Adam -You were like Mary Poppins sweeping into Seattle practically perfect in every way. The team thoroughly enjoyed your talk! The attendees have been talking about it all day and two VPs mentioned parts of your talk in their talks.
Adam Kreek
Olympic Gold Medalist turned Adventurer and Engineer
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Adam Kreek
Biography
An Olympic Gold Medalist turned Adventurer and Engineer, Adam is a Social Entrepreneur who walks the talk. Adam is Chair the Board of Directors of Greasecycle, a start-up Biodiesel company on Vancouver Island, and he runs Kreek Speak Enterprises Inc. where he teaches strategies of high performance, framed in compelling narratives and supported by cutting edge research.
A world-class and interactive storyteller, Adam's timeless performance philosophies serve to embolden organizational culture, re-boot team performance, and expand resiliency. Adam delivers keynote addresses and workshops on the topics of Shared Leadership and Teamwork, Managing Change Successfully, Cultivating a Safety Culture, and Strategies for Peak Performance. Relevant, powerful, and transformative, Adam's keynotes motivate, inspire, educate, and entertain.
During his 13-year rowing career, Adam won over 60 medals, including 43 gold medal performances. After a disappointing loss at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Adam and his team powered their way to a gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Following his Olympic career, Adam was named Athlete Leader of the Year at the prestigious Canadian Sports Awards, and was elected to the Canadian Olympic Committee to direct sports policy in Canada. Adam and his teammates were inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in June of 2014, the fourth hall of fame to recognize their momentous accomplishment.
Always eager to take on new challenges, Adam made the first ever attempt to row unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to North America in January 2013. His goals were to advocate for adventure as a tool for self-development, to educate youth about the importance of sustaining the health our oceans resources, and to collect scientific data about the state of the Atlantic Ocean. After four years in planning and 73 days at sea in their 29-foot rowboat, Adam and his three teammates capsized just 10 days short of their destination. Fortunately, the crew's exceptional safety and emergency planning ensured that all four members survived and much of their equipment and data was salvaged.
Adam also serves on the Board of Directors of the Island Biodiesel Coop and is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the BC Biofuels Network. He is a spokesperson for Whitehall Spirit rowing boats and clubs. Adam is former Board Member of the Canadian Olympic Committee where he worked in a leadership role to ensure the benefits of sport spread to the broader Canadian society, and of Clean Air Champions, where he worked for many years to educate Canadians about the importance of the link between personal and environmental health.
Adam is a Big Brother, with Big Brothers and Big Sisters. He recently served as Honorary Co-chair of the Elk Lake Boathouse Renewal Project and helped to raise $1.3 million to renovate the community facility that houses Canada's Olympic Rowing Team. In addition to his work with organizations, Adam has worked with tens of thousands of youth in schools, instilling within our next generation the idea that the "secret to happy living is giving."
Adam holds a degree in Geotechnical Engineering and Hydrology from Stanford University. He lives in Victoria, BC, with his wife and two children.
Adam Kreek
Featured Keynote Programs
WHY OUR FEAR OF FAILURE FAILS US
In many fields of work –healthcare, finance, engineering, safety - failure is not an option. So then - how do we find resilience and accountability in the face of failure? And avoid blame and ridicule when uncontrollable events arise?
A healthy fear of failure is essential. It reminds us of our accountability and emboldens the threat of consequence. But an excessive emphasis on failure-avoidance can paralyze productivity and stop us from achieving our best work. Risk aversion, inner resistance, self-sabotage, and perfectionism are all signs of an unhealthy fear of failure.
Learning Outcomes
How to effectively manage your fear of failure and reclaim confidence;
Differentiate between blameworthy failure and praiseworthy failure;
Better your understanding of your personal and organizational values and their intersect for enhanced confidence and impact.
DESIGN HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS WITH TALENT OPTIMIZATION
The more you know about yourself, and identify differences in others, the better you can drive high performance - personally and within your team. In this customized and action oriented keynote, Adam explores the power of diverse values, skill sets and motivations in the context of an organizational team.
In this interactive presentation, audience members receive a Predictive Index Talent Optimization assessment. Once complete, Adam discusses the makeup of the room and how to maximize differences and synergies, while minimizing conflict.
Learning Outcomes
Better understand yourself, and what drives and motivates you.
Understand the differences between you and your colleagues and how to maximize your collaboration and shared impact.
Learn how to execute high performance within a diverse team.
VALUES-DRIVEN ACHIEVEMENT
What do personal values have to do with team engagement and performance? In 2022? Everything.
Optimize career engagement and safeguard against the great resignation by aligning your team members’ personal values to your organizational values. Your result? More fulfilled teams who outperform competition consistently.
Today’s competitive and changing landscape demands that companies employ new and innovative strategies to retain talent, secure and cultivate engagement, and drive performance. Financial and social incentives can play a role but are limited in scope, often unsustainable and do not always address the innate needs, wants and values of team members.
The science is clear. Engagement soars, conflict declines, trust is bolstered and communication is more productive when leaders and teams operate with a shared understanding of values.
In Adam’s Values-drive Achievement keynote and workshop, he leads teams and organizations through a framework guiding team members to articulate, affirm and act upon their values, and decisively align their personal values with their teams and organization.
Learning Outcomes
What are personal and organizational values?
Why are values essential to personal and organizational success?
How can we align personal and professional values and how does this result in unstoppable drive and team cohesion?
Empower a cultural transformative strategy and the tools for team members to identify and align their personal values to the mission, vision and values of their organization. This process results in enhanced personal drive and achievement, team engagement, and a values-driven culture designed for synergy, talent retention and impact.
Adam provides each participant with state-of-the-art behaviour change technology to ensure and sustain long-term, values-driven action beyond his keynote, workshop or consultation.
TEAMWORK AND LEADERSHIP IN TIMES OF CHANGE
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.
An incredible power is released when teams operate effectively. When functioning optimally, teams are resilient, manage risk, and maximize achievement in times of change.
Empower your team to navigate current and future uncertainty with confidence. Participants will gain Adam's best practices for managing change and the tools necessary for consistent self-improvement.
Learning Outcomes
Understand the change curve and stop resistance;
Clarify and empower personal and organizational values in times of crisis;
Understand your role and focus on what you can control;
Learn the stages of team development, and move from chaos to optimization.