Mark Denton

Mark Denton 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 Denton’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 Denton’s mission since to share the learning, recognising that the parallels for business were remarkable. And 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.

Speaking Topics

LEADERSHIP: ‘HEART ON MY SLEEVE’ – rewriting the rules for a brave new world

‘HEART ON MY SLEEVE’ is Mark Denton 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This gripping multi-media account, challenges many of the existing outdated beliefs of how a Leader should be, rewriting these with new and proven frameworks that deliver sustained performance for a brave new world.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

And it’s all summarised neatly in his 3C’s model of how leaders need to be to deliver sustained performance in these turbulent times: Compassionate, Collaborative and Courageous.

Great for: Challenging mindsets of Leaders & Managers at every level, and for educating those looking to step up

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 in order 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

Great for: All staff conferences and department events with a mix of Leaders and Team Members

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.

And 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 are key
• Learn practical ways of  accessing these, to get back on track
• Navigate any storm in their personal or professional lives

Great for: Leadership/Management conferences and All-Staff conferences, especially where Organisations are facing turbulent times. If you are interested in booking Mark Denton as a motivational speaker please email us on enquiries@scampspeakers.co.uk