Jason Dorland

Jason Dorland spent his entire rowing career consumed in his singular pursuit of an Olympic Gold medal. Throughout that pursuit, he embraced an old-school approach to high performance—aggressive, combative, egoic. As defending Olympic Champions, his crew was expected to repeat. They didn’t; instead, they finished dead last in their final on the day it mattered most. Devastated, Jason retired from rowing and struggled for years to find a new direction and identity.

Eventually set up on a blind date, he met his future wife, Robyn Meagher, an Olympic middle-distance runner. At first, she represented a conundrum for Jason. Her approach to competition was the polar opposite of his. She didn’t race to win medals or hate her competitors; she ran because she loved running.

Years later, Jason returned to coaching and utilized everything he had learned from Robyn. He was determined to instill in his athletes a different approach to high performance, one that embraced LOVE as a competitive strategy—love for self, rowing, teammates, and your competitors! The results were nothing short of astounding; in ten years of coaching, Jason’s crews won 12 international championships.

Jason shares his humbling journey with humor and lived perspective. In this talk, he will share research on love and its impact on motivation and our capacity to perform at our best. He will also explore your “LOVE Score” and why this simple self-assessment is so important when determining the opportunities for growth in ourselves and those we lead.