Mark Pollock

Unbroken by blindness in 1998, Mark became an adventure athlete competing in ultra-endurance races across deserts, mountains, and the polar ice caps, being the first blind person to race to the South Pole. He also won silver and bronze medals for rowing at the Commonwealth Games and set up an international motivational speaking business.

In 2010, a fall from a second story window nearly killed him. Mark broke his back and the damage to his spinal cord left him paralysed. Now he is on a new expedition, this time to cure paralysis in our lifetime by exploring the intersection where humans and technology collide.

Chairman of Collaborative Cures and founder of the global running series Run in the Dark, Mark has been involved in catalysing collaborations worth over $100 million on his mission to cure paralysis. He was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, served on the Global Futures Council on Human Enhancement and the Advisory Board of Cybathlon. In addition, he is a Wings for Life Ambassador (Europe) and was on the Board of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (USA) for a decade.

Author of ‘Making It Happen’, Mark is the subject of the acclaimed documentaries’ Blind Man Walking ’and ‘Unbreakable – The Mark Pollock Story’. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and also from Queens University Belfast. Furthermore, he holds a diploma in Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century from Harvard University, degrees from Trinity College Dublin and UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School.

Acknowledged as an expert in resilience, performance and collaboration, Mark says, “The reason to bring in a speaker is to move the audience emotionally. It can never be about the speaker, rather it must be about engaging the audience to help them achieve more than they thought possible – that is what I aim to do every time.”

Keynote Topics:

• Adversity & Challenges – Maintaining a Resilient Mindset Under Pressure
  Sometimes we choose our challenges, sometimes our challenges choose us. What we decide to do about them is what counts. Deciding to be a competitor, a realist and a collaborator offers your people a chance of maintaining a resilient mindset under pressure. Mark Pollock’s keynote on adversity and challenges uses the power of active decision making to deal with challenges, regardless of where they come from, to help your people become more resilient.
• Leadership & Motivation – Leading Through a Crisis and Developing Intrinsic Motivation to Move Forward
  Uncertainty and change typify a crisis and it’s difficult to lead in such circumstances. By providing your people with insights into the resilience, attitude and decisions of others facing extreme circumstances you will help them to develop the intrinsic motivation to move forward. Mark Pollock’s keynote on leadership and motivation delivers deep insights for leaders to navigate through the crucible moments they face and lead others to achieve more.
• Mindset & Performance – Challenging Expectations to Perform at a Higher Level
  It is tough to deliver world class performance. Your people won’t do it by chance. With a high-impact catalyst you can help them act with the courage to make it happen. Mark Pollock’s
  keynote on mindset and performance is that catalyst – it challenges your people to examine expectations of themselves and others to perform at a higher level.
• Collaboration & Teamwork – Creating and Motivating Dispersed Teams Across Disciplines and Geographies
  Galvanising a disparate group of people around a common goal is not easy. Yet when it happens, when we collaborate, that is when major breakthroughs happen. Mark Pollock’s keynote on collaboration and teamwork provides your people with insight into how high-performance teams get things done when others can’t. 
  
• Human Enhancement – Exploring the Intersection Where Humans and Technology Collide During the 4th Industrial Revolution
  Exploring the intersection where humans and technology collide is essential for businesses to maintain their competitive edge. By raising the consciousness of your people to the human
  dimension of the 4th industrial revolution, you will empower and encourage innovation at the edge. Mark Pollock’s keynote on human enhancement provides your people with insight into the transformative intersection of technology and humankind as he explores a cure for paralysis using robotics, neuro-modulation, AI and VR/AR.

Masterclass Topics:

Turning Challenges into Opportunities – The Resilience Cycle
This masterclass prompts participants to reflect on how to:

• Respond to expected and unexpected challenges
• Confront the facts of their current reality
• Anchor themselves with a sense of control
• Chart a path through uncertainty

Exploring Performance Potential – The Competitor’s Mindset
This masterclass prompts participants to reflect on how to: 

• Embrace a competitor mindset to reach their potential
• Use clarity, commitment, and connection for optimal performance
• Create the conditions to enter the high performance flow state
• Treat recovery as a peak performance non-negotiable

Collaborating to Solve Complex Problems – The Trust Imperative
This masterclass prompts participants to reflect on how to: 

• Choose to be a collaborator not a soloist
• Create the conditions for collaboration
• Build trust with other people
• Develop high-trust teams