Rasmus Ankersen inspires leaders to build and sustain peak performance by eliminating complacency and investing in high-performance cultures.
5.00 of 5
Top rated!5 of 5
The business world owes Rasmus much gratitude for his facts based, in depth studies of what it truly takes to be, identify and build talent”
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp,
CEO and President, The LEGO Group
Keynote speaker Rasmus Ankersen is a trusted advisor to businesses and athletes worldwide. Known for his sharp insights into performance development, he helps organizations understand what it truly takes to achieve and maintain peak performance over time. Rasmus focuses on optimism, commitment, and deliberate investment in people, while addressing the hidden dangers that arise once success has been achieved. His keynotes provide clear perspectives on the phases before, during, and after success, offering leaders concrete steps to build cultures that continue to perform at the highest level.
Rasmus Ankersen has built his career around one central question: why do some individuals, teams, and organizations continue to outperform long after success should have made them comfortable? As a keynote speaker, Rasmus Ankersen explores how peak performance is not a moment, but a discipline. He challenges organizations to rethink their assumptions about talent, motivation, and winning, and instead focus on the systems and behaviors that sustain excellence over time.
Drawing from years of research across elite sport and global business, Rasmus shows how high-performance cultures are intentionally built. His keynotes are grounded in real-world examples and practical insights that leaders and employees can apply immediately within their own organizations.
When you book Rasmus Ankersen for your event, you gain a speaker who combines credibility, clarity, and relevance. He is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and performance development speaker who has advised organizations across industries. His experience allows him to translate complex research into compelling stories and clear strategies that resonate with executives, leaders, and teams alike.
Rasmus has been commissioned to share his insights on high-performance cultures by global brands such as LEGO, Google, Facebook, Boston Consulting Group, IKEA, Hitachi, Roche, Ernst & Young, and many others. This diverse portfolio ensures that his keynote content is adaptable and relevant, whether the audience comes from corporate leadership, innovation, or talent development.
Beyond the business world, Rasmus Ankersen holds key leadership roles within professional football. He is Chairman of FC Midtjylland, former champions of the Danish Football League, and Co-Director of Football at Brentford FC. Both clubs are widely recognized as some of Europe’s most innovative football organizations, particularly for their use of data-driven decision-making.
In his keynotes, Rasmus uses these environments to illustrate how clarity of purpose, evidence-based decisions, and cultural alignment create competitive advantages. He demonstrates how lessons from elite sport can be directly transferred to organizations seeking sustainable performance and continuous improvement.
A central theme in Rasmus Ankersen’s work is the danger of complacency. In his book Hunger in Paradise, he explores how successful organizations risk losing their edge once they reach the top. His keynotes build on this idea, helping leaders identify early warning signs of comfort and stagnation before performance declines.
Rasmus outlines how organizations can maintain hunger by setting the right incentives, measuring the right behaviors, and fostering an environment where curiosity and accountability thrive. His insights are particularly relevant for organizations that are already successful but want to ensure they remain so in the long term.
Earlier in his career, Rasmus published The Gold Mine Effect, a book that examines why certain countries and cities consistently produce top talent. This research underpins much of his keynote content, emphasizing that success is rarely accidental. Instead, it is the result of deliberate choices, consistent habits, and environments designed to develop potential.
As a keynote speaker, Rasmus Ankersen brings these ideas to life with energy, optimism, and precision. His presentations leave audiences inspired, but more importantly, equipped with concrete steps to strengthen performance, invest in their people, and build cultures that continue to win.
5 of 5
The business world owes Rasmus much gratitude for his facts based, in depth studies of what it truly takes to be, identify and build talent”
Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, CEO and President, The LEGO Group
5 of 5
Outstanding. Rasmus Ankersen’s charismatic and compelling presentation challenges your<br>assumptions and will change your view of how successful companies stay successful. A “call to action” for all business leaders.
Natasha Eden Director of Marketing, Clearwater International
Keynote by speaker Rasmus Ankersen:
Why are 137 of the world's 500 best female golfers from South Korea? How did one athletic club in Kingston, Jamaica, succeed to produce most of the world's best sprinters? What is the reason that the world's best marathon runners grew up in the same village in Ethiopia? What is the secret behind Brazil's mass production of soccer superstars? How has one village with 500 inhabitants in Sweden managed to produce the best skiers in history?
In this speech, Rasmus presents his surprising conclusions on how any business, organization, or team can learn to dramatically improve their ability to identify, grow and motivate talent by understanding the secrets of the gold mines.
Audience takeaways:
Keynote by speaker Rasmus Ankersen:
While organizations talk a lot about how to achieve the success they talk way too little about the consequences of success. About the complacency, arrogance, and resistance to change, which often follow as a shadow of success. Success often produces complacency. It happens to individuals, companies, and nations. Rasmus Ankersen has studied how successful companies can stay successful, and in this speech, he will share his answers to questions.
Audience takeaways:
