Simple things, done well everyday, over time...lead to sublime results.
James Laughlin isn’t just another leadership speaker — he’s the #1 best-selling author of Habits of High Performers, a seven-time world champion, and a trusted advisor to leaders and teams at the highest level. From corporate boardrooms to Antarctica, James has equipped and inspired people in some of the most challenging environments on earth.
As a sought-after keynote speaker, James has transformed not only elite athletes and billion-dollar CEOs but entire teams — empowering every team member to embrace personal mastery, adaptability, and high-performance habits. His proprietary frameworks are designed to cut through complexity and give people the clarity and tools to achieve extraordinary results.
What sets James apart is his lived experience of winning against the odds. From leading an underdog team of Kiwi musicians to a history-making world championship, to serving as the mental skills coach for Canterbury Rugby, he brings a pragmatic, proven approach that resonates across industries and cultures.
Beyond the stage, James hosts the #1-ranked Lead on Purpose podcast, where he draws insights from global icons — from Fortune 500 CEOs to world leaders. His message is clear: high performance isn’t reserved for a few — with the right mindset and tools, every person can elevate their game and contribute to sublime results.
Talking Points
The Leaders Edge : Vision Precedes Victory
Tough times call for great leaders. These last few years have presented a huge amount of uncertainty for companies and teams across the globe. Everything rises and falls on leadership, and there's one key ingredient that great leaders embrace to guide themselves and their teams through turbulent times.The Leaders Edge : Vision Precedes Victory
The leadership greats like Mandela, Sir Edmund Hillary, Mother Theresa and Margaret Thatcher all understood that without a vision, people perish.
This keynote is delivered in the form of heartfelt stories designed to connect and inspire the listener to heighten their awareness and take action to lead with monomaniacal vision. Each participant will be provided with the High Performance Vision Model that they can implement in their teams and organisations.
The High Performance Habit: The groundbreaking method to achieving peak performance in life and business
The High-Performance Habit keynote is a transformational journey that reveals the groundbreaking methods for achieving peak performance in every aspect of life and business. James' unique perspective, as a seven-time world champion and expert in leadership and personal mastery, offers unparalleled insights into the art of excelling.The High Performance Habit: The groundbreaking method to achieving peak performance in life and business
This keynote is a blend of science-backed strategies and personal stories of resilience and success, designed to inspire and equip teams for their path to high performance.
Here's what your team will learn:
- The neuroscience behind habits and how to effectively install new ones.
- Implementing a 'possibilitarian' mindset to transform problems into possibilities.
- Rewiring the negativity bias to foster a positive, growth-oriented outlook.
- Understanding core human needs and their role in true empowerment.
- The impact of language on emotions and behaviour, and how to use it to your advantage.
- A simple, yet powerful tool to break old habits and install beneficial new ones.
Next-level Leadership: Wisdom from the World's Best: Applying world-class lessons to achieve personal and professional mastery
In the Next-Level Leadership keynote, James unveils the distilled wisdom of the world's elite, offering a rare glimpse into the strategies that have propelled these individuals to the pinnacle of success.Next-level Leadership: Wisdom from the World's Best: Applying world-class lessons to achieve personal and professional mastery
This keynote transcends a traditional lecture, evolving into an immersive experience where the lessons of global leaders are interwoven with actionable strategies, enabling attendees to elevate their personal and professional lives to unprecedented heights.
Here's what your team will learn:
- Leadership Reimagined: Uncover the leadership principles that drive the world's most successful figures.
- Innovation at Its Core: Learn how top innovators think and apply these insights to foster creativity and problem-solving in your domain.
- Resilience Redefined: Discover the resilience strategies of those who've faced and overcome immense challenges.
- Personal Growth Pathways: Access personal development secrets that have catalyzed remarkable life and business transformations.
The High-Performance Leadership Workshop
James Laughlin's HPL™ programme is a transformative journey embraced by thousands, including the Army, professional sports teams and corporate teams. This full-day workshop is dedicated to unlocking personal mastery and cultivating leadership from within, guiding participants through the Seven Pillars of High Performance: Vision, Desire, Belief, Self-Discipline, Habits, Self-Evaluation, and Growth.
The High-Performance Leadership Workshop
The Seven Laws of Leadership Workshop
In the dynamic Seven Laws of Leadership programme, James Laughlin distills the essence of effective leadership into seven foundational laws: Example, Communication, Growth, Decision, Possibility, Empathy, and Clarity. This half-day workshop is designed to empower leaders with a shared vernacular of leadership, fostering unity, understanding, and effectiveness in guiding teams towards common goals.
