After making it through the British Special Forces grueling six-month selection process, Dean Stott became one of the very first army members to join the SBS (Special Boat Service). Throughout his esteemed military career, he has conducted deployments to overseas hostile environments and been involved in counter-terrorism operations; he has travelled to some of the most dangerous places in the world.
Stott left the military in 2011, after 16 honorable years of service, and continues to live by the Special Forces’ ethos of “the unrelenting pursuit of excellence.” The determination required throughout his career has become an integral part of Stott’s character. Post-military, Stott established a distinguished career in the private security sector. He was renowned for his willingness to take on any job, no matter how challenging – a man who went where and when others wouldn’t. He has faced extortions, kidnappings, civil war, pirates, military coups and has rescued thousands of people form war-torn countries including being single-handedly responsible for the evacuation of the Canadian embassy in 2014 – rescuing four diplomats and 18 military personnel.
In 2016, Stott was ready for a new project and wanted to do something impactful that would help others. He began training to cycle the longest motorable road in the world – The Pan American Highway. Stott completed the 14,000-mile route from Argentina to Alaska in May 2018, achieving two world records and raising more than $1.4 million US dollars for mental health awareness charities in the process. Stott passed through 14 countries on his expedition, crossing some of the most dangerous passages in the world. In the final stretch, Stott continued for 17 hours and, driven by his determination, covered 340 miles on his longest day.
Stott is now a renowned international speaker, presenting to FTSE 100 companies, sporting bodies, military departments, schools, and businesses.
His recently released book, Relentless, shares his extraordinary, inspirational life story to date. From his courageous military service and record-setting cycling adventures, to his rescue missions and friendship with Prince Harry, the book takes a candid and honest look at the life perspective and shared stories of a real-life “James Bond.”
Stott firmly believes, with the right mindset and plan, nothing you truly desire is out of reach. To him, “impossible” simply means, it hasn’t been done…..yet.
- Leadership
- Overcoming adversity
- Teamwork
- Mindset
- Discipline
- Challenges
- Reacting to situation change
- Crisis management
- Unrelenting pursuit of excellence
- Goal setting
Unrelenting Pursuit of Excellence: Dean’s life story from childhood to present day covering military, parachuting accident, security industry experiences including evacuations to world-record bike ride.
High Performance Teams: Selecting a high-performing team, mindset, diversity, and the relativity between high-performing teams and differences.
Who to Help Today: Giving back to society from everyday opportunities to those featured on the world stage.
Kurt Hoffman, COO JR286
We had the opportunity to have Dean speak to one of our businesses that was nearing the end of a major transformation. His story of resilience, courage, perseverance and his ability to adapt, iterate and succeed was both motivational and inspirational. Dean’s philosophy around how to approach complicated and challenging issues and how to manage oneself, a team, and external pressures was spot on for where we were as an organization.
Joe Fattorini (The Wine Show)
Listening to Dean makes you realise the potential within us all. His story is extraordinary – and he tells it brilliantly. But he’s also a record-breaker, athlete and warrior with a sense of humour. And a humility that sends you away wondering just what you could achieve, too. I wish I could have a talk from Dean every day when I wake up.
Simon Hopes (COO Coutts Bank)
The Relentless Pursuit of Excellence is a strapline that resonated for obvious reasons and whatever field you happen to be in, that should be the goal for any business. Dean has a fascinating and entertaining story that has some very simple and clear messages about how to plan and execute an objective and exceed one’s expectations. I’d recommend anyone to listen to his story and am sure it will entertain and inform everyone, irrespective of gender, ethnicity and disability.
Sam Fitzgibbons (St James’s Place Wealth Management)
Dean is an incredibly engaging, inspiring and thought provoking speaker with a modest approach that leaves the whole room reflecting on their own capability and opportunity to do great things and take action. Many speakers tell a story but Dean inspires action and helps to break down the barriers of our own perceptions and self-belief. I have spent time with Dean in both corporate speaking environments and hosted dinners, both different in approach but equally compelling, thought provoking and fun to be a part of, Fantastic feedback received from all of our guests. I would recommend Dean for corporate events, dinner speaking and team building opportunities! A true inspiration and genuinely top bloke.
Thomson Reuters
Thank you so much for taking time out of your VERY busy schedules of making the world better for us all, to speak with us at our conference! Your presentations were so real, transparent and equally as inspiring. I think we will all go out and do something to make ourselves, our family, or the world a little bit better! You were both magnificent. (Joint speaking engagement with Dean and Alana Stott)
Jeff Buchbinder, Tri Source
Just a short note of appreciation to you and Dean for helping make our Sell ’23 Retreat a huge success! Dean’s story-telling was outstanding, and his themes clearly reinforced the pillars of our meeting: Communication, Teamwork & Trust. Even more than that, his humility and ability to connect with everyone on the team – regardless of position – really set him apart from other speakers. He was incredibly gracious with his time and left our team feeling truly inspired and smarter for having listened to him. We are a week out from the event, and teammates are still quoting Dean! Working with Dean and his team was very simple, and I would recommend him to anyone looking for a unique speaker that can engage and inspire the team to achieve MORE…. I plan on working with Dean in the future; as his charitable efforts align very well with ours. Thank you for introducing us to a great speaker and a great person.