My successes in business and life have not come from a stellar academic career rather a different route evolved with the key elements of observation and a genuine love of people from many backgrounds. Relating to people is paramount to me in order I can assist in achieving sustainable outcomes and at the same time strengthen relationships.
The journey around the world (30+ countries) has enabled me to gain vital perspectives of how business is performed in different countries and cultures allowing me to share with audiences many insights of people’s behaviours.
A keen student of change I pride himself in keeping up to date, commenting on the rate and movement of change and how it affects us all. The continual changing landscape of how people in business and life interact and how we can adapt to the complex changes we are seeing happening rapidly before us. My passion to assist organisations in the area of improving engagement with their employees is a driving force in my activities today.
I want to to challenge seemingly outdated practices and deeply absorb other points of view which adopting innovation which benefits people and business.
Possessing a very down to earth attitude to life, emanating from his background as a coalminers son, allows me to deliver presentations with a slice of humour, emotion to take away thoughts that may be used in their own particular circumstance.
Presentations can be adapted as a Key-Note presentation or to to fulfil clients individual requirements.
I accept engagements throughout Australia and Asia Pacific.
TOPICS
| Engagement – “A Business Imperative | Why the issue of employee engagement is so vital to business? |
| Management Development – “Where do we go from here”? | What is the approach for future development of managers & staff? |
| Culture “ Ignore it at your peril | Every organisation should develop a sustainable culture why? |
| Optimism – “Is it dead or just taking a nap”? | How you can revive optimism in your organisation? |
| Working with people today “Changed behaviours” | See how changed behaviours affect the workplace and how we adapt? |
| Workplace Participation “Bridging the gap” | How we successfully integrate new entrants into the workplace? |
OTHER TOPICS
| Snapshots in the life of an International Corporate Trouble-Shooter | Stories of what life is really like travelling in the world for business? |
| From Coal Dust to Gold Dust Excerpts from my first book | The journey of a coal miner’s son from North East England to the other side of the world. |
| The Story of Sir Ernest Shackleton (Arctic explorer) | Coping when times are very tough and the chips are down |
| The Story of the “Ugly Duckling- The Liberty Ship | Hear about the remarkable Liberty Ship a major contributor to victory in WW II |
Testimonials
Speaking on Optimism- Forum
Thank you for inviting me to your event , which was wonderful, your reminder to Australians both in business and life to adopt a more positive attitude was so insightful, I know many in the audience including myself left feeling very inspired.
Valerie Caines
B Mgmts. (Hons), CAHRI, AAICD, FAIM.
Lecturer, Human Resource Management
Change/Leadership ATO Speaking Engagement)
“I know time is a precious commodity, I would like to offer my personal thanks for your attendance and contribution to the panel discussion on technology, leadership and change today.
Your thoughts were insightful, approximately 140 staff attended the session which demonstrates the interest there was in hearing from a professional such as yourself.
Your vast experience across a number of businesses and your ability to communicate insights that considered a broad view of the environment was very interesting and resonated with our staff.
Your insights around the choices people need to make on their fit and contribution to the business they work in and the need to continuously consider and assess how best to communicate and effectively lead your teams in a changing environment were timely and relevant.
The feedback I have been receiving is that staff found the session refreshing and interesting.
I would be happy to cross paths again”.
Kym Myall
Director – Risk Assessment and Intelligence
Australian Taxation Office
Inspiration
“Ken spoke for us at our annual Professional Networks Event. With a diverse group of students, academics and industry engineering professionals in attendance, finding a keynote speaker that interests the majority is always a challenge. With an unusual career history, I thought Ken might be able to bring something quite different to the group and this is exactly what he did. Cleverly incorporating elements of the evening’s theme into his speech, Ken spoke like a true story teller. Charismatic, engaging and authentic, Ken took the diverse group on a journey, sharing countless insights and lessons learnt from his fascinating career which spanned living and working in over 30 countries. Since the event, I have also had several people contact me to let me know that they had some “huge takeaways” from Ken’s speech. Now a very passionate and optimistic South Australian with masses of international life experience, if you’re looking for a speaker with a non-conventional background who can inspire your audience through the tales of a very different story, I would highly recommend Ken to speak at your next event”.
Emilio De Stefano, Honorary Chairman, SA&NT Local Network, the Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET)
International Volunteers Day
“Ken was invited to speak to group on International Volunteer Managers Day. Ken provided an interesting insight into his family, his background, spoke about the work he is currently involved in, discussed the rapidly changing environment and congratulated both the volunteers and volunteer managers on the wonderful work they provide to community. His warmth and sincerity really grabbed the audience. I would recommend Ken to anyone who requires a vibrant, knowledgeable and interesting Public Speaker”. Kaye Mahomet
Manager, Client Services
Volunteering SA&NT
Engagement-Flinders University
‘Ken is an expert when it comes to managing people. Not simply managing but understanding and really connecting with your people.
His independent research and related speaking engagements are well recommended and are sure to initiate conversation”.
Dan Smith
Business Engagement Manager
Flinders University
