Warren Macdonald

Keynote speaker Warren Macdonald has climbed over obstacles most people cannot imagine. Having lost both of his legs from a freak accident while he was backpacking off the coast of Australia, Macdonald not only decided that his injuries wouldn’t slow him down―he decided they would propel him to new heights. Just ten months after the incident, Warren climbed Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain and later summited both Mount Kilimanjaro and El Capitan. Warren Macdonald works with innovative, forward thinking organizations and associations looking to foster a shift in perception. Inspiring audiences to turn challenge into change, Warren’s talks foster the desire to seek opportunities and overcome obstacles.

Macdonald is the author of A Test of Will: One Man’s Extraordinary Story of Survival, which chronicles his two-day ordeal of being trapped under a boulder, his subsequent rescue, the amputation of his legs, and his journey toward recovery. His critically acclaimed film, The Second Step, documents his epic four-week journey to Federation Peak, Australia’s most challenging mountain summit. It screened on National Geographic Television and won eight international awards including Grand Prize at the prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival. Macdonald’s story has been a recurring feature on Amazon Prime’s I Shouldn’t Be Alive series in an episode called “Trapped under a Boulder”.

Warren Macdonald has appeared on numerous news and current affairs programs, including Larry King Live, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos. As a speaker, his clients have included PepsiCo, Blackberry/Marketstar, HSBC, RBC Insurance, Sun Life Financial, Price Waterhouse Coppers, Shell Canada, Suncor, Novo Nordisk, among many others. In 2016, he spoke at the Million Dollar Round Table in Vancouver in a special 60-minute general session.

Warren Macdonald travels from Canmore, Alberta.

VIRTUAL / LIVE:

Return on Resilience
Bouncing Back is just the Beginning +

If COVID has taught us anything, it's that we can never have too much resilience... As things get back to "normal", we'll want to continue our resilience practice to fortify ourselves against future curveballs; setting ourselves up to take advantage of opportunities that come our way post pandemic.

This keynote presentation focuses on what we can do to prepare for our challenges in advance. On how we can fortify ourselves against the curveballs and roadblocks before they happen by practicing resilience.

Expected Outcomes:

This keynote presentation is designed to move your team from “I can’t” to “Bring it!” To instill the understanding that by facing our challenges; seeking them out even, we build the strength and resilience required when bigger problems come our way.

Key Takeaways:

• An understanding of how resilience is banked, and is transferable across all areas of our lives;
• Specific tools and techniques to build resilience;
• Learn that “Bouncing Back” is just the beginning. By practicing resilience, we position ourselves to Bounce Forward towards our goals. --

The Challenge of Change
Finding Opportunity in Adversity +

We’ve all heard it a million times; “change is constant”, “the only certainty in life is change”, “change or perish”. We all know it; what we need is for someone to show us how to deal with it. Warren’s “Challenge of Change” presentation will help your group realize that challenges brought on by change hold endless opportunities for innovation and personal and professional growth. That it’s the challenges we face that build the resilience we need as we’re asked to do more, with less . . . That it is possible to not just survive, but to thrive despite adversity.

Expected Outcomes:

You’ll learn to see change as an inevitable, ongoing process that we’re all engaged with; not just something that “happens to us”. That by changing the way we see change, changes everything… You’ll never look at adversity in the same way again.

Key Takeaways:

• Foster the ability to recognize and breakthrough mental barriers to change.
• Tools to build resilience for both business and personal growth.
• A powerful shift in thinking that will put challenges into perspective.
• Develop a breakthrough mindset that seeks solutions and opportunities. --

The Power of Perception
Building a Breakthrough Mindset +

If we can’t see where it is we need to go, what are our chances of getting there? If your team or your members can’t see where you’re going, what are the chances they’ll get on-board?

In navigating change, and overcoming the challenges that come with it, we need to address the foundation; the root cause of why we often get stuck or disengaged, and that is, how we perceive change in the first place.

Expected Outcomes:

This keynote presentation is designed to hit “reset” on how your team sees their role in your organization. Expect them to come away empowered, engaged, inspired and ready to take action. They’ll begin to see challenges and opportunities with fresh perspectives and renewed vision.

Key Takeaways:

• An understanding of the incredible importance of mindset, and how perception is the most important factor when it comes to limiting, or improving, our performance;
• Specific tools and techniques to help break through the barriers that limit us;
• How to develop strategies to counter inevitable setbacks that always come when pursuing big goals. --

Next Level Quality of Care
A Patients Testimony +

[In Warren's own words] "As a keynote speaker, I present at thirty to forty events each year on topics ranging from navigating change to setting impossible goals.

I have to say though that the strongest connection I feel with an audience is when I get to share my patients story as a healthcare speaker with people that do the work that you do; those of you in healthcare.

I’ve seen firsthand what you do. I’ve been there, on the receiving end.

I’d never been in hospital before until that night, after being rescued off of the side of a remote mountain, when I was wheeled on a stretcher into your world…

Ten days in intensive care; a month in the first hospital, then seven months of rehabilitation; learning how to live as a double above knee amputee…

I know that what you do makes a difference, and I’ve got some ideas and some thoughts to share with you through my patients testimony for those times when I think you forget that you make a difference…

I’ve put together a presentation especially for you, as someone who deals with situations of consequence on a daily basis, to remind you of the importance of the work you do; of the difference you make."

Expected Outcomes:

The big picture aim of this presentation is to validate the importance of the work you do; whether you’re a front line practitioner or clinician; a caregiver or caseworker or a hospital administrator. Second to that is to share an example of the results we can achieve in our quality of care when we adopt a client centred (or patient centred) approach or model. When we partner with our patients to achieve a common goal.

Key Takeaways:

• Validation of the importance for the role you play. You make a difference!
• Strategies to improve the quality of care you deliver;
• The importance of perception in your role in healthcare, both in how you see your patients and how you see yourself. --