Transcend
the Leadership Paradox
For leaders who need to sustain high performance, without burning themselves out in the process.
Customizable keynote available in-person and virtually
The demands of leadership are eroding the very capabilities leaders need most.
Here's the paradox no one talks about: the higher you rise, the more your calendar fills with other people's priorities, and the less time you have for the thinking that made you valuable in the first place. You're expected to be strategic, but you're buried in the operational. Inspirational, but running on empty. Present for your team, but stretched so thin you're not fully present anywhere.
This keynote shows leaders how to protect their most valuable capabilities under pressure, not by working harder, but by leading smarter, recovering better, and building habits that sustain performance over the long haul.
THIS KEYNOTE IS PERFECT FOR LEADERS AND TEAMS:
- Sustaining performance under relentless demands: Senior leaders trying to maintain high standards while navigating rapid change and escalating pressure, and starting to feel the cost.
- Stuck in reactive mode: Leaders who want to think strategically and innovate, but keep getting pulled back into the urgent, day after day, week after week.
- Modelling more than they intend: Leaders who suspect their own pace and habits might be setting a tone they don't actually want their team to follow.
- Prioritising sustainable performance: Organisations recognising that leader wellbeing isn't a perk, it's the foundation for everything else working.
Expect a candid, energizing session that names the tensions leaders actually face, without pretending there are easy answers. James blends research on leadership effectiveness with stories from F1, elite sport, and his own experience navigating high-stakes pressure. You'll leave with a clear view of where your energy is leaking and practical ways to reclaim it, plus permission to lead sustainably without feeling like you're falling behind.
This isn't wellness advice dressed up for executives. James is a PhD performance scientist whose doctoral research examined the relationship between wellbeing and cognitive performance in high-performing organisations.
He's applied these methods with F1 world champions, Fortune 500 leadership teams, and executive programmes at IMD, Duke CE, and St. Gallen. And he's lived this paradox himself, building a business, facing and fighting back from cancer, and learning firsthand what sustainable performance actually requires.
Audience Outcomes:
A framework for leading under pressure without losing yourself:
A framework for leading under pressure without losing yourself: Practical methods for maintaining performance, fostering psychological safety, and inspiring your team, even when demands keep rising, and the finish line keeps moving.
Time and headspace for the thinking that matters:
Time and headspace for the thinking that matters: Techniques to carve out capacity for strategic work and innovation, despite a relentless flow of immediate tasks, so you're leading, not just reacting.
A sustainable approach that actually works:
A sustainable approach that actually works: Actionable tools for balancing leadership demands with personal recovery, so you can perform at your best without quietly burning out, and model the kind of leadership you want to see in your organisation.
“James has managed to take the pursuit of this vitally important leadership dimension to a wholly new level. The insights are broken into everyday practical applications with immediate benefits for my self-leadership and indeed, the underlying performance culture of my leadership team.
—Harri Sundvik,
Deputy Chairman at Spinnova OY
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