We are proud to announce that Peter Baines, forensic scientist and humanitarian, has joined Speakers Connect.
Below is the interview of Peter Baines done by Michael Peschardt for “Peschardt’s People” on the BBC in March 2009 on the origins and growth of Hands Across the Water.
Peter Baines
Spent 22 years with the NSW Police in Australia leading teams into various international disaster and crisis situations. These international deployments included Bali after the bombings in 2002, the Thailand Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, Saudi Arabia in 2010 following floods in Jeddah and Japan in 2011, after the earthquake and tsunami. As the leader of Australian and international teams I developed strong leadership skills and messages that have proved much in demand on the speaking circuit.
The key messages of the keynotes are delivered at a contextual level, allowing the audience to identify and relate to the challenges – yet the stories are so different to their lives that they find deep interest and intrigue in the challenges and outcomes our team faced and then achieved.
During Peter’s deployment into Thailand he met a group of 32 children all of whom had lost their homes and their parents to the tsunami. At the time of meeting them they were living in a tent. Peter then formed a charity “Hands Across the Water” to raise money and bring attention to the needs of the children. The charity has grown to support seven different projects across Thailand, including a HIV orphanage and homes for girls previously trafficked in the sex industry. They have raised over $8 million AUD since inception and they have never spent a cent of donors money on administration or fundraising.
Topics:
Leadership matters – this is a keynote that takes audiences on a journey through the various crisis areas in which I have worked and presents them with the challenges we faced and gives them an insight into how the challenges were met. During this keynote the audience hears how to; lead without positional authority; to build strong teams – fast; the importance of having a clarity of purpose; making decisions; leading with courage; and how to focus on results and not excuses.
Experiences matter – is a relatively new keynote launched in early 2013 which looks at the success of Hands and why we have grown in the manner that we have in such a competitive industry. I highlight the importance of leaders engineering shared experiences if they want to build engagement. I look at the four stage model to get results by creating experiences, that leads to engagement, commitment and then results.
Corporate Social Responsibility workshop/program – this is usually on the back end of work that I have started with socially aware clients who are looking to bring meaningful change and awareness to their CSR strategies.
Operation Delta – a simulation program that is run on the back of a keynote that gives the audience members the chance to test their leadership skills in a small team environment.
Conference experience – the chance for delegates to engage in some real “hands on” activities during their conference program. Normally led in Thailand, I take the delegates into one of the programs that we are running and they bring about real change to a centre for the kids that Hands supports.
Contact us at Speakers Connect today to engage Peter Baines for your next event!