Lea B Olsen
As a sports broadcaster and former collegiate athlete, Lea B. Olsen knows how leaders inspire teams to deliver results.
After years of interviewing and working with world-class athletes, Lea now brings that leadership wisdom to organizations.
Lea’s signature PLAY TO WIN keynote speech and breakout sessions equip leaders to BELIEVE in their people, BUILD winning teams, and EMBOLDEN them to succeed.
As a Division 1 athlete, sports broadcaster, entrepreneur and mother, executive speaker Lea B. Olsen has spent her life learning about the benefits—and costs—to Winning.
Lea was raised in a blended family in South Minneapolis. Growing up in poverty, with parents and siblings who all looked they came from different families, created social dilemmas for Lea from a young age. Lea learned early that when your family doesn’t fit the mold, you have to be comfortable breaking the mold. This was one of Lea’s first Wins in life.
Introduced to sports relatively late, Lea began her basketball career her junior year of high school and after only two years, went on to play Division I basketball at the University of Minnesota. Sports changed Lea’s life for good. Surrounded by coaches and teammates and doing what she loved, Lea found her place in the world. Playing sports gave Lea a deep appreciation for the important role “process” plays in success. Whether you win or lose, success lies in your process for getting there.
Lea transformed her success on the court into a sports journalism career. She broadcasted basketball on ESPN’S national WNBA coverage, as a game analyst for the Minnesota Lynx, and as a television sideline reporter for the Minnesota Timberwolves, along with numerous college and high school games. Throughout her sports journalism career, Lea has interviewed dozens of Winning athletes, from high school to pro, about what it takes to Win.
Lea’s experiences playing and covering sports, and seeing the pressure youth athletes face to Win at all costs, lead her in 2015 to found Rethink the Win. Rethink the Win is an organization dedicated to preserving the fun in youth sports while teaching kids how to apply lessons learned in sports to the real world.
Lea’s unique perspective on Winning in sports, in business and in life has given her a game plan on how to Win with purpose and passion. As a speaker and thought leader, she thrives on helping people and businesses find their Wins while staying true to their values and beliefs.
Play to Win: The secrets to finding the Wins that matter in life and in work
The Win: We want it, we see when others have it, and we believe we need it. Many of us are high-achievers who want to Win in everything we do. While that attitude has served many of us well through the years, it can also be overwhelming and self-defeating. When we Rethink the Wins in our lives and at work, we find a path that is sustainable and healthy. Finding our Wins in life always starts with knowing ourselves and owning our Winning Ways. From there anything is possible.
As a Big Ten collegiate athlete, sports broadcaster, entrepreneur and mother, Lea B. Olsen has learned first-hand and from other world-class athletes and businesspeople what truly makes a Win. Through her Winning Ways model, Lea B. helps your audience dig into what they’re really trying to find for themselves when they play to Win. Lea B.’s signature keynote speech, workshops and breakout models will help your audience think through the following topics:
• What does Winning mean to you?
• Is it the same for your team?
• Does Winning at the highest level fit in with your morals and belief system?
• How do you make decisions that allow you to Win the day?
• How do teams Win together?
• What’s the impact of Winning at all costs?
Audience members will come away with a clearer sense of their own personal Winning Ways and they’ll be inspired to bring their Winningest self to work and their lives.
Digging into Diversity
Connection, Communication and caring are the three key factors to digging into diversity. Instead of making it complicated, let's bring it back to the basics. It's actually quite simple we all want to feel like we belong.
Workshops and Breakout Sessions
Going deeper into the Win and how to it impacts all of us, Lea B. breaks down Winning in a fun, inclusive format for breakout sessions or half-day workshops. Lea B.’s workshops and breakout sessions include unique content that connects people by inspiring them to actively engage and participate. Audience members will leave the sessions with specific ideas about how to Win at life and at work in a sustainable, healthy way.
Picking Winning Teams
When we were kids, being good at picking your team on the playground was critical to Winning both at sports and at life. At this young age, we built decision-making skills about whom to surround ourselves with: should we pick our friends, the best player who’s a ball hog, or the kid no one knows? The choices we face as adults are more complex, but fundamentally success is still about building the Winning team. In her Picking Winning Teams breakout session, Lea B. breaks down the process for picking teams that Win. Audience members will leave the session with actionable ideas for how to choose the best people for their team.