01
The Courage Inventory
A rapid self-assessment that locates exactly where each leader's gap is widest — so the work is precise, not generic.
The Talk
Every leader knows what to do.
Few can make themselves do it.
The courage gap is the charged distance between your clearest thinking and your next brave action. It lives in the three-second pause before you challenge the room. In the email you've been drafting for two weeks. In the restructure you know needs to happen but keeps getting postponed.
In this keynote, Maya Solano draws on a decade of work with Fortune 500 leaders, combat veterans, and Olympic athletes to decode the neuroscience of hesitation — and deliver a field-tested practice for closing the gap, permanently.
Audiences leave with a language for courage they didn't have before, and the immediate capacity to use it. This is not a talk about motivation. It is a talk about mechanism.
"I've seen hundreds of keynotes. None of them changed the conversation in our leadership team the way this one did. We're still using the framework eighteen months later." — Chief People Officer, global financial services firm
What Audiences Take Away
Six shifts that move from the stage into the room.
02
Reclassify Fear as Signal
The neuroscience of why the body resists high-stakes action — and how to read that resistance as a directional arrow, not a stop sign.
03
The Three-Second Protocol
A repeatable technique for compressing deliberation and choosing action before the amygdala hijack sets in. Practised live on stage.
04
Edge Culture vs. Safety Culture
How to build a team climate where courageous moves are expected, modelled from the top, and recognised — not just celebrated in hindsight.
05
The Courage Conversation
A framework for the one high-stakes conversation every leader in the room has been avoiding. Scripted, practiced, ready to deliver next week.
06
Compounding Courage
Why each brave act lowers the threshold for the next one — and how to design a personal 90-day sequence that makes courage a leadership habit.
Audience & Format
Audience and format details
Best for
Senior leadership teams, all-hands, and high-potential cohorts
Talk Length
45-minute keynote or 60-minute keynote + Q&A
Also available as a 90-minute workshop with live breakout exercises.
Format
Live in-person or broadcast-quality virtual delivery
Maya travels internationally. Virtual sessions are delivered from a professional broadcast studio.
Audience Size
50 to 5,000+
The talk scales from intimate boardroom sessions to stadium-capacity keynote stages.
Past Stages
Trusted by teams that move the world forward.
Maya has brought The Courage Gap to leadership gatherings across four continents.
From the Room
Audience testimonial
★★★★★
"We brought Maya in for our annual leadership summit — 400 directors and above. She had the room in the palm of her hand from the first sentence. Three weeks later people are still quoting the Three-Second Protocol in our standups. That almost never happens."
James Rutherford — SVP Talent & Organisational Development, Meridian Global
Book This Talk
Bring The Courage Gap to your stage.
Tell us about your event and Maya's team will respond within one business day with availability, fees, and a customisation brief. All keynotes are tailored to your audience — no off-the-shelf decks.
- Full-day and multi-session formats available
- Pre-event audience survey and debrief call included
- Custom case studies for your industry on request
- Speaker assets, AV specs, and rehearsal included