“The Association of Sporting Directors provides support to leaders in elite professional football and during the pandemic sought to continue our service through high quality conversations with leaders in sport, business and the industry. We were delighted to welcome Steve to our group of leaders to discuss crisis management. Steve provided a highly fascinating insight into this experience, making clear threads from his deeply rich, personal, stories which captivated members, through to tangible strategic and operational considerations, which captured our members imagination.
The conversation prompted deep reflection amongst members, and we would highly recommend Steve as someone who can work with, engage, inform and inspire individuals and teams.”
Dr Dan Parnell – CEO of the Association of Sporting Directors and Senior Lecturer in Sport Business at the University of Liverpool
“I first heard Steve speak at a wealth for life event. I can’t remember the last time I heard such an engaging speaker. His content was relevant for my business. We then asked Steve to host a conference call for our clients in the lockdown.
We had not seen such positive feedback from our clients. The subject matter was Steve’s story. As you can imagine lockdown seemed like a walk in the park compared to Steve’s experiences.
If you are looking to make a serious impact and have an on message talk, I would without doubt recommend Steve.”
Gary Hans – Principal AMG Wealth Management
“As a leadership team currently going through a huge phase of change and development we can’t recommend Leadership Training with Steve Heaney MC highly enough. As a group of 5 we are all at different stages of our management and leadership journeys and the work we did with Steve managed to resonate with all of us in different ways, regardless of where we are on that journey.
Each session was focused and incredibly insightful with some key skills and points really hitting home and highlighting areas for us to focus on, and how to do that effectively to drive the outcome we wanted and needed. We have implemented some of our learnings into our daily business activities, and we are already reaping the rewards and working as a much more focused, effective and cohesive leadership team.
In our opinion there isn’t a team out there that wouldn’t benefit in some way, great or small, from Steve’s training as no one is the finished article and we are very grateful for our time with him. We hope to work with him again in the near future.”
Amanda Woodward – Head of Customer Experience Right Legal Group
“Over the years, I have had the privilege of listening to many great speakers and Steve Heaney MC is one of the very best. His attention to detail, coupled with his excellent preparation, lead to an articulate presentation and I have no hesitation whatsoever, in recommending him as a speaker.”
Andrew Dobson – CEO/Founder Wealth for Life Partnership
“I asked Steve to deliver a keynote speech and leadership/team management presentation to 60 Health Club managers and the 3d Leisure operational team. He managed to combine his sensational account of his experience in Sierra Leone with a key focus on leadership that left the room spellbound. Steve had clearly researched our company diligently as his masterful delivery managed to combine a detailed insight into managing individuals and teams from a very different background and linking brilliantly to his audience. The positive feedback we received was exceptional. I am delighted to endorse Steve and would highly recommend him.”
Mark Castle – Regional Manager 3d Leisure
“Fantastic course – clear, concise, plenty of humility. A lifetime of lessons and principles, all delivered in an easily understood way. The course was thought-provoking with powerful examples of leadership. The authenticity and storytelling was excellent and the practical information/insight so valuable around the importance of decision making and planning, whether you are an experienced business person/team or just looking to boost your teams leadership skills I would highly recommend attending Steve’s courses. All 12 delegates have asked when Steve will be back !!”
Sean Evers – Vice President Accountants Channel Sage UK
“Steve has actively engaged with the objectives of the programme and integrated some excellent skills into a series of bespoke sessions to players and staff. The expertise and experiences Steve has accumulated are easily transferrable to the sporting environment and serve as a great tool to support the coaching and education programme.”
Kristjaan Speakman – Academy Manager Birmingham City FC
“Steve Heaney MC has the ability to captivate an audience with anecdotes from his military life, whilst relating his experience back to the business world. I asked Steve to deliver a two-day course to our Sales and Product Management Teams, covering Change, Leadership, Virtual Teams and Motivation. Sessions included video, slide presentations, military examples and group activities. The course material was very well prepared and the delivery was superb. The attendees all gave very positive feedback as they left the sessions with a new perspective on the key components of success, whilst feeling highly motivated. I would certainly recommend Steve Heaney to any organisation seeking unique, interesting and productive ways to motivate and develop teams.”
Jason Wheelhouse – Associate Director of Sales Open GI
“The Operation Mayhem event was a truly humbling insight into the limits to which the Armed Forces will push themselves to ensure the protection of others. To have such an experienced, respected and informative soldier as speaker was fantastic.
Steve Heaney MC spoke with great passion and pride for his soldiers, the British Armed Forces and the people of Lungi Lol village in Sierra Leone whose lives were owed to the courageous actions of the Pathfinders. If you are looking to motivate employees, encourage people to think beyond their perceived limits or gain an insight into the minds of individuals under extreme pressure and facing overwhelming odds, I suggest you look no further.”
James Geldart – Head of Tier 1 Private, Select and Personal Banking Santander
“Steve Heaney MC spoke with exemplary clarity of his experiences on Operation Palliser in 2000, during which he led the Parachute Regiment’s elite Pathfinders in an operation that effectively stopped the advance of the rebels force on Freetown, Sierra Leone and materially helped the stabilization of that country. It is an amazing story beautifully set out in his book ‘Operation Mayhem’, which should be mandatory reading for all who aspire to lead in the British Army. What he does not mention is that it is extremely rare for an NCO to plan and lead an operation. That he did so and was subsequently awarded the Military Cross is testimony to both his intellect and his leadership.
Steve speaks incredibly well, with great humour and his answering of questions is equally clear and diplomatic. If you want, or need an example of a born leader who can inspire people from all backgrounds and ages, Steve Heaney MC is that man.”
Brigadier Bruce Willing CBE – Chairman, ABF The Soldiers Charity, Jersey
“Steve worked with us as part of our ‘Leadership Seminar’, our annual conference involving the board of directors and senior management team. His insight to leadership and motivation was a real eye opener. Some of his real-life experiences around team management during his time in the military were captivating and I would recommend Steve for any event involving high performance management teams.”
Stuart Whalley – Operations Director Fresh Insurance Group
“Steve Heaney MC has led an extraordinary life, meeting adventure, hardship and danger head-on. He has a refreshingly down-to-earth perspective and is hugely modest. A great natural leader with tremendous enthusiasm, very culturally savvy with a keen sense of humour. Steve inspires absolutely – passionate, credible and energetic with an amazing tale to tell.”
Lieutenant Colonel Nigel D. S. Smith – Infantry Advisor to the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces
“I have known Steve Heaney MC for 16 years; he had a significant impact on my early years in the Parachute Regiment and Pathfinder Platoon and is one of four mentors that I hold with deep respect. He always produced excellent performances and had excellent diligence, his work ethic was always immense, and this reflected in how he built his team around him…sleepers had no place.
Totally reliable, and very comfortable working within Commanders ‘intent’…he always understood the bigger picture both operationally and institutionally. It is the latter that marks him out from the rest. It proves he is no one-trick pony…
He is an extremely impressive man, a team player, he has high levels of effective intelligence, he is calm, and he is great fun.”
Lieutenant Colonel Grant Harris MBE DSO
