Dean Leak

Dean Leak is an Olympic performance strategist and international keynote speaker who teaches leaders to transform tension into momentum through his Disagreeing Well System™. With experience spanning Olympic sport, the British Military, UK Government, and FTSE 100 boardrooms, and trained by Professor Steve Peters and UK Special Forces leaders, Dean brings rare insight into pressure-tested performance. His sessions equip teams with practical tools to challenge thinking, speak up courageously, and navigate discomfort without damaging trust, driving innovation, accountability, and sustained high performance across global organisations including IBM, LinkedIn, and L'Oréal.

Most organisations avoid conflict because they fear it will damage culture, reduce morale, or slow progress. Dean Leak proves the opposite. He is an Olympic performance strategist and international keynote speaker who teaches leaders how to turn tension into a competitive advantage. His core message is bold and practical: high-performing cultures aren't the ones without conflict, they're the ones that know how to design it. Through his Disagreeing Well System™, Dean shows organisations how to build environments where people speak up, challenge thinking, and work through discomfort without damaging trust. The result is momentum, the kind that drives innovation, accountability, and sustained high performance.

Dean brings a rare blend of insight from three high-stakes arenas: Olympic sport, the British Military and UK Government, and FTSE 100 boardrooms. Across all three, he has seen what happens when pressure rises, and teams either break or break through. In elite sport, he helped Olympians build mindsets that thrive under pressure. In military and government settings, he supported high-stakes decision-making where clarity and courage are non-negotiable. In global business, he has worked with organisations including IBM, LinkedIn, L'Oréal, Baker McKenzie, Specsavers, and Air New Zealand, guiding leaders through complex challenges that demand both strategic rigour and emotional intelligence. Trained by Professor Steve Peters, UK Special Forces leaders, and a leading hostage negotiator, Dean combines lived personal experience with elite performance science, behavioural psychology, and practical leadership tools. His approach is grounded, human-centred, and pressure-tested in environments where getting it wrong has real consequences.

Dean's keynote, Disagreeing Well: The Hidden Superpower of High-Performance Culture, challenges the myth that a positive culture means keeping the peace. Instead, he shows how healthy friction is the fuel for growth, innovation, and winning together. Audiences leave with a new understanding of conflict as a design challenge, not a threat, and with practical tools to enable courageous conversation, effective decision-making, and alignment under pressure. His work helps teams move from avoidance to engagement, from politeness to progress, and from tension to trust. Whether speaking to Olympic gold-medal teams, Commanding Officers, Senior Government Advisors, or corporate leaders, Dean delivers clarity, energy, and insight that creates lasting impact long after the event ends.