Peter Baines

Peter Baines is one of Australia's leadership experts having road tested leadership the hard way. Peter spent 22 years with the NSW Police leading teams in response to acts of terrorism and natural disasters on a scale not previously seen.

Peter was part of the leadership team that responded to Bali after the bombings in 2002 and was called upon in 2005 to lead national and international teams in response to the Boxing Day Tsunami.  Peter headed up multiple rotations into Thailand leading international teams in the identification process of those who died.  All the time his leadership theories were tested in this trying environment.  Peter has recently been engaged to work in the Middle East, by the government of Saudi Arabia, to assist them in building their leadership and crisis management capacity. 

Creating sustainable leadership became a passion of his after witnessing the devastating effects of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.  He was deeply touched by the number of children left orphaned by the disaster and was inspired to set up an organisation that could make a significant difference in the lives of these children.  In late 2005, Hands Across the Water was formed to raise funds for, and awareness of, the children of Thailand who were left orphaned.  Today Hands is one of Australia's fastest growing boutique charities, having raised several million dollars without spending one cent of donor's money on administrative costs since its inception.  With this they have built two orphanages, purchased a rubber plantation to ensure a sustainable and regular income and are currently constructing a medical and community centre in the Khao Lak region of Thailand. Hands also is in a joint venture with Victoria University which provides education to students and staff from the Tsunami affected area of Khao Lak.

His final years with the NSW Police were spent on secondment to the National Institute of Forensic Science where he worked on national and international capacity building projects around counter terrorism and leadership.  He spent time advising Interpol in France and the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime in South East Asia.

Peter has received various awards including Australian of the Year NSW Finalist for 2010, Thought Leaders Socialpreneur of the year 2008 and being the first Australian to be awarded the international honour of a Rotary Professional Excellence Award in 2008.  He has completed university studies in Law, Forensic Science and post graduate studies in Management.

Today Peter spends his time helping businesses build effective Sustainable Leadership programs through the unique mix of his leadership and corporate social responsibility initiatives. His Corporate Social Responsibility platforms create goodwill, staff engagement and sustainable change.  He also continues to lead the Hands Across the Water team in supporting their orphanages and the beautiful children of Thailand.

Peter has a diverse client base across many sectors including the leading financial institutions of Australia such as Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, NAB, and St George Bank.  He has worked with education providers across each of the Australian states, both government and private and has spent time advising many large corporate organisations both on a national and international level. 

PRESENTATION TOPICS

LEADERSHIP MATTERS
In times of crisis, leaders are defined both by their actions and by their ability to make decisions without deliberation - to act with confidence but without recklessness. One of the most positive things about working in disasters is that True Leaders are quickly identified. Without the constraints of an organisation chart or imposed management structure, authentic leaders will rise. How many true leaders lie dormant in your organisation, just waiting for the opportunity to rise? What if they were given that opportunity?
 
Peter's keynote presentation takes audiences through the importance of leaving an indelible impression, making decisions without deliberation and focusing on results and not excuses. He explores the Three platforms of leadership and how they impact on the individuals, team and direction of your business. Key outcomes include:

• How to be a leader with no positional authority
• How to handle external pressure and still get the job done
• How to communicate when no one speaks your language
• How to be creative with no resources

HOPE IS NOT A PLAN
"Fail to plan, then plan to fail". This saying is fine if you have the time to plan, but what happens in a crisis? In crisis management, the Crisis Clock starts ticking as soon as the event unfolds.
 
In this presentation Peter takes the audience on a journey through each stage of the Crisis Clock, showing that each stage is transitional and sometimes without clear endings or beginnings. As the Clock ticks on, so do the challenges and the emotions surrounding each stage. Whether you are an experienced project manager, or a junior team member working on your very first project, The Crisis Clock increases awareness of each of the stages you will experience during the project's life cycle. Enabling you to better prepare for challenges and manage the emotions and morale of yourself and your team. Key outcomes include:

• How to keep your head when everyone else is loosing theirs
• How to lead with power and compassion
• How to build high-impact teams, quickly and with limited resources
• How to transition back into "real life" after the crisis

BUILDING GOODWILL AND STAFF ENGAGEMENT THROUGH CSR
Are there other factors driving business behaviour than just a capitalist market? What place does CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) have in the global economy and how do we all benefit? In these sessions Peter works with attendee's to develop an understanding of what CSR is actually all about, who really does benefit, whether sustainable change can be achieved and whether now is the right time to start the journey.

Key outcomes include:

• What do the terms Corporate Citizenship, Sustainability, Triple Bottom Line and Corporate Social Responsibility actually mean?
• Who actually benefits from having a CSR Platform?
• Is CSR more than just giving away money?
• Exactly what level of expectation can be attached to the giving?
• Who should drive the direction of CSR and why shareholders will soon be requesting CSR platforms within their companies?

