Uncategorized - William Pike

Resilience speaker William Pike on stage at CPA Australia

How to be resilient in unprecedented times – words from resilience speaker, William Pike.

8 April 2020/in Uncategorized/by Gary Lee

Gidday, amongst many other things, I’m a resilience speaker based in Auckland. I love inspiring people to overcome adversity and become more resilient. No thanks to Covid-19, all of my upcoming speaking engagements have been wiped out. So, I’ve decided to share some of my messages that I share in my keynote presentations. That way I’ll be ready to jump straight back onto the stage when Jacinda Ardern releases us from lockdown.

Right now and for the foreseeable future, overcoming challenge and change is about to become a big and constant part of our professional and personal lives. As an inspirational speaker who also specialises as a resilience speaker, I know that our ability to be resilient and overcome challenge and change is now more important than ever.

Here’s some background before I launch into things. In my early 20’s my life took a rather interesting and dramatic turn when I lost my leg and almost my life in a volcanic eruption. I learnt how to walk again, kept my mental and physical wellbeing in check, and returned to the workforce. I even went on to climb Mt. Scott in Antarctica, established a successful speaking business and a nationwide youth development programme called the William Pike Challenge.

Being a resilience speaker I’m often asked how people can themselves become more resilient. Here are some questions that I’m often asked:

Don’t underestimate yourself – I’ve learned that we are much more resilient than we can imagine. When pushed to the brink, we Humans have an almost indestructible spirit. We have grit, determination, and bloody-mindedness to get through the toughest of physical and mental challenges. Most people don’t realise this because they’ve never ‘been there’.

Know your purpose – we’ve got to have a purpose or a reason to fight. I was able to draw resilience from my purpose. I strongly believed in 3 things: the outdoors, people and education. It was those things that gave me the courage, confidence and resilience to fight my fight. For more on purpose, see my Purpose Blog.

Rely on your team – I have never achieved anything great by myself. A huge part of my ability to be resilient has come from the support I’ve received from my family, friends, and colleagues. Building a tight-knit team at home and in the office is a top priority for me. Because when (not if) things turn pear-shaped in life, you’ll be grateful for that team surrounding you.

You can learn to be resilient – I believe people learn to be resilient, we aren’t born resilient. I was fortunate as a youngster to spend many challenging days and nights bushwalking and mountaineering through New Zealand’s backcountry. It was those experiences (and others of course) that developed my resilience and set me up to overcome significant challenges and change in my life. Regardless of how you find your resilience, it can be learnt. And you can become resilient. Each and every one of us has the grit, determination, and bloody-mindedness to get through the toughest physical and mental challenges.

As you, your company and colleagues navigate the ups and downs of business and life, remember that aligning people with purpose is essential to achieving the extraordinary. I will inspire and motivate your people to focus on their purpose and achieve excellence. I constantly strive to be the best speaker I can be. I do this by working with professional speaker bureaus, getting a comprehensive brief from my clients and tailoring my messages. Purpose is just one of many topics and messages I share as a motivational speaker. If you’re interested in having me speak at your next event, get in contact now to avoid missing out.

My top 3 tips on how to become more resilient.

Know and reflect on your purpose – this gives you fuel to fight your fight and be resilient.
Step outside of your comfort zone – being comfortable being uncomfortable increases your ability to be more resilient.
Build strong teams – have the support in place before you need it. Strong teams are resilient and able to weather the storm.

My top 3 tips on how to ensure your staff become more resilient.

Preach your purpose – constantly talk about your organisation’s vision, mission and purpose.
Challenge your staff – set big goals, get them to step outside their comfort zone to become more resilient.
Encourage self-belief – make sure staff don’t underestimate themselves, they are better than they think.

There you go, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you’ll be able to use some of these ideas and transfer them into your own lives. That’s it from me for now. Stay safe, stay well, stay connected.

P.s. I constantly strive to be the best speaker I can be. I do this by working with professional speaker bureaus, getting a comprehensive brief from my clients and tailoring my messages. Resilience is just one of many topics and messages I share as a motivational speaker. If you’re interested in having me speak at your next event, either virtually through video or in person, get in contact now to secure your booking.

Why I emphasize PURPOSE as a motivational speaker

4 March 2020/in Uncategorized/by Gary Lee

Discover why purpose drives us to achieve extraordinary things and how I, as a motivational speaker, can harness this for you.

As a motivational speaker, I believe it’s essential to include stories and messages on purpose for my keynote presentations.

Here’s why. The first mountain I ever climbed was Mt. Tongariro, I was 20 years old. On the way down the penny dropped. I realised that the things that mattered to me most were family, friends, people, the outdoors and education. No suprises, my purpose has been centred around my family, friends, exploring the great outdoors and educating people.