The Seven Laws of Leadership Workshop
The Success Planning Method Workshop
James Laughlin's Success Planning Method workshop offers a comprehensive approach to goal setting and achievement, providing participants with a robust framework to identify their personal North Star and mission. Tailored to empower individuals and senior leadership teams alike, this program is designed to clarify long-term visions, streamline annual objectives, and enhance day-to-day task management through effective planning strategies.
The Success Planning Method Workshop
Topics
Video
James Laughlin | Showreel
Join James Laughlin as he shares his journey of overcoming stage nerves and embracing high performance habits to connect deeply with audiences. In this video, James highlights the power of speaking from the heart and encourages adopting a positive "possibilitarian" mindset. Drawing from personal challenges, he defines high performance leadership as achieving sustained success while maintaining well-being and positive relationships. With engaging storytelling and practical insights, James inspires leaders to focus on simple, effective daily actions and maintain high energy and audience engagement. Don't miss this chance to learn from James's unique approach to leadership and personal growth! -James Laughlin emphasises the importance of high performance habits to overcome nerves and deliver impactful speeches, aiming to connect deeply with his audience. -He advocates for speaking from the heart, ensuring memorable experiences for the audience by addressing them genuinely and passionately. -James contrasts the mindset of a "miniscan" (focused on negativity) with a "possibilitarian" (focused on possibilities), encouraging the latter for positive outcomes. -Personal experiences, including overcoming challenges like separation and a struggle with alcohol, inform his definition of high performance leadership: sustained success while maintaining positive relationships and well-being. -He highlights the power of storytelling in leadership, focusing on simple, well-executed daily actions for long-term success, and maintaining high energy and audience engagement throughout his presentations.Audio
James was an utter professional and his engagement with our people really felt like it was on a deeper level. James gave us the mental tools as an organisation that can equip us to be the be ... keep reading New Zealand Army
James delivered a powerful and engaging session with our NZ team last week. The feedback from our team was great and I had so many personal takeaways and reminders on a range of fronts. I left inspired and energized and now look forward to putting the learnings into place. James put a lot of care and attention to ensure he hit the brief and he is a real professional. Thanks James, you're a great guy to match the amazing content!
James recently spoke at our annual Livestock Conference. He was an engaging, energetic speaker who bought some really great insights for our team.
Everyone really enjoyed listening to James speak, he was a huge hit!
I invited James to speak at the Local Government New Zealand gathering of Mayors, Councillors, and Chief Executives from across the South Island. James mixed his remarkable personal achievements and experiences with his interactions with inspirational leaders from across the globe to take us on a journey that inspired and challenged us. His message of vision preceding victory was the topic of reflection of attendees at the kai that followed. If you are looking for somebody to inspire your team with new perspectives, James is your man.
We’ve had some outstanding and dynamic speakers over the years, but none like James, with many of our people stating he was the best speaker we have engaged to date. Hire him, you will not be disappointed!
We had an exceptional day with 70 CEO’s from YPO around focusing on the power of connection and peak performance. James did an outstanding job and we all really got immense value.”
Inspirational and captivating
James’ delivery style was engaging from the get-go and his depth of knowledge meant the team took plenty of relevant improvement initiatives away. James exceeded expectations
James is such a polished professional and really did take the time to immerse himself as part of the team. He listened intently, he used story telling as a way of solidifying the theories he presented, he made the session engaging and memorable. He was available to join a pre-work conversation to align on our overall objectives for the 4 day meeting, and provide us with guidance on how we can lead up to his presentation and workshop, as well as how we can follow on from this. He has an easy going, relaxed and informal style which we really liked. He made it easy to like him which made it easy for the team to want to interact. I can thoroughly recommend James for any event.
If you want a well crafted keynote on leadership in life and business, James would be an outstanding go to option to deliver this. He immediately connected with our audience and got people thinking about what they would be doing differently going forward to become a better leader and better human being. We would recommend James unreservedly.
James was fantastic! He was professional and the quality of his session with our team exceeded our expectations. His dynamic and often-humorous style together with his ability to share real-life leadership examples, was inspiring. Several team members mentioned that James was the "best speaker we have ever had". We look forward to working with James again, highly recommend!
Absolutely a privilege to have James Laughlin speak at our company's conference. The team was all buzzing afterward. We highly recommend James.
When we were looking for a Keynote Speaker, we wanted a speaker who could engage with our network on multiple levels while delivering key messages. James absolutely fulfilled what we were looking for and more. James was an absolute highlight at our conference.
Our experience with James was really positive. He met in person with senior members of our team to ensure his content fit with our theme and resonated with our audience. James took the time to learn about our business by watching and reading background material we provided him with, even learning our values and tying his content back to these. Our audience took a lot away from his session and we saw evidence of this in a workshop session later in the day, where breakout groups were directly quoting his terms and referencing his theories and ideas in their presentations. We feel like we got a great return on our investment in James' session and we felt that he was engaged and interested in our people and what we do as a business.
