Dan Pontefract

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I've always been an admirer of cetaceans. They are, quite possibly, my favourite parts of nature. The problem I have, however, rests not with the cetaceans but with the humans who capture them for entertainment purposes. I had another revelation. Perhaps there is a metaphorical link between the captured and caged cetaceans and employees in an organization who aren't listened to, or asked for their opinion ... on anything. It's a metaphor linked to culture. I proceeded to have a Twitter conversation with myself. Here's what I tweeted:

Cetaceans confined to an aquarium is akin to the millions of employees unable to contribute their ideas for an organization's well-being. — Dan Pontefract (@dpontefract) May 27, 2014

Cetaceans confined to an aquarium is akin to the millions of employees unable to contribute their ideas for an organization's well-being. — Dan Pontefract (@dpontefract) May 27, 2014

Free the whales. Listen to your people. — Dan Pontefract (@dpontefract) May 27, 2014

Culture can't be manufactured within glass walls. You can't buy it at a gift shop. The pod swims the ocean together creating harmony as one. — Dan Pontefract (@dpontefract) May 27, 2014

SeaWorld? How about SeeWorld. Reality bites. — Dan Pontefract (@dpontefract) May 27, 2014

No one ever asked Ms. Nootka. No one ever said, "Hey Tilikum, what do you think?" Caged cetaceans ... a metaphor to consider. — Dan Pontefract (@dpontefract) May 27, 2014

I'll come back to this metaphor. So far, it's shifting toward a new form of laminar flow.

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Testimonials

Dan Pontefract’s keynote on the importance of workplace culture in employee engagement was excellent. Dan used his vast leadership experience to provide our conference attendees with practical strategies to build teams that are engaged and committed. His relatable, real-life examples were thought provoking, memorable and very personal, creating a connection to the audience. I would highly recommend Dan as an entertaining keynote speaker who delivers content that is relevant and actionable.

Michelle Hillyard, Director SCU
We are so proud to have had you at our event. Your talk was a big hit. It moved us. We can’t thank you enough.

Malin Björnell, Salesforce
Dan challenged us to have clarity of purpose, both as individuals and as an organization. He related inspiring stories drawing on his experience in business, technology and academia. As he said, ‘There is no ownership without belonging.’

Christian Pantel, D2L
Fantastic engaging talk for our global partner summit. Thank you so much, Dan!

Barb Kinnard, CEO Response Biomedical Corp
Dan not only brought his presentation to life with his charisma, but also content, style and presentation finesse. Our members were especially interested in his thought provoking and top of mind topic on the future of work and how we’re going to be leading the next generation of leaders.

Cheryl Goodwin, CPA
Dan is a conference organizer’s ideal speaker. Not only did he inspire and energize our group, but he also masterfully adapted his content so it resonated with the audience and our conference theme. As a bonus, Dan is able to nimbly navigate to adjust to a reduced time slot when other speakers went over time without sacrificing the impact of his session.

Director and General Counsel
Dan accomplished what we set out to do, which was not only to be inspirational, but also to leave everyone with tools and food for thought / self-reflection to improve their personal and professional lives.

Hermann Handa, FCT

Media Appearances