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Speakers
© Anna Hermann
Unconventional Leadership for Teams That Achieve, Not Just Execute

David Pereira

David Pereira helps leaders turn busy teams into achieving teams. With 19+ years across startups and global enterprises, he has spoken in 30+ countries to audiences of up to 2,000 people.

Languages:
Employability:
Chairperson,Consultancy,Keynote Speaker,Workshops
Employability:
Chairperson,Consultancy,Keynote Speaker,Workshops,

Specialist Subjects

1. How Top Leaders Build Cultures Where Ideas Thrive

From Coordinative to Collaborative Flow

Your organization looks aligned on paper. Yet great ideas struggle to surface, decisions stall, and the best people quietly disengage.

More coordination is not more collaboration. More process is not more innovation. More meetings are not better ideas.

Top leaders build the conditions where ideas can actually happen. They create clarity instead of process. They lead through trust instead of approval. They foster collaboration instead of coordination.

This keynote shows what it takes to unlock a culture where people contribute their best thinking. You leave with concrete shifts you can apply the next day.

Best for: Executive teams, leadership offsites, transformation programs, culture and people events.

2. Real Innovation vs Innovation Theater

Why Most Innovation Programs Produce Nothing and What to Do Instead

Most organizations are doing innovation. Few are getting innovation. They run sprints, host hackathons, build labs, and announce moonshots. Then nothing reaches the customer.

That is not innovation. That is innovation theater.

In this keynote, David breaks down the gap between what looks innovative and what actually creates value. He reveals the elements organizations truly need to innovate, and the false signals leaders mistake for progress. You learn to spot the theater in your own organization and the few moves that turn motion into outcomes.

Best for: Innovation summits, strategy days, R&D leadership, corporate venturing programs.

3. From Executors to Achievers

How Unconventional Leadership Transforms Teams

Your team is delivering. The question is whether they are achieving.

More tasks is not more impact. More structure is not more clarity. More control is not more ownership.

Unconventional leaders refuse mediocrity. They cut what others keep adding. They create ownership instead of handing out tasks. They guide with clarity, not pressure. And yes, they disturb leaders who protect the status quo.

This keynote is for leaders ready to turn executors into achievers. Expect direct insights, real stories, and shifts you can apply today for a better tomorrow.

Best for: Leadership conferences, management offsites, change programs, motivational keynotes.

4. Why Leaders Destroy Motivation Without Realizing It

And How to Build Teams That Take Ownership

Your team is not lazy. They are demotivated. And in most cases, it is well-meaning leaders who quietly drain their drive.

Fake empowerment. Constantly shifting priorities. Endless processes that signal distrust. Roadmaps that look organized and feel suffocating.

This keynote shows the hidden ways leaders kill motivation and what to do instead. You learn the difference between coordination and collaboration, why most performance problems are leadership problems in disguise, and how to create conditions where people own outcomes rather than wait for instructions.

Best for: People and culture events, HR leadership summits, transformation keynotes, manager development programs.

5. How to Craft Strategies that Survive AI

Clarity for Leaders in a World That Will Not Slow Down

AI is not replacing strategic thinking. It is replacing people who confuse plans with strategy.

In a world where everything moves faster, most strategies break the moment they hit reality. They are too long, too vague, and too disconnected from the people who execute them.

This keynote gives leaders a sharper way to think about strategy. One that makes trade-offs explicit, gives teams the autonomy to act, and survives the noise of constant change. You leave with a simple framework you can use the same week, regardless of your industry.

Best for: Executive summits, strategy offsites, board-level inspiration, transformation events.

6. The Status Quo Is the Real Enemy

A Leadership Wake-Up Call

Every organization has someone protecting things that no longer work. Sometimes it is a process. Sometimes a department. Sometimes the leader looking in the mirror.

This keynote is a wake-up call. David shares hard lessons from 17 years across startups and global enterprises about what holds organizations back, why good people accept it, and how unconventional leaders break the pattern.

Expect to be challenged. Expect to leave with one specific thing you will stop doing on Monday.

Best for: Annual kick-offs, leadership conferences, motivational closing keynotes, change events.

Videos

Simplify complex digital products - David Pereira

Simplify complex digital products - David Pereira

Crafting a Product Strategy that Works || DL Summit 2024

Crafting a Product Strategy that Works || DL Summit 2024

David Pereira - Are You Doing Product Management or Bullshit Management?

David Pereira - Are You Doing Product Management or Bullshit Management?

References

His extensive expertise and flexible teaching style combine to create a valuable learning experience that provides immediate and lasting benefits.

"Our collaboration with David Pereira was truly transformative. Over four intensive sessions, David engaged more than 300 of our colleagues from across the globe, offering invaluable insights into ...

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Santiago Tacaronte from Mondelez International
David possesses a rare storytelling ability to articulate in simple terms what we have always thought but never knew how to express.

"David delivered the opening keynote for Product Camp, setting the tone for the entire conference and engaging over 1,800 attendees in true product management?—?focused on impact rather than task ...

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Raphael Farinazzo from PCamp Brazil
His emphasis on core principles is refreshing in a field often clouded by buzzwords and fleeting trends.

David stands out in product management with his practical, no-nonsense approach. His experience across various companies and countries has shaped a methodology grounded in real-world challenges. What ...

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Daniel Cruz from Parallel

"David recently gave a fantastic talk for our organization, and I can't emphasize enough how much we appreciate his collaboration. After discussing our goals and what we hoped to achieve, he brought ...

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Romain Eastman from Capital One

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