Dec 8, 2020
My guest today has a staggering 11 World and European Championship medals, she’s a 2 times Olympian, an MBE, an Executive Coach and an Entrepreneur. She is a woman who persevered and succeeded despite the odds, who achieved when others said she couldn’t. When she talks to us today about overcoming adversity, leadership and high performance, she’s doing it from personal experience.
She draws on the lessons she has learnt along her journey as an Olympian, world champion and expert in the field of resilience and leadership and is on a mission to infuse the business world with the secrets of sporting success.
Please welcome my guest this week – Marathon Kayaker Anna Hemmings MBE
Bio
Anna Hemmings is Britain’s most successful female marathon kayaker with a staggering eleven World and European Championship medals, 9 of them gold. By the age of 24 she had been World Champion 3 times and competed at the Olympic Games. In 2010 she was awarded an MBE for her services to sport.
Anna achieved this success against all the odds. She was told by the British head coach that she was not big enough or strong enough to be a great kayaker. She proved him wrong. At the peak of her career, Anna was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and was told by medical experts she might never race again. She battled her way to full recovery and went on to win a further 3 world titles and compete at her second Olympic Games in Beijing 2008. Anna has become an expert in the field of resilience and high performance. She is now an Executive coach and founded Beyond the Barriers high performance training consultancy and works globally with leaders and teams giving them practical tools and strategies to enable them to thrive under pressure, build resilience, be mentally tough in challenging environments and deliver world class performance.
Anna’s unique combination of experience in elite sport combined with 12 years leading a successful business and working alongside senior leaders, gives her a broad understanding of the challenges that leaders and teams face and how to overcome them to deliver outstanding results. Whether its building confidence, engaging teams or developing resilient leaders, she is passionate about helping others succeed at the highest level. Her most popular speeches are: ‘Staying Ahead of the Game – the Resilient Leader’s toolkit’, ‘Winning against all odds’ and ‘Getting the Competitive Edge’.
Anna’s speeches and masterclasses have been enjoyed and valued by senior leaders through to middle managers across different industries from banking and telecoms, to healthcare and retail. These global brands have trusted Anna to inspire their people to achieve more: IBM, Unilever, Vodafone, Balfour Beatty, UCB Pharmaceuticals, British Airways, Deloitte LLP, RBS and many more.
Key insights from Anna’s engaging and thought-provoking speeches are brought to life through entertaining anecdotes from her journey in sport and business. She has a proven track record as an accomplished, inspiring and humble speaker. She makes sure that she has a clear understanding of the audience, the company and their industry; ensuring that each presentation is relevant and designed specifically for the client.
Anna’s sporting achievements were recognised at the Sunday Times Sports Woman of the Year Awards, where she won the 2005 Champions Award and then again in 2007 when she was voted BBC London Sports Personality of the Year.
Anna Hemmings will support you on your journey to high performance with speeches, masterclasses and 1:1 coaching.
Recorded on: 22nd October 2020
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