Met Bloovi naar Simon Sinek in Amsterdam

“The primary ingredient for progress is optimism. The unwavering belief that something can be better drives the human race forward.”

• TED Talk Start with Why (60+ million views) and interview on millennials (100+ million views)
• Author Start with Why, Leaders Eat Last & The Infinite Game
• Podcast A Bit of Optimism

Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect”, Simon Sinek is an unshakable optimist who believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. He envisions a world where the vast majority of people wake up every single morning feeling inspired, safe, and fulfilled by the work they do.

A trained ethnographer, Sinek is fascinated by the people and organizations that make the greatest and longest lasting impact. Over the years, he has discovered some remarkable patterns about how they think, act, and communicate, and also the environments in which people operate at their best.

Sinek may be best known for his TED Talk on the concept of “WHY”, which has been viewed over 60 million times, and his video on millennials in the workplace — which reached 80 million views in its first week and has gone on to be seen hundreds of millions of times.

Sinek’s unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention, and he has met with a broad array of leaders and organizations in nearly every industry. He frequently works with different branches of the US Armed Forces and agencies of the US government, and is an adjunct staff member with the RAND Corporation — one of the most highly regarded think tanks in the world.

Sinek is the author of several bestselling books, including the global bestseller Start with Why and New York Times bestsellers, Leaders Eat Last and The Infinite Game. In partnership with Penguin Random House, Sinek publishes works by other inspiring thinkers and doers through his imprint, Optimism Press. He is also the host of the podcast, A Bit of Optimism, and the founder of The Optimism Company, a leadership learning and development agency.

In addition, Sinek is active in the arts and with not-for-profit work, or what he likes to call the for-impact sector. In 2021, he founded The Curve, a diverse group of forward-thinking chiefs and sheriffs committed to reforming modern policing from the inside-out. Their purpose is to build a profession dedicated to protecting the vulnerable from harm while advancing a vision of a world in which all people feel justice is administered with dignity, equity, and fairness.

Simon Sinek in quotes:

“Good leaders share the credit when things go well and take responsibility when things go badly.”

“Vision is the ability to talk about the future with such clarity, it is as if we are talking about the past.”

“Don’t show up to prove. Show up to improve.”

“If no one ever broke the rules, then we’d never advance.”

“It’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than to think yourself into a new way of acting.”

• Global bestselling author of The Happiness Equation and Two-Minute Mornings with over 2 million copies sold
• Former Director of Leadership Development at Walmart
• One of the 10 Most Inspiring TED Speakers of all time

Neil Pasricha is a top-rated leadership keynote speaker, bestselling author, and positive psychology researcher focused on the relationship between happiness and leadership in business.

Neil is one of the most popular TED speakers. His first TED Talk The 3 A’s of Awesome ranked as one of the ten most inspiring of all time. His second TED Talk How will you maximize your tiny, short life? was the world’s first ever TED Listen, composed entirely of questions.

Neil gave the most attended feature keynote at SXSW 2019 called Building trust in distrustful times.

Neil has written five global bestsellers including: The Book of Awesome, Awesome Is Everywhere and The Happiness Equation. His books have been on bestseller lists for over 200 weeks and sold millions of copies.

Before leading The Institute for Global Happiness and keynote speaking, Neil spent a decade running Leadership Development and working directly for two CEOs at Walmart, the world’s largest company. He was responsible for CEO onboarding, executive development, and talent management across all levels of the organization.

Audience testimonials

“Neil is a rock star! He visited the Googleplex and you could hear a pin drop while he was speaking. Many people commented that he was the best speaker we have had!”
~ Rachel O’Meara, Google

“Neil Pasricha was the highlight of the day. From my perspective, the highlight of the year at Microsoft! What a genuine, authentic, inspiring person. He connected with the audience and made our themes come to life in the best possible way.”
~ Rekha Rao-Mayya, Microsoft

“It is rare to find a speaker that can ignite such passion and unify the audience on a common theme that transcends generation and function. Please keep writing books. Yours changed my life.”
~ Britta Lesaux, 3M

“We all LOVED Neil’s keynote and received amazing feedback from our clients. His presentation earned a 4.9/5!!”
~ Sonia Bell, Indeed

“Neil joined the Audi Executive Team his lessons were the highlight of the show, engaging and invigorating the audience. He is always on point, thought-provoking, and receives near-perfect ratings. Listen to him!”
~ Peter Donnellan, Audi

“Before Neil came to Uber we had seen his TED Talk, Google Talk, and some had read his books so our expectations were already pretty high. But he exceeded them! A life-changing talk. Thank you, Neil!”
~ Kristy Bates, Uber

“The strength of a society is measured not by the wealth of its most affluent members, but by how well its most vulnerable citizens are able to cope. The question we need to ask is whether everyone has the chance to lead a life of dignity.”

• Former Prima Minster of Finland
• Youngest Prime Minister of the world (at 34)
• Finland’s leader during Covid, start of the war with Ukraine and Finland’s NATO accession

Sanna Marin is the Former Prime Minister of Finland (2019-2023) and the leader of the Finnish Social Democratic Party. Appointed at the age of 34, Marin served as the youngest Prime Minister of the world when taking office.

Marin’s government has been considered one of the most successful in handling the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in terms of lost lives and economical damage caused by the pandemic. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Marin led her country through the most swift NATO accession process in the whole history of the alliance.

Marin made history as the longest-serving woman Prime Minister of Finland, leading a parliamentary coalition entirely headed by women and a majority-women cabinet.

In addition to the historical challenges during her leadership Marin’s government passed many progressive reforms in Finland. Including world’s most ambitious climate laws aiming for carbon neutrality by 2035, family leave reform sharing paid leave with both parents equally. As well as major reforms improving healthcare, education and human rights.

Audience testimonials

“Her session was ranked the highest out of the entire agenda.”
~ Cherry Ventures Management

“Sanna Marin was a wise and good decision. Full house, great content, amazing feedback, a lot of selfies with attendees after her slot... 100% recommended.”
~ Cloudfest

“Sanna Marin was very accessible and kind to everyone she interacted with. She is a powerful speaker, and she made a fantastic impression on our guests. She is exactly what she projects: an excellent human being.”
~ Candriam

BLOCK 1: The Optimistic Future

BLOCK 2: The Optimism Mindset

BLOCK 3: The practice of Optimistic Leadership