Built
For BReakthrough
For leaders and teams who need to perform when the pressure is on, without burning out
Customizable keynote available in-person and virtually
The difference between good teams and great teams isn't talent. It's what happens to their focus, decisions, and communication when the pressure rises.
Built For Breakthrough equips leaders and teams with science-backed, field-tested frameworks to perform with clarity when the stakes rise, without turning intensity into burnout. Your team will learn how pressure affects attention, judgment, and communication, and how to counter it in real time.
This keynote delivers more than a motivational lift. It’s fast-paced, funny in the right places, and deeply practical. Audiences leave with a toolkit they’ll actually use: simple ways to spot pressure patterns early, reset quickly, and keep decisions and execution clean when it matters most.
THIS KEYNOTE IS PERFECT FOR LEADERS AND TEAMS:
- Leading through uncertainty: Teams facing rapid change, market volatility, or organizational transformation who need to stay sharp when the path forward isn't clear.
- Ready to raise the bar who want to shift from working harder to working smarter when pressure hits.
- Facing relentless demands: who need to stay sharp through tight deadlines, difficult clients, and ambitious targets.
- Building a culture that thrives under pressure, so that people can perform at their best, not just survive the pace.
AI can analyse, predict, and recommend. But it can’t walk into the room when emotions spike, make trade-offs with incomplete information, or steady a team when the decision is unpopular but necessary.
In Formula 1, the best teams train for those moments because performance under pressure isn’t a trait; it’s a system. However, most organisations never get taught that system.
Dr. James Hewitt has spent his career at the intersection of elite sport and performance science, from professional cycling and F1 paddocks to Fortune 500 boardrooms.
This keynote delivers the tools and frameworks he developed in those environments so teams can stay clear, calm, and decisive in the moments that matter. And James doesn't just study and speak about pressure, he's lived it. From working with F1 world champions to facing his own cancer diagnosis, he brings a perspective that's both scientifically rigorous and deeply human.
Audience Outcomes:
Clearer decisions under pressure
Leaders learn how pressure distorts attention and judgment, and how to regain clarity fast, so they make better calls when information is incomplete.
Repeatable execution (not heroic performance)
Teams leave with practical, field-tested frameworks (e.g., the 5B Pressure Map and PREPARE → EXECUTE → RESET) to recognize what’s happening under load and respond consistently in real time.
Sustainable intensity without burnout
A shared language and simple reset/recovery tools that raise performance and protect people, so urgency doesn’t become exhaustion or culture damage.
“We were looking for an inspiring speaker that would be able to share new insights and a new perspective. What we didn’t expect was a total experience.
—Katherine Shenton,
Global Head of Marketing & Communications, QuantumBlack, a McKinsey company
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EQUIP YOUR TEAM
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WHEN IT COUNTS?
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