Marie Gleeson

Former Irish Navy Ships Captain & Motivational Speaker

Marie Gleeson honed her leadership style over the course of a twenty year military career operating primarily in the harsh and hostile Atlantic Ocean. Her journey from naval cadet to Captain of the LE AOIFE has given her unique insight into people and how to maximise performance even in the most challenging of circumstances. She has experienced the highs of international drug busts to the tragedy of the loss of a colleague overboard at sea.

Marie was one of the first female officers in the Irish navy and this gives her a unique insight into the reality of leading in a “mans” world. Marie is an honest and engaging speaker who brings her experience to life in her keynotes. She discusses the reality of decision making in high pressure and time critical operational environments and translates this into key leadership lessons for the business world.

The cornerstone of a military career is that service comes before self and this was the reality for Marie in her career until life threw a curveball of magnitude in her path. Marie’s personal story highlights the importance of support and resilience in the face of adversity.

Marie is an insightful, humorous and passionate speaker who combines her professional and personal experience to tailor her keynotes to maximum effect for her audience.

Topics

Leadership – A lived Experience, Leadership & Governance

Decision Making – The Leader’s Role

Overcoming Adversity – Stronger Than Before, Board Diversity

Diversity & Inclusion – Lead like a Woman

Teamwork – From Ship to Shore Testimonials

“Marie comes highly recommended as a leadership expert. She has a vast array of expertise to draw on and openly shares her knowledge. She reflects on her experiences in a most realistic and eloquent manner. Marie has the ability to capture the attention of an audience, through her storytelling and evident compassion. There is no doubt that Marie is a gifted leader and puts people and team at the centre. Her core values, her own learning experiences and her ability to deliver a lecture make her a truly remarkable speaker.” – Dr Sarah McCloskey, CEO, MaryMount Hospice

“Marie addressed our company (virtually) for the IWD 2021 and did an amazing job sharing her wisdom and insights into Leadership, high performance and authenticity. She is a compelling speaker and it was brilliantly well-received.” – Niall Norton, CEO Opennet (An Amdocs Company)

“Marie was the main speaker at one of our recent (virtual) partner events and she was fantastic. She shared her journey in the Irish Navy with a lot of authenticity and humility and shared many valuable leadership learnings with the audience. Feedback has been great, thanks Marie!” – Anthony Nakache, Managing Director, EMEA Partnerships at Google & Business Angel

“We had the pleasure of having Marie speak to our teams at Trigon Hotels as part of our Data Bites programme recently. Marie is uplifting, inspiring and motivational. She has a unique and powerful story and she tells that story in a way that captures an audience. Whilst the story is unique, it had the ability to resonate with a broad group of people in different ways. Marie’s experience in leadership and team engagement connected strongly with our own team while also having a very human side that gave a real sense of balance. I would highly recommend Marie as she has such an energetic and positive disposition and really is a pleasure to listen to.” – Aaron Mansworth, Managing Director, Trigon Hotels

“Marie was amazing, the feedback has been super. She was so easy to deal with, such a lovely person and her talk was brilliant!” -Eimear Michaels, Business Manager, Microsoft Ireland

“Marie addressed our company (virtually) for the IWD 2021 and did an amazing job sharing her wisdom and insights into Leadership, high performance and authenticity. She is a compelling speaker and it was brilliantly well received.” -Niall Norton, CEO Opennet (An Amdocs Company)

“Marie Gleeson has provided a number of inputs to our diversity sessions in the health service. Feedback and the response to Marie was outstanding with Marie sharing her experience in leadership, staff engagement and motivation theory. Marie has a relaxed and engaging style always with requests for further inputs.” –Rosarii Mannion, National Director of Human Resources, HSE

“Marie comes highly recommended as a leadership expert. She has a vast array of expertise to draw on and openly shares her knowledge. She reflects on her experiences in a most realistic and eloquent manner. Marie has the ability to capture the attention of an audience, through her story telling and evident compassion. There is no doubt that Marie is a gifted leader and puts people and team at the centre. Her core values, her own learning experiences and her ability to deliver a lecture make her a truly remarkable speaker.” -Dr Sarah McCloskey, CEO, MaryMount Hospice

“Marie was fantastic! She had the room so engaged and her talk was definitely the highlight of the day for a lot of people. They found her story captivating and insightful, while also being so human.” – Catherine O’Doherty, New Ireland Assurance

“It was fantastic, a very unique perspective. The team were very impressed and thought Marie was excellent. We were very happy with what she delivered.” -Martin Healy, Franchise Manager, Boston Scientific.