Mark Pollock gives inspiring and effective motivational masterclasses based on his life experiences. Mark helps people to build resilience and collaborate with others so that they achieve more than they thought possible.
Unbroken by blindness in 1998, Mark became an adventure athlete competing in ultra-endurance races across deserts, mountains, and the polar ice caps including 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 was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, served on the Global Futures Council on Human Enhancement and as a UBS Global Visionary. He is on the Board of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (USA) and is a Wings for Life Ambassador (Europe). 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 21stCentury from Harvard University, degrees from Trinity College Dublin and UCD SmurfitGraduate Business School.
Mark’s Masterclasses
Acknowledged as an expert in resilience and overcoming adversity, high performance, and collaboration, Mark is delivering online masterclasses to leaders and their teams around the world, co-hosted with his colleague Paula Cunniffe. Focusing on the themes of adapt, perform and collaborate, this 3-part masterclass series can be delivered individually or as 3 connected sessions. Each package includes a 45 – 60 minute masterclass, follow-up email with key takeaways and reading suggestions, and a bi-monthly inspirational email from Mark.
About Paula Cunniffe Everything Paula does is about harnessing the collective power of teams so that we achieve more together that we ever could on our own. As CEO of Strive Management, Paula manages the global operations for Mark Pollock’s speaking business, as well as Run in the Dark, a global running series with 25,000 participants in 2,000cities worldwide, and plays a key role in supporting the formation of a global network to cure paralysis in our lifetime. A skilled and experienced coach, facilitator and communicator, Paula spent 4 years as a strategic communications specialist working on national and international projects in Department of the Taoiseach, and started her career producing TV and radio documentaries.
Turning Challenges into Opportunities – The Challenge Cycle
Sometimes we choose our challenges, sometimes our challenges choose us. What we decide
to do about them is what counts.
During this online masterclass, Mark helps leaders and their teams to:
o Build resilience and maintain motivation
o Adapt to change and unexpected challenges
o Chart a path through uncertainty
Exploring Performance Potential – The Competitor’s Mindset
In a world where challenges are inevitable, some people are held back while others are
propelled forward. Spectators sit on the sidelines holding back, while competitors step into the
arena as they pursue success and risk failure. The choice is ours.
During this masterclass, Mark helps leaders and their teams to:
o Embrace a competitor mindset to pursue success
o Discover how clarity, creativity and collaboration enables peak performance
o Treat recovery as a high-performance priority to combat overwhelm and burnout
Collaborating to Solve Complex Problems – The Trust Imperative
It seems that we need structure and hierarchy to scale existing solutions for predictable
problems. But when a crisis strikes and the path forward is uncertain, we need something
different. We need flatter collaborative approaches with enough of the right people having the
will to work together.
During this online masterclass, Mark helps leaders and their teams to:
o Create shared missions for collaboration
o Embody and incentivise collaborative leadership
o Galvanise teams and enhance teamwork by building trust
Mark’s Keynotes:
- Adversity & Challenges — Maintaining a Resilient Mindset Under Pressure
- Leadership & Motivation — Leading Through a Crisis and Developing Intrinsic Motivation to Move Forward
- Mindset & Performance – Challenging Expectations to Perform at a Higher Level
- Collaboration & Teamwork — Creating and Motivating Dispersed Teams Across Disciplines and Geographies
- Human Enhancement – Exploring the Intersection Where Humans and Technology Collide During the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Read Mark’s blog ‘How do you Lead in a Crisis?’ here.
