Dennis Brouwer

In a world where the playing field has been leveled - where every organization has access to the same capital, technology, people and resources, leadership is the last great point of leverage. 

The problem with humans, however, is that as we struggle to keep pace with unprecedented levels of change, we’re doing battle with our own brains. Modern neuroscience tells us that the human mind is incredibly adept at reinterpreting the immediate past, present and future in ways that help us justify our inaction and silently undermine our capacity for change. 

As we consider changes in everything from personal habits to strategic initiatives, our brains, which have evolved over tens of thousands of years to be risk-averse, filter the information around us to convince us that we’re fine, our judgments are solid, and we can stay the course, just as we’ve always done. But there is hope. In this captivating keynote, bestselling author, U.S. Navy veteran, and multi-decade business executive Dennis Brouwer shows us a surprising path forward by building on the fact that most learning takes place NOT under the watchful eye of a tutor or mentor, but in the daily crucible of events, where we try new things, fail quickly and move on. Leadership is no different.

The Takeaways:

1. Understand the neuro-science that limits our creativity, and how to routinely sidestep habits of thought that hold us back.
2. Understand the mechanism by which "The Eleven Essentials" have the potential to change the way our brains work, starting today.
3. Apply a subset of the Eleven Essentials in real-time.
4. Develop an easy to understand, painless plan to implement new leader behaviors on day one.

As a carrier-based anti-submarine warfare tactician at the height of the Cold War, Dennis and his colleagues had one job – to protect USS Enterprise from potential attack by a bad guy. That bad buy was a Soviet cruise missile equipped nuclear submarine designed to do one thing and one thing only – to incinerate the aircraft carrier that they called home. Despite a lack of resources, a highly capable enemy and conventional wisdom that said what they were setting out to do was impossible, Dennis and his team led the effort that found a Soviet submarine in the one place it wasn’t supposed to be – two miles from USS Enterprise during flight operations in the north Arabian Sea. 

It’s an exciting story that’s surprisingly relevant in our hyper-competitive world. In this talk, Dennis draws parallels between his team’s experience in the strategic cat and mouse game of submarine warfare, and the daily challenges faced by sales, product, marketing and business executives in their chosen markets and territories. In every case, success is a team effort and the difference between success and failure – and sometimes between life and death – is razor thin. Finding that edge – that competitive wrinkle or newly relevant assumption – is what this talk is all about.

The takeaways:

1. Understand the constructive way to challenge assumptions and conventional wisdom as a path to growing sales, revenue and customer satisfaction.
2. Gain support for new “breakout” courses of action.
3. Apply creativity across daily business processes.
4. Identify opportunities for competitive advantage in assumptions and the behaviors they drive.
5. Understand the neuro-science that limits our creativity, and how to routinely sidestep habits of thought that hold us back.

The basic organizational unit of any elite organization is the team. Faced with accelerating rates of change, global competition and rapidly advancing technology, our best teams are challenged to deliver on a credible, sustainable vision for the future. As the market for products, and services becomes more volatile and uncertain, it is more important than ever for high-performing teams to find new ways to get the job done.

In this thought-provoking keynote, bestselling author, professional innovator, and proven turnaround leader Dennis Brouwer delivers a remarkable perspective on high-performing teams – how they work, how they’re different, and how they seem to achieve the impossible. Brouwer shares his unorthodox, yet practical approach to team development by illuminating the biases that undermine our personal perspectives, exploring the neuro-science of visionary thinking, and sharing startling case studies of what’s possible in seemingly dead-end, mature industries and organizations.

The Takeaways:

1. Understand the inherent biases that undermine our willingness and ability to innovate.
2. Learn the key techniques used by highly effective leaders to build powerhouse teams.
3. Gain a new perspective on the importance of clarifying, communicating and creating a shared Vision of a new, desired future that’s worth fighting for.
4. Learn the product development processes used by organizations that routinely launch new products and services.

When Dennis Brouwer was hired to turn around a specialized IT business providing services to global financial institutions, the prognosis was grim. Revenue was plummeting at nearly 10% per year, sales results had flat-lined and customers were leaving as fast as they could get out of their contracts. Just two years later, the business had been reimagined and re-launched. Revenue was growing, the sale of new services had exploded and customers were signing up for new, multi-year agreements.

To achieve this remarkable turnaround, Dennis and his team had to commit to an audacious goal – “Return to Growth – that was laughable at the outset. The challenge of breathing new life into a dying business required Dennis to draw on his entire range of experience – including serving as a mission commander in US naval aviation – to rally and engage a talented but demoralized team to imagine and build a new future for the business. By working directly with every aspect of the business, from front-line sales to the Board of Directors of a $1b public company, Dennis and his team did the impossible and found growth where others couldn’t.

