Paul Epstein

The Power of Playing Offense in Defensive Environments: How to Lead with Courage while Navigating Uncertainty

Global upheaval, unrelenting change, and economic uncertainty have us all playing defense.

The result: confidence gaps that drive defensive mindsets and actions at organizations all over the world. But what if you had a playbook for playing offense — CONFIDENTLY pursuing and achieving meaningful goals and breakthrough performance — while everyone else is sheltering in place?

This is exactly what Paul delivers in this flagship keynote inspired by 15 years of leading teams in the NFL/NBA and his bestselling book, The Power of Playing Offense: a Leaders Playbook for Personal and Team Transformation.

Every audience member will walk away with a 5-pillar Playing Offense framework, curated for universal insights and actionable takeaways to implement in any industry or organization.

Keynote Outcomes:

• Identify the keys to attracting, engaging, and retaining talent with confidence
• Inspire your team to leverage purpose as a driver of commitment and performance
• Learn to build an environment of intrinsic motivation, no carrots or sticks are required
• Cultivate a culture of grit and resilience to endure any climate
• Understand the best and ‘next practices’ of trust building, empathy, and belonging
• Know what the greatest leaders do, and how to scale these behaviors across organizations

How to Make Better Decisions Faster: Unshakable Confidence When You Need it Most

Even the most elite performers can rush to bad judgements, become paralyzed by indecision, or get worn down by decision fatigue.

In this keynote, Paul reveals the streamlined three-step process he’s used to turn around major sports franchises — from the locker room to the boardroom. Avoid decision traps, move forward clear and CONFIDENT, and make the best out of your MVDs: Most Valuable Decisions.

Discover the secrets to always making the right call when it comes to:

• Picking Strategy A or Strategy B
• Choosing who (and when) to hire, fire, or promote
• Deciding whether to spend your time on X, Y, or Z
• Moving forward with a deal or hitting the eject button

The secret? The Head-Heart-Hands equation: a simple and repeatable process that taps into the power of our three most basic human tools for making better decisions faster.

Keynote Outcomes:

• Flip fear and uncertainty into clarity and confidence
• Empower leaders and talent to become highly decisive, aware, and intentional in their actions
• Acquire an operating framework designed for speed, efficiency, and winning time back
• Learn a simple, holistic method to promote personal and professional well-being
• Build high-trust teams through heightened authenticity and collaboration
• Leave with a playbook where everybody knows what to say “yes” to and what to say “no” to

Purpose in Action: Scaling Championship Culture

Every company has a purpose. The challenge is not in identifying it, it’s in bringing it to life…through daily action, that scales. This keynote exists to ensure that your team’s collective and individual purpose is the cultural foundation of everything you do. It represents who you are, what you stand for, and how you show up—all in one.

Once optimized for action, purpose can be the strongest unifier we have, a 365 driver of performance and engagement, a magnet for recruiting, the glue of retention, the soul of leadership, and the DNA of WHY we do what we do. Ultimately, it’s how we scale championship culture – with CONFIDENCE.

Paul is an expert at putting purpose in action, once known as the “WHY Coach” of the San Francisco 49ers and now senior advisor for the WHY Institute, he became fixated on not allowing a WHY or purpose to stay a distant North Star. Instead, he got obsessed with applying it on Monday morning, one decision and action at a time.

He’s since been training these principles to organizations worldwide, all in the spirit of WINNING MONDAY with purpose, on purpose.

Keynote Outcomes:

• From organizational to individual purpose, learn how to align and connect both
• Hear the latest research on the ROI of Purpose and how it ties to confidence and performance
• Engage with activities to apply purpose to daily decisions, behaviors, and actions
• Understand how to scale purpose across teams, organizations, and micro-cultures
• Learn how purpose can elevate the mental, social, and emotional wellbeing of your team
• Leave with the habits and rituals required to make purpose in action “stick”