Anna Hemmings MBE, OLY
Senior leaders are running at full capacity in conditions that no longer slow down. Pressure is constant, recovery windows have collapsed, and the people around them are watching how they hold up. Resilience has become a leadership capability, not a personal trait, and most organisations have no language for training it.
Anna Hemmings is a six-time world champion kayaker and Olympian who works with senior leaders on resilience, composure under pressure, and the disciplines that produce sustained high performance.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Anna Hemmings
- A first-hand performance record with operating substance behind it. Six world titles, two Olympic Games, and twelve years running her own consultancy with named global clients.
- A direct, evidence-based take on resilience as a trainable capability. Her recovery from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and return to win three further world titles is the case study, not the headline.
- Accredited delivery on team performance through the Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team model, used in workshop and team-development formats, not just keynote.
- Material that translates to senior leadership audiences. Beyond the Barriers has worked with leadership teams at IBM, Unilever, Novartis, Roche, Deloitte, British Airways, and NatWest.
Biography highlights
- Six-time Marathon Kayak World Champion, K-1 and K-2 disciplines, 1999 to 2007.
- Two-time Olympian for Great Britain: Sydney 2000 (K-1 500m), Beijing 2008 (K-2 500m).
- MBE, 2010 New Year Honours, for services to sport.
- Sunday Times Sports Woman of the Year, Champions Award (2005).
- Founder and Managing Director, Beyond the Barriers, a high-performance training consultancy.
- Accredited trainer in the Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team model.
Biography
Britain’s most successful female marathon kayaker spent more than a decade winning at the top of an endurance sport, and then spent the following decade translating what she learned into work with senior leadership teams. The athletic record is six world titles between 1999 and 2007 and two Olympic Games. The second decade is the operating substance behind her speaking work.
The pivot point in her story is medical. At the peak of her career Anna Hemmings was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and told racing was unlikely to return. She came back to win three further world titles and qualify for Beijing 2008. That recovery is the working material she uses with leaders, not as inspiration but as a worked example of resilience as a set of repeatable practices.
Through her consultancy, Beyond the Barriers, she works with senior leaders and teams at organisations including IBM, Unilever, Novartis, Roche, Deloitte, British Airways and NatWest. She is an accredited High Performance and Leadership Coach and an accredited trainer in the Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team model. Her sessions move beyond keynote into masterclass and longer-form team development.
What separates her from the standard athlete-speaker is the consultancy work. She is not narrating a sporting career to an audience of executives, she is bringing twelve years of applied practice with leadership teams to bear on a specific organisational question: how senior people hold their performance and judgement when the load does not let up.
Key speaking topics
- Resilience as a leadership capability
- Performance under sustained pressure
- High-performing team development
- Mindset and recovery in high-stakes environments
- Confidence and composure in senior roles
- Sustained excellence and the disciplines behind it
Ideal for
- C-suite and executive leadership teams managing prolonged operational pressure
- Senior leaders moving into bigger remits where composure becomes a visible variable
- Sales and commercial leadership audiences operating in high-stakes deal cycles
- HR and L&D programmes building resilience and team performance into leadership development
Audience outcomes
- A working definition of resilience that goes beyond willpower, with practices that can be used immediately
- A clearer view of how senior leaders maintain judgement and composure under sustained load
- Specific behaviours for building trust and accountability inside leadership teams
- A first-hand account of recovery and return to elite performance, used as worked content rather than story
- Language for talking about performance under pressure with their own teams
Talks
A working talk on the practices behind sustained elite performance, translated for senior leaders.
Key takeaways:
- The disciplines that produce repeatable performance, not one-off results
- How elite athletes prepare mentally for high-stakes moments
- Where these practices apply directly inside leadership work
A worked account of recovery from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and return to world-title form, used as a case study in resilience as a trainable capability.
Key takeaways:
- Resilience as a set of practices, not a personal trait
- Specific recovery and refocus disciplines used at elite level
- How leaders can apply the same approach when conditions do not let up
A session on the behaviours that hold high-performing teams together under pressure, drawing on the Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team model.
Key takeaways:
- The behaviours that distinguish high-performing leadership teams
- How trust and accountability operate in practice, not theory
- Where teams typically lose performance and how to rebuild it
A practical session for senior leaders on holding performance, judgement and composure under sustained operational load.
Key takeaways:
- A leader’s working repertoire for sustained pressure
- Practices for recovery and refocus inside the working week
- How resilience shows up in the team around the leader, not just the leader
Videos
Testimonials
Anna Hemmings MBE, OLY's Articles
Fees
| EUR | GBP | USD | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home Country | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| Asia Pacific | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| Europe | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| Middle East & Africa | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| South America | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| United Kingdom | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |
| US East Coast | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| US West Coast | €12000 to €40000 | £10,001 - £35,000 | $15000 - $50000 |
| Virtual | Under €12000 | Under £10,000 | Under $15000 |