home/speakers/details

Dr. Mark DeVolder


The Change Specialist


About Dr. Mark DeVolder

Mark DeVolder distinguishes himself as a change management specialist and is one of today’s original thinkers and motivators on transitions. Often in the spotlight for high profile transitions, Mark offered guidance for the ending of the NASA Space Shuttle Program, helped Colombian business leaders adapt to the NAFTA Free Trade Agreement and has coached industry leaders in mergers and acquisitions, some as large as $50 billion dollars.

He is a change management and employee engagement specialist with over 19 years of experience in education and research.  His doctoral studies focused on the issues of unity, diversity and synergy. With this experience he brings extensive knowledge and understanding about human characteristics to each highly customised presentation, backed up by impressive business acumen.

Mark reveals why many change initiatives fail to achieve their stated goals. With straight-forward strategies and convincing business examples, he shows leaders how to drive results to improve the bottom line. As an internationally acclaimed speaker, Mark has received the Top 5 Speaker Award in Business Management, Top 10 Speakers in Change Management and the Top 25 Speakers Award three years running.

He is the author of “Get Engaged! A Practical Guide for Improving Employee Engagement” and “Unity in Diversity Through Synergy.”

To him, adaptability, innovation and resilience are essential to success in a world of exponential change. As such, he‘s dedicated his career to equipping and motivating leaders to harness the hurricane of change.

A globally recognised speaker on change, innovation, engagement and resilience, Mark engages audiences the moment he steps on stage. His cutting edge content, valuable take-aways, and entertaining audience interaction, are all illustrated by unstoppable humour and memorable stories. People leave with tools and a template to re-energize, re-engage and transform their workplace and life.

Mark’s mission and passion is to help people and organizations adapt boldly, nimbly and quickly in the midst of exponential change.

Keynotes and Speaking Topics

  • Harness the Hurricane:  Adapting Faster to Extreme Change.  
    Change is constant, unpredictable and accelerating. Extreme change can – much like a hurricane – leave you dizzy, dazed and disoriented, as though the earth is moving under your feet. Even if you survive the storm, you know more is coming.  Change expert Dr. Mark DeVolder throws a lifeline to you and your team with tools and strategies he’s developed to clear away the fog. 
    During Mark’s high-octane presentation, you will learn how to:
    -overcome change-paralysis and get mobilized through transitions
    -develop change-ready thinking and behaviours
    -overcome decision-quicksand, making smart-decisions, faster
    -repeat the cycle of success with the unstoppable power of resilience

  • On Fire! Energized Together, Everyone, Every Day
    We live in a VUCA world: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. It’s not surprising that leaders who survive, thrive and deliver in business today have one trait in common; they are resilient. But resilience is not just for a few; it can be learned.  Mark shares how to rewire your brain and increase neuroplasticity to spring through adversity, overcome obstacles and reinvent yourself. He reveals success strategies that enable you to adapt boldly, nimbly and quickly in midst of constant change.   Recharge your team with Mark DeVolder’s industry-tested program. Get your employees and organization on fire.
     Mark shows leaders how to:
    -identify behaviors to increase engagement
    -re-ignite employee’s passion for teamwork, communication and innovation
    -build a culture of trust, loyalty and appreciation
    -accelerate performance and productivity

  • Unstoppable Resilience:  Developing the Mindset of a Champion 
    Why doesn’t the fastest runner always win the race? Or why doesn’t the smartest person always get the best job? Because it’s not always the ones who “start out the smartest who end up smartest.” (Dweck) It takes more than natural speed, intelligence or ability to be a champion. It takes resilience. But resilience is not just for the elite with an Olympic gold around their neck. Resilience can be learned.  Mark shows leaders how to increase their grit, passion and purpose by developing the mindset of a champion. Mark’s best practices will help you cultivate determination, increase resilience and conquer adversity.
    You will learn powerful lessons to help you:
    -create a winning mindset of self-belief and unlimited potential
    -increase innovation and creativity through constructive nonconformity
    -expand tenacity and decision-making responsiveness
    -develop perseverance, positive attitudes and unstoppable resilience

  • “Target Zero:  Engaging e High-Performance Safety”  
    Hazards and obstacles abound in the fast and frenzied pace of business today. In the rush to stay competitive, people are increasingly tempted to take short cuts and sacrifice safety. The most common barrier, however, is actually change itself. Some employees feel paralyzed by change, and when they feel paralyzed, they disengage. Without the ability or capacity to change, accidents can happen.  Empower your employees to achieve “target zero.”
    During Mark’s high-performance presentation, you will learn how to:  
    -get change-right and change-ready
     -defy change paralysis through Mark’s mobilized for safety approach
    -significantly reduce risk of accidents and liability
    -identify behaviours that enhance engagement
     -implement strategies to increase productivity, motivation and safety

Awards and Designations

  • In 2010, Mark received the prestigious Top 5 Speaker award USA in Change Management

Client Reviews

  • “Mark was inspiring and kept the audience charged!” – PriceWaterhouseCoopers
  • “You delivered an outstanding presentation and greatly impressed the audience.” – Insurance Executives’ Conference in Jamaica, MDRT related group
  • “Dr. DeVolder’s presentation was so timely, informative and well delivered!” – AIG Financial Group
  • “Mark’s efforts to customize his material to our audience were appreciated and proved very successful!” IBM
  • “It’s rare that a professional speaker can hold the attention of a crowd and bring people to their feet and Mark you did just that!” – Sales & Marketing Associated Grocers
  • “Mark DeVolder receives my highest praise!” – Royal Mounted Canadian Police, Headquarters
  • “Thank you again for an engaging, entertaining, empowering presentation. I believe we all left with a better grip on our own humanity and tools to soar higher.” – Spaceport Operations, Space Florida