Artistes of the Month
Also featured: John Harris, Kirsty King
Pen
Hadow
Pen
Hadow, 'the thinking man's explorer', has spent longer than most on the
North Pole ice cap and has watched its gradual thinning with growing alarm.
Twenty years ago, you could walk to the North Pole - now you have to swim
part of the way there. Pen has seen for himself the indicators of climate
change: polar bears and other Arctic wildlife where they shouldn't be;
polluted atmospheric hazes where once the horizons were pristine, and
he relates his observations with passion and science, illustrating his
talk with images and dramatic film footage that he has taken himself.
He explores the threats and the opportunities which will result from the accelerating disappearance of the ice-cap, including:
- The likely extinction of charismatic mega-fauna including polar bear
and walrus, and the collapse of an entire sea ice-dependent ecosystem
whose global significance is unknown.
- The opening up of new and faster commercial shipping routes linking
Asia and the Pacific Rim to Europe and the US eastern seaboard.
- The significance of national territorial claims by countries surrounding
the Arctic Ocean, including Russia and the United States, in advance
of the extraction of oil and natural gas from the Arctic Ocean seabed
as the obstructing ice cap melts away.
- Radical changes in the lifestyles of indigenous people as a result
of the changing climate and the impacts of new commercial activity on
the Arctic Ocean.
- Global sea level rise due to thermal expansion of the oceans, as the
newly exposed Arctic Ocean absorbs 70% more solar energy than before.
- Coastguard and national defence issues as new types of vessels and
equipment are required to operate in semi-iced and poorly charted waters.
- Availability of newly-accessible fishstocks to commercial fishing fleets.
All of the above are woven into Pen's mesmerising and inspirational tales
of courage overcoming adversity, when he became the only person ever to
succeed in trekking from Canada to the North Geographic Pole all alone,
without any resupplies.
Born in 1962, Pen was educated at Harrow, where he was head of house, head of school, head of rugby, football and athletics, and where he achieved his first feat of endurance: completing a school marathon at the age of 15, the first time that any boy had attempted the course for exactly fifty years, and now an annual fixture for the school. Then came his 'wilderness' years, when he struggled to resolve how best he could fulfil his potential, and, once he had set his heart on the polar regions, and the North Pole in particular, struggled even more to finally achieve his dream.
Pen read Geography at University College London, and went on to become the youngest-ever executive at Mark McCormack's renowned International Management Group, where he was more focused in helping others achieve rather than himself.
When he set up The Polar Travel Company he famously empowered a group of allegedly 'ordinary' women to walk into The Guinness Book of Records, by initiating, selecting, organising, and largely funding the first ever All Women expedition to the North Geographic Pole.
Through The Polar Travel Company, the only specialist guide service of its kind in the world, he dedicated himself single-handedly, to opening up the Arctic and Antarctic to everyone. He even enabled a child with cerebral palsey to fly to the North Pole, and empowered a muscular dystophry sufferer to cover the last 100 metres there.
In February 2004, Hadow guided 63 year old international businessman Simon Murray to the South Pole, thereby enabling him to become the oldest person by a decade ever to walk to the Pole, while Pen became the first Briton to trek without resupply to both Poles.
Pen's defining quality is his natural ability - and passionate commitment - to bridging the divide between the speaker and his audience, to convince his audience that if even he can achieve what he sets out to do, then there's no reason why they cannot do the same - it's all about what goes on in your head.
Coutts, Tetrapak, Tatler, Savills, Nike, Lloyds TSB, Novartis, AC Nielsen, the MOD and England Rugby's Elite Coaching Programme are just some of the organisations who have recently used Pen to inspire, motivate and entertain their employees, customers and management teams, at all kinds of events, from major conferences to intimate dinners.
Engagingly self-deprecating, inspirational and focused, audiences quickly identify with his themes. He integrates his business experience, hard-won leadership skills honed guiding novice teams in extreme environments, and his own ground-breaking endeavours in the Arctic and Antarctic, to apply fresh perspectives to clients' key messages.
Each of Pen's presentations is thoughtfully prepared according to the client's brief, be it an intimate and informal 15 minute after-dinner discussion of polar stories; a motivational talk with highly impactful images and modern AV support; or a day of workshops. Pen can talk with insight and genuine authority about personal motivation, effective teamwork, and leadership techniques, to support the people in any organisation in realising their individual potential and achieving their team missions.
Pen's personal and thought-provoking style can also touch on the less glamorous, but equally important, aspects of achieving success, including the value of failure, attitudes to risk, the work-life balance, and the issue of 'giving up'.