Soon after climbing Mt. Tongariro, I began a roller coaster ride that includes losing a leg in a volcanic eruption, mountaineering in Antarctica, starting a family, becoming a motivational speaker.

Knowing my purpose has given me the self belief, courage and the confidence to face up to massive challenges and change. This has enabled me to have extraordinary experiences and achieve amazing things. For example, sitting in hospital with a freshly amputated leg, I was on the verge of giving up in and becoming a couch potato. But the pull of the mountains, fun times with friends, and educating people was just too strong. My purpose was enough to force me out of bed and reclaim my life.

Keeping it relatable with my audiences.

As a motivational speaker, I have been fortunate to present to hundreds of corporate and business events over the years. Some of my clients include Air New Zealand, Nike, BT Financial, Schneider Electric, Westpac, Under Armour and more. Time and time again, those organisations who are the most successful, have a clear organisational purpose that brings their teams and individuals together for success. I love sharing my experiences of how my purpose has led me to success and make this relatable for my audiences.

Recently, I was invited to be a motivational speaker at Deloitte’s National Graduate Induction. Deloitte’s purpose is to make an impact that matters and this has propelled them to be an undisputed leader in professional services. Part of my brief was to challenge the 170 graduates to be a part of their company’s purpose. Additionally, I was asked to challenge the graduates to be crystal clear on their own purpose. This will help them navigate the ups and downs of entering the workforce, and achieving their absolute best.

As you, your company and colleagues navigate the ups and downs of business and life, remember that aligning people with purpose is essential to achieving the extraordinary. I will inspire and motivate your people to focus on their purpose and achieve excellence. I constantly strive to be the best speaker I can be. I do this by working with professional speaker bureaus, getting a comprehensive brief from my clients and tailoring my messages. Purpose is just one of many topics and messages I share as a motivational speaker. If you’re interested in having me speak at your next event, get in contact now to avoid missing out.

Whakaari White Island Eruption

4 March 2020/in Uncategorized/by Gary Lee

Whakaari White Island Eruption – An invitation to survivors, whānau & friends to talk.

News of the 9th December 2019 Whakaari White Island eruption made my heart skip a beat. My thoughts instantly went to the victims, then to their whanau and friends. From past experience as a survivor of a volcanic eruption, I knew exactly what both parties would be experiencing. My heart goes out to all those grieving and affected from this tragic event.

In 2007 I was critically injured on Mt. Ruapehu when it unexpectedly erupted. A large explosive gas eruption from under the Crater Lake sent rocks of all sizes, acidic sulphuric water and snow skywards. This debris came crashing down on top of the small building my friend and I were sleeping in. The rocks and acidic water caused me significant traumatic crush injuries and minor sulphur burns.

Although the Whakaari White Island and Mt. Ruapehu eruptions appear very similar – they key difference was the extreme heat and steam from Whakaari White Island that caused significant burns to victims. My situation was quite the opposite, I was left crushed and fighting for my life in sub zero temperatures as hypothermia set in. I need to acknowledge that burns are likely to cause significant complexity to recovery, and victims will likely face far greater challenges that I did.

What life was like after waking up.

I recall waking up in hospital, staring at the roof of the intensive care where I remained for 3 weeks of my 9 week hospital stay. Once the wild mix of drugs wore off, I realised I had hit a fork in the road. One road was the ‘easy road and the other was the ‘hard road’. The easy road consisted of living small, shying away from challenge, sitting around home and living a completely different life. The hard road consisted of not giving up, setting big goals and chasing that life of adventure I was familiar with and wanted so bad. I made my decision – the hard road and with that came a high chance of failure. In hospital I had no idea how I would, or if I could get my life back on track. Looking back over the past 12 years, here are my top 3 ideas that got me through.

Three ideas that helped me in a tough time.

Setting 3 big goals – these gave me something to live and aim for in my darkest times; learn to walk, climb again, go back to work. They seemed impossible at the time, but I achieved them after years of hard work.
Putting my hand up for help – when I was struggling physically and mentally, I’d talk about it. Having my closest family and friends at my side was critical to my success.
Stepping outside my comfort zone – my world had been flipped and I had to become comfortable being uncomfortable. That meant taking little steps often towards my goals and get used to my new world.

At the time of writing, the recovery on Whakaari White Island eruption is still underway. Let’s have faith in New Zealand’s Search and Rescue, Police, Defence Force, hospital staff and other professionals involved. Speaking from first hand experience they’re world class, they’re trying to do their absolute best.

As New Zealanders, we need to come together and give as much time and support to those affected by the eruption as possible. There aren’t too many people who have had front row seats to a volcanic eruption, so as a survivor, I’m extending an open invitation to those injured and affected by the Whakaari White Island eruption to contact me. I want to do my bit and give back and helpout. Let’s talk about our experiences and the road to recovery together.

Kia kaha,
William Pike