Maverick Author
ROB MALLAN
Speaker, Author, Leadership Coach, TEDx Organizer, Dream Broker, and Movement Builder
“The most impactful leaders aren't the ones doing all the work. They're the ones connecting the right people."
About Rob Mallan
Rob Mallan is a distinguished leadership coach, speaker, and movement builder whose career spans decades of connecting people and creating platforms for transformative impact. As a leadership expert specializing in what he calls Dream Broker Leadership, Rob has coached individuals from inner-city youth to professional athletes, entertainers, and civic leaders—and has had the privilege of collaborating with remarkable people, including Michael Jackson on the You Are Not Alone campaign, Darryl Strawberry as he spoke to teens in public schools and prisons, and Mayor Bob Buckhorn on citywide outreaches that united an entire community.
Through those experiences, Rob has learned one thing: the most impactful leaders aren’t the ones doing all the work—they’re the ones empowering others to rise with them. They’re the ones connecting the right people.
For more than three decades, Rob has dedicated his life to helping people find clarity of purpose, align their gifts with vision, and build lives of meaning that influence generations. His message has inspired thousands across the world to lead with authenticity, live with conviction, and create change that lasts.
A true Dream Broker, Rob’s legacy is defined not by titles or achievements, but by the lives transformed through his belief that leadership is never about one person—it’s about the movement that begins when we choose we over me.
Chapter: "Why The Best Leaders Are Brokers, Not Grinders"
"If you're the star of every story, you're not a dream broker—you're a performer. Build platforms, not pedestals."
In his transformative chapter for Maverick Leadership, Rob Mallan reveals why the most effective leaders aren't grinding themselves into exhaustion—they're Dream Brokers who connect the right people, build sustainable platforms, and create movements that outlast them. Through compelling stories and battle-tested principles, Rob exposes how the cultural obsession with the "solo grinder" is burning out leaders—and provides the exact framework to multiply impact through connection instead of accumulation.
Rob opens by challenging the myth of the "self-made" success story. Behind every celebrated leader is a long line of people who invested, encouraged, and opened doors—but our culture erases those names from the story. This myth isolates leaders into believing they must carry everything themselves and discourages others from stepping up because they think they don't measure up. Maverick leaders see through this illusion. They're not the hardest workers in the room—they're the best talent scouts, the ones who can spot a gift, connect it to a need, and create value that no one person could generate alone.
"A broker doesn't own the product—they facilitate the exchange. They connect buyers with sellers, investors with opportunities, vision with resources."
What You'll Learn
The Grinder vs. Broker Framework: How the most impactful leaders Rob has worked with—from Michael Jackson to Mayor Bob Buckhorn—weren't doing all the work themselves, but were connecting the right people at the right time
The Dream Broker Recruitment Strategy: The exact approach Rob used for the Christmas Outreach—asking "What legacy do you want in this city?" before pitching his vision, and how one business owner funded the food three weeks later because Rob showed how it served HIS vision
Building Infrastructure That Lasts: Why dream broker leadership isn't about inspiration—it's about infrastructure. Vision attracts people. Systems keep them there. How to create committees, weekly calls, shared documents, and clear decision-making authority that keeps people working together when it gets hard
The Real Victory of Brokering: How the Christmas Outreach wasn't just an event—it was proof that collaboration could unlock the impossible
Three Transformative Takeaways:
1. When You're the Grinder, The Work Dies When You Burn Out. When You're the Broker, The Network Becomes Self-Sustaining.
One person can accomplish X. Two connected people can accomplish 10X. But when you broker connections for dozens? The math breaks. Rob spent hundreds of hours organizing Christmas Outreach. The partners he connected have invested thousands of hours in ongoing initiatives. He didn't grind those hours—he facilitated the connections that multiplied them. The partnerships Rob brokered 10 years ago still produce results—and he's not in the room anymore. That's the dream broker advantage: your impact outlives your direct involvement.
2. You Don't Have All The Answers. You Create The Conditions Where The Collective Intelligence Of Your Network Surfaces The Solutions.
Two weeks before the Christmas Outreach, the venue had a double-booking conflict. Fifteen thousand people. No location. Some partners started talking exit strategies. But then the nonprofit director suggested the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Stadium. In forty-five minutes, the network solved what Rob couldn't solve alone. That's when he truly understood dream broker leadership: create the conditions, and watch what happens when the right people collide.
3. The More Credit You Give Away, The More Influence You Gain. People Want To Work With Leaders Who Elevate Them.
The fastest way to kill collaboration? Hog the spotlight. Dream brokers are radically generous with attribution. When Rob achieves something big, he writes personal thank-you notes to every key player—handwritten notes highlighting their specific contribution. Then he amplifies their work publicly. Why? Because when people know you'll celebrate their contribution, they keep showing up. The paradox: the more credit you give away, the more influence you gain. If you're the star of every story, you're not a dream broker—you're a performer. Build platforms, not pedestals.
Rob’s Impact
Rob's leadership extends beyond coaching to building and organizing powerful movements like TEDx Channelside District and TEDx Newport Beach—platforms that curate collisions between scientists and poets, entrepreneurs and activists, technologists and pastors. As a leadership coach, Rob has worked with inner-city youth, professional athletes, collaborated with entertainers including Michael Jackson, Daryl Strawberry, and civic leaders like Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. That's legacy: when the network you built keeps creating value without you.
Connect with Rob Mallan
Website: www.RobMallan.com
Instagram: @robmallan
