When pressure rises, most teams fall apart.
The best ones don’t.

Claire Hayek

TEDx Speaker | NeuroLeadership Expert | Author

Pressure breaks leadership and team performance. I design the systems that prevent it.

Claire Hayek

Main Stage Speaker | NeuroLeadership Expert | Author

Helping bold leaders own their voice, master their mind, and elevate their teams — without burnout.

ABOUT CLAIRE

Leadership isn’t taught. It’s designed.
And tested under pressure.

Pressure is where leadership and team performance break. Decision-making slows. Communication fractures. Execution fragments.

My work focuses on preventing that breakdown.

I design leadership and team performance systems for environments where leaders are expected to think clearly, speak with authority, and lead through complexity without hesitation or burnout. The work is structural. It addresses how decisions are made, how conversations move forward, and how execution holds when the stakes are high.

For more than 20 years, I’ve worked at the intersection of neuroscience, leadership, and organizational performance, examining how pressure reliably distorts judgment, erodes trust, and disrupts follow-through. Not through motivation or theory, but through applied systems that stabilize clarity, decision flow, and accountability in real-world conditions.

My background spans engineering, neuroscience, and creative disciplines. That combination allows me to see leadership as both architecture and behavior. How the brain responds under load. How people actually act when pressure is real. And where systems must change to prevent failure.

I’m a certified neuroscience professional and award-winning entrepreneur, recognized by organizations including Cisco, WBE Canada, BASA, and CCICL for leadership, innovation, and impact. My work has been featured in International Business Times and other publications, and I bring these frameworks to executive teams through keynote stages, advisory work, and The NeuroLeadership Edge Podcast.

At the core of everything I design is one belief:

Leaders don’t need more information.

They need systems built for pressure.

That’s how decisions stay clear.

That’s how execution holds.

And that’s how leadership performs when it matters most.

Real Leaders. Real Results.

"Opened up our team"

"Claire helped us break some barriers and open up and share as a team....We're very thankful for her work, it was a pleasure!"

- Chief Jordan Spinks

Kanaka Bar Indian Band

"We finally connected"

"We had the pleasure of working with Claire. We had engagement when it has been a struggle before and the entire team started conversing. Weaving in neuroscience-based tools and increasing self-awareness helped strengthen relationships between our staff"

- Chelsea Norheim, Vice-President

Norheim Ranching

"Laid the foundation we needed"

"Claire was absolutely amazing, very engaging, and wonderful at guiding the team through a lot of thought provoking activities and questions that, helped us to break the ice and to establish a foundation of safe communication, for us to build upon in the future."

Candice Madalena

Co-Founder & Head of Operations

DCx Biotherapeutics

"Believed in me when I couldn’t"

"Many people can say “you’re great, you’ll do well.” Claire actually makes you believe it. Claire is one of those inspiring people who gives her time selflessly. She played a big role in helping me reignite my career. The biggest impact she had during this transition was through her encouragement. Boosting my self-confidence and helping me realize my worth as a professional with genuine enthusiasm."

- Adi Wang, Leader

"Brilliant, strategic, and innovative"

"Claire has consistently demonstrated an acute ability to think innovatively. She has an excellent ability to understand complex issues from different perspectives and propose integrated solutions. She combines a set of unique competences, ranging from engineering, excellent knowledge of operations, innovation, strategy, and sustainability."

- Alain Pinsonneault

Professor at McGill University

"Helped me find my voice"

"Working with Claire Hayek has been instrumental in my pivot from legal marketing to women's advocacy writing in just three coaching sessions. Moreover, Claire's insights helped me identify and overcome limiting beliefs that were holding me back. Her expertise and support were invaluable in finding my brand identity and adding significant value to both my personal and professional growth. I highly recommend Claire to anyone looking to take their business to the next level."

- Tatjana Fuhr

Founder at Novella-Writing for Change

"Stepped out of our comfort zone"

"I loved Claire's leadership, the fact that she prioritized the team collaboration and encouraged us to step out of our comfort zone, it was simply perfect."

- Michèle Boucher, CEO

Créapub

"Shifted the Room"

"The (Mastering Team Dynamics and Mental Fitness Training) content was great and Claire was able to get the team engaged via a Zoom call, which is always a challenge. I think people were a bit hesitant at first, but eventually opened up to the program and bought in."

- Kelsey McKay

Corteva Agriscience

"Showed us we’re limitless"

"Claire is a very articulate speaker who brings her own story to life so that we can see within ourselves the possibilities that exist to challenge the norm, grow, let go of our limiting beliefs and be our ultimate potential. Her message was testing the boundaries of being more than a "double agent" in our own life so that we can bring forward our passion and hidden talents fully! Thank you Claire for broadening my perspective and allowing us to be limitless."

- Francis Piché

Corporate Trusted Advisor