Takeaways

• Create context for sales and business goals by establishing a credible “Why” before digging into “How” they will be met or exceeded.
• Translate sales and business goals into action plans that will enable you to engage a broader team in your plan to set new records for sales and revenue.
• Anticipate the three most common types of “pushback” – the resistance to change and engagement that exists in every organization – and use this to strengthen your plans and execution.
• Learn the system – known as Deconstruction - that Dennis has used to achieve competitive advantage, both as the leader of a business turnaround and as a Navy tactician.
• Understand the neuro-science that limits our creativity, and how to routinely sidestep habits of thought that hold us back.

As a carrier-based anti-submarine warfare tactician at the height of the Cold War, Dennis and his colleagues had one job – to protect USS Enterprise from potential attack by a bad guy. That bad buy was a Soviet cruise missile equipped nuclear submarine designed to do one thing and one thing only – to incinerate the aircraft carrier that they called home.  Despite a lack of resources, a highly capable enemy and conventional wisdom that said what they were setting out to do was impossible, Dennis and his team led the effort that found a Soviet submarine in the one place it wasn’t supposed to be – two miles from USS Enterprise during flight operations in the north Arabian Sea.

It’s an exciting story that’s surprisingly relevant in our hyper-competitive world. In this talk, Dennis draws parallels between his team’s experience in the strategic cat and mouse game of submarine warfare, and the daily challenges faced by sales, product, marketing and business executives in their chosen markets and territories. In every case, success is a team effort and the difference between success and failure – and sometimes between life and death – is razor thin. Finding that edge – that competitive wrinkle or newly relevant assumption – is what this talk is all about.

Takeaways

• Understand the constructive way to challenge assumptions and conventional wisdom as a path to growing sales, revenue and customer satisfaction.
• Gain support for new “breakout” courses of action.
• Apply creativity across daily business processes.
• Identify opportunities for competitive advantage in assumptions and the behaviors they drive.
• Understand the neuro-science that limits our creativity, and how to routinely sidestep habits of thought that hold us back.

In this electrifying talk, professional innovator Dennis Brouwer engages the entire audience in the search for bold, bright, worthwhile ideas, and GUARANTEES that every participant will leave with at least five ideas.

Dennis is the creator of “One Minute! One Idea!”, the multi-media micro-podcast that cranks out one minute broadcasts with one high value idea every week. That requires him to generate hundreds of new ideas a year, and he’s now ready to share a few of the very best ways to get that ideation process started in your organization.

This talk is built around three things:

1. Ideation cases studies including the fastest growing sports entertainment concept in the country, a top craft distillery that’s routinely outperforming the competition, and an unbelievable, real-word sea story from Dennis’ days as a carrier-based naval flight officer.

2. Audience engagement in the ideation process itself. Through a series of hands-on activities, every attendee becomes part of the action and gains first person knowledge of how to search for and identify ideas with potential.

3. The neuro-science and behavioral psychology that’s activated by the ideation process at the core One Minute/One Idea!

This talk blends all of these ingredients into one intoxicating, engaging package, adapted on the fly as the event develops. It feels like a great Italian dinner. There’s great conversation, everyone participates and you’re left feeling a little bit woozy from everything you’ve just consumed.

The takeaways? Five new ideas for every attendee – Guaranteed.

Ideation: TRANSFORMED    Ideation: ACCELERATED      Ideation: DECONSTRUCTED

In today’s highly competitive and complex environment, traditional leadership approaches are losing their impact.  With the stakes higher than ever, an entirely new approach is needed to conquer our most pressing challenges and lead through both growth and adversity. 

In this captivating keynote, bestselling author, U.S. Navy veteran, and multi-decade business executive Dennis Brouwer shows us a surprising path forward.  Brouwer shares his powerful and non-traditional approach of Deconstruction – a process of disassembling opportunities and challenges into their core components and then reassembling them in more productive ways. 

From life and death confrontations aboard an aircraft carrier to nine-figure corporate deal-making, Brouwer fascinates the audience with rich stories, laugh-out-loud humor, and unexpected research.  Attendees will leave energized and ready to deconstruct their own pressing challenges as they learn a clear-cut methodology and framework for execution. 

Leadership: ELEVATED.  Leadership: TRANSFORMED.   Leadership: ACCELERATED.

Leadership: DECONSTRUCTED.

The basic organizational unit of any elite organization is the team. Faced with accelerating rates of change, global competition and rapidly advancing technology, our best teams are challenged to deliver on a credible, sustainable vision for the future. As the market for products, and services becomes more volatile and uncertain, it is more important than ever for high-performing teams to find new ways to get the job done.

In this thought-provoking keynote, bestselling author, professional innovator, and proven turnaround leader Dennis Brouwer delivers a remarkable perspective on high-performing teams – how they work, how they’re different, and how they seem to achieve the impossible.  Brouwer shares his unorthodox, yet practical approach to team development by illuminating the biases that undermine our personal perspectives, exploring the neuro-science of visionary thinking, and sharing startling case studies of what’s possible in seemingly dead-end, mature industries and organizations.

Attendees will leave with a new perspective on the importance of clarifying, communicating and creating a shared Vision of a new, desired future that’s worth fighting for.

Teamwork: ELEVATED.  Teamwork: TRANSFORMED.  Teamwork: DECONSTRUCTED.