the unknown. It’s becoming a calamity.
Distractions, social media, technology, and an incessant demand for short-term results over long-term planning are the big winners. In order to mitigate such calamities including being “crazy busy” and the pressure to “do more with less,” individuals must return to a state of symmetry between the three components of productive thought: dreaming, deciding and doing.
In this talk, Dan Pontefract introduces tangible, actionable strategies to improve the way we think as organizations and individuals through the cyclical process of Creative, Critical, 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. It is time to Dream, Decide, Do, and Repeat.
We are Losing the Ability to Think and What to Do About It
Awards & Publications
Books published
Reviews
phenomenal
- Frank Monteleone
Dan was incredibly collaborative, ensuring our session was tailored to meet our needs. He was both engaging and knowledgeable, using illustrative examples that showcased his expertise and providing tools for leaders to leverage immediately. Additionally, he injected a sense of fun that made the topic not only interesting but also entertaining.
best presenter ever
- Sidh NC
Dan Pontefract delivered a powerful, thought-provoking keynote session that resonated deeply with every attendee. His ability to blend compelling storytelling with actionable insights was nothing short of extraordinary.
loved vince
- Christian Pantel
Dan challenged us to have clarity of purpose, both as individuals and as an organization. He related inspiring stories drawing on his experience in business, technology and academia. As he said, ‘There is no ownership without belonging.’
feedback has been great
- Cheryl Goodwin
Dan not only brought his presentation to life with his charisma, but also content, style and presentation finesse. Our members were especially interested in his thought provoking and top‐of-mind topic on the future of work and how we’re going to be leading the next generation of leaders.
3 Ways to Book Dan
Ready to Put on an Epic In-Person or Virtual Event?
1. Send a Message
Email us at booking@journeyspeakers.com to share a brief overview of your event needs, and the Journey team will get back to you.
2. Fill out a form
Fill out the requested details on the form here, giving the Journey team everything they need to know about your event.
3. Shoot a Text
Text "Journey Speakers" to (813) 706-5920 and the Journey team will help you take next steps.
Start your journey with us! Please complete this form to get availability and pricing within 24 hours.
Have questions?
booking@journeyspeakers.com
Find A Speaker
- Top-rate speaker options in one place
- A-Z handling of your entire speaker needs
- Dedicated agent for easy booking
- Guaranteed to be EPIC or Your Money Back
No Strings Attached Inquiry
We’re excited you’ve decided to start your journey with us. Please complete this form to receive details about speaker availability, pricing, and more information.
Need help? booking@journeyspeakers.com
We look forward to working with you and making your event epic!
Thank you so much for submitting your request.
We will be in touch with availability and pricing within 24 hours.