OPERATION DELTA - Tailored Programme

• 1 hour keynote presentation - covering the key points of:
   Leadership without Authority
   Clarity of Purpose
   Executive Presence
   Engagement; and  Risk Management 
• 4 hour scenario program - each program has specifically designed scenarios which are targeted at the level and experience of the attendees and is based upon factual cases
   1 hour debrief of scenario program.  Price upon application.  Cost of the program includes two facilitators, development and delivery of keynote and scenario program.

Client Ovations: I just wanted to tell you personally that your talk was the high point of the three days for me. I have thought of it often and am still stunned at the work that you and your colleagues do. So much of what you had to say has lessons that can be used in the leadership work I do with our senior executives. I would have liked to say something to you at the end of the session, but couldn't really trust myself to speak.

Commonwealth Bank

Peter Baines is an inspiration to us all. The experience, skills and knowledge that he has gained from managing high pressure situations in disaster zones allows us to put our own "stressful" lives in perspective. We can all benefit from his simple yet engaging message, and we can be inspired by his stories of human courage and bravery!

Think Global Consulting

When hearing Peter Baines speak on Crisis Management I was alerted to a whole new world of issues - what we call crisis is often a small hitch!. Peter's ability to communicate and entertain while discussing such a vital message was engaging, the message and photos from the Thailand Tsunami and Bali bombing were something most people should never have to deal with - luckily people like Peter do deal with these issues and can bring back lessons learnt in times of extraordinary difficulty. The keynote was entertaining and inspiring and the message a vital to today's business leaders.

Peak Partners

Recently I attended the MEA conference and I would like to pass on how wonderful I thought Peter Baines was, he received a standing ovation - which is really unusual.

Capricorn Society

Peter Baines' presentation was one of the most original I have heard in a long time. After all, it is not every day that you meet someone who has worked at ground zero of two of the most significant events in our recent history. Peter is the quintessential 'good Aussie bloke' and the warmth and humour he brings to his presentation is a perfect balance for the confronting and challenging nature of the stories he has to tell. Through hearing Peter's examples of strong leadership in a true crisis, we all learned many valuable lessons that can readily be applied within the comfort of our own professional lives.

Success Strategies

Peter's presentation was one of the most inspirational I have ever witnessed. He held the audience in the palm of his hand and managed to deliver an amazing presentation from lessons learned through the worst natural disaster this world has ever seen. Peter's presentation just has to be seen - no words can describe it.

Network Central

I want to thank you for an inspiring and incredible unique experience; no written speech, no "filling in" the time; it was real life. Sometimes it is not easy to put in words certain situations and this is one of these. All I can say is that we still talk about you. To say more? Let’s just say you left us stunned.

Rivera Accounting Services

Peter Baines was phenomenal, inspirational and practical from a leadership perspective. Considering the magnitude of the challenges, he spoke with a real sense of deep personal satisfaction in what he does. I came for a business purpose and was also personally challenged… the best combination of a speaker.

Pine Rivers Shire Council

The delayed impact of your presentation was more than any of us expected. You gave us the direction we needed to regroup, reflect - reconfirm our "clarity of purpose" and we would like to thank-you for this. It has amazed us how we can relate our work environment to the leadership issues that you experienced. As you so aptly called your presentation - Leadership matters.

Mercy Hospital

Peter exceeded my expectations - not only did he deliver an extremely professional and polished performance on the day, he was fully tuned into our key messages for the conference and delivered the key points with a high level of passion and conveyed a sense of personal pride in his team's achievements. He provided our delegates with both a deeper understanding of what inspirational leadership looks like in practice and demonstrated that it's not necessarily something that you train or something that is just reserved for those already in positions of leadership but is something we can all aspire to, by finding our own clear sense of purpose and taking personal accountability to make a difference,

QBE Insurance

A memorable day where the important became real and where an ordinary man became extraordinary, admirable and a hero in a moment. Your presentation, delivered from the heart as only you can, was without doubt the most brilliant I have ever had the privilege to experience.

Sony

Never in my life have I been so intrigued, so interested so absolutely blown away by the wonderful, caring, and truely selfless actions of one human being. But most importantly he spoke of his actions as part of a team and really outlined the importance of team work and leadership, not just in bad times, but in everyday life. Peter is an incredible speaker and has his audiences full attention the whole time he is speaking. I laughed and I cried during Peter's presentation and by the end I was totally overwhelmed by the things he has seen and how he has dealt with them. A truely inspiring man.

ANZ Bank