Dan Pontefract

Dan is a speaker to talks about the state of leadership and organizational culture. ”Full potential is possible.” He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business. He is the author of the new book called LEAD. CARE. WIN. How to Become a Leader Who Matters.

His career is interwoven with corporate and academic experience, coupled with an MBA, B.Ed and multiple industry certifications. Dan is a renowned speaker, invited to deliver over 500 external keynotes and presentations, including four TED Talks. Dan also writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review.

Dan is also the best-selling author of three books: Open to Think: Slow Down, Think Creatively, and Make Better Decisions, The Purpose Effect: Building Meaning in Yourself, Your Role and Your Organization and the Flat Army: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization.

Previously, as Chief Envisioner of Telus he founded the Transformation Office to help organizations enhance their corporate culture, leadership, learning, work styles & collaboration practices. While Chief Learning Officer at Telus, Dan was responsible for the overarching leadership, collaboration & learning strategy for the company. Dan championed the introduction of the Telus Leadership Philosophy (TLP), a collaborative-based leadership framework for 50,000+ team members. In parallel to these actions, he drove a philosophical and cultural shift in the way Telus views and experiences learning called “Pervasive Learning” the shift to a social, informal and formal learning model. He further championed the use and deployment of collaborative technologies to complement both the leadership and learning frameworks. During his tenure, employee engagement at Telus soared from 53% to nearly 90%. Dan’s innovation also led to the introduction of the Telus MBA—run in partnership with the University of Victoria—which allows Telus team members the opportunity to garner an MBA over two years. The program has won three international awards and delivered new revenues and savings in excess of $300m.

Previous to his ten years at TELUS, he held senior positions over twelve years with SAP, Business Objects, Crystal Decisions and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).

Dan and his wife, Denise, have three children (aka goats) and live in Victoria, Canada.