Whatever the subject, wherever the venue, and whoever his audience; Pen will hold the audience in his thrall. Pen naturally engages an audience and effortlessly inspires them, directly relating the experiences he has endured out on the ice to the challenges he knows all too well are presented by the equally challenging work environment. Question time is his forte, when he can enjoy direct interaction with guests.
"Pen Hadow's speech was a genuinely inspirational and motivating one. Having launched Marks and Spencer's Plan A initiative on the need to tackle the enormous challenge of climate change, it was fantastic to hear from someone who has witnessed global warming at first hand." Stuart Rose CEO Marks and Spencer - Pen spoke at the launch of their Plan A Initiative in May 2007
"You have a gift - and should use it. Few can communicate with a
level of engagement and intensity like that."
Dame Anita Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop
"An explorer embodying the Spirit of Scott & Shackleton"
The Times
"Outstanding in every respect ... amusing, terrifying, engaging,
inspiring. Terrific."
Vernon Sankey, Main Board Director of Pearson plc
"... the more he described the outrageously challenging conditions
and situations he has overcome, the more I and the others around me found
ourselves wanting to go on a polar expedition ourselves, so engaging is
his style … He's a charismatic personality who can shift people's
perception of what is achievable."
Mark Taylor - Commercial Director, Unigate Dairies
"... inspirational and well communicated..."
AC Nielsen
Click
here for Pen's online video showreel
John Harris
John
Harris is one of the last remaining characters in the increasingly dull
world of IT and Telecommunications. 25 years a senior manager in operational
and sales roles he is much sort after as a coach and mentor. Recently
recovered from very serious cancer surgery his positive energy is
contagious.
His sales and operational experience allied to an almost instant audience rapport make John an ever popular guest speaker at any social or professional gathering. He has a collection of themed presentations and speeches and is happy to build bespoke presentations for any occasion.
Starting in 1966 as an engineering apprentice John rose through the managerial engineering ranks to become district customer service manager for the Thames Valley region with BT looking after customers including the USAF, British Army, Hewlett Packard, Hogg Robinson etc. After managing the Northern Home Counties transmission network and 650 managers and engineers John left BT in 1992.
During 1992-3 John worked as a self employed consultant on Business Planning,
Industrial Relations and professional coaching. In 1993 he joined the
sales team of GPT (pre Marconi) and moved on to Ericsson Ltd in 1998 as
the BT Sales Director. In that role he completed the sale to BT of the
industry renowned NGS programme (£280M) and also led the team that
won for
Ericsson, the acclaimed BT Excellence award. On returning in January 2003
from serious cancer surgery John became Business Partnership Director
leading the company's sales strategies, coaching and campaigns.
Current portfolio includes:
Shakleton's ladder - Survival is not compulsory
ASPECT - Strategic planning for dummies
Influencing people - Not so basic rules
Partnerships for Profit - Practical selling
Your meeting - Account management planning
Kirsty King
A
key member of the Ground Force team, Kirsty King started as the horticultural
researcher on the show and is now one of the four presenters.
She was raised in Perthshire, Scotland, and became interested in gardening in her early teens. At eighteen she moved down south to study horticulture at Writtle Agricultural College in Chelmsford, Essex. After graduating, Kirsty worked for a landscaping company in East Sussex for two years. Her work involved running a team of landscapers, building show-home gardens, and designing private gardens as well as general garden maintenance.
Her life changed when she met the executive producer of Ground Force in 1997. Kirsty was offered the position of horticultural researcher on this new show, rising to become associate producer, and she has been part of the team ever since. Her role is to oversee and buy all the materials and plants for the show. Then after Alan Titchmarsh's departure in 2002, Kirsty emerged from behind the cameras, and since that time she has co-presented 26 half hour episodes and three hour long specials. She says: 'It feels very strange, but Charlie, Tommy and Will have made it so much easier. Having been part of Ground Force since day one, it's nice to now be part of the jokes, rather than having the director shouting at me to be quiet!'
The highlight of Kirsty's time on Ground Force so far was transforming Nelson Mandela's garden in South Africa. 'I got to drive for two days through South Africa watching the wildlife and plants change,' she remembers, 'I had a great guide to learn from, and got to meet an amazing man in an incredible country. How can you top that as the first trip abroad with the show?'
She has also made 14 programmes of Ground Force America for BBC America, which were also shown on BBC1.
Kirsty has written a regular gardening column for the Saturday edition of the Daily Mail and also for the Daily Record from January to June 2004.
Kirsty is married and has two daughters. One of Kirsty's main passions
in life is motorbikes, but she also likes to play squash and hockey, and
enjoys horse riding. She is a qualified ski instructor and sat her exams
for this just a week before starting on Ground Force.
Further Information
For further information or for a copy of our latest speaker booklet please phone one of our consultants whose expert advice will help you find the right personality for your event.
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