Warren Macdonald

Warren Macdonald’s life’s boundaries were redefined in April 1997 with his accident on North Queensland’s Hinchinbrook Island. Climbing to the Island’s tallest peak, he became trapped beneath a one-ton slab boulder in a freak rock fall. Two days later he was rescued, only to undergo the amputation of both legs at mid thigh.

Just ten months later, he climbed Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain using a modified wheelchair and the seat of his pants, and the year after that, Tassie’s iconic Federation Peak.

In February 2003, he became the first double above-knee amputee to reach the summit of Africa’s tallest peak, Mt Kilimanjaro (19,222ft). That year he also made an ascent of Yosemite’s El Capitan, an effort requiring 2800 chin ups over three days.

Warren’s bestselling book, “A Test of Will” was the subject of the “Trapped under a Boulder” episode of the series “I Shouldn’t Be Alive”, now screening on Amazon Prime.

Warren has appeared on “Larry King Live”, “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, and “60 Minutes”.

He has made it his mission to help you change the way you see the world, and your place in it.

He splits his time between his hometown of Melbourne, and the Canadian Rockies.

Warren Talks About

The Perception Choice

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.

Return on Resilience: Bouncing Back is just the Beginning

If there’s one certainty, in business and in life, it’s that we will all face challenges; that we will all, at some point be faced with a seeming insurmountable obstacle or obstacles. When that happens, our greatest ally is found in our ability to endure; to adapt. When that happens, it pays to have banked some resilience.

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.

One Step Beyond: Setting and Reaching Impossible Goals

It’s all well and good to set seemingly impossible goals; the kind that has your team looking at you like you’re nuts. Like this time you’ve really lost it . . . You need them to see what you see. You need to convince them, to inspire your team to follow you. To show them what is possible when you’re prepared to go One Step Beyond…

• Beyond ordinary
• Beyond conventional
• Beyond perceived limitations

Expected Outcomes:

You can expect your team to become engaged in raising the performance bar.

Key Takeaways:

• Reinforced understanding of the power of purpose, i.e.: when we have purpose, we have an edge
• The ability to see obstacles as stepping-stones toward our goals
• A clear understanding of the importance of preparation in reaching your goals

It’s the end of the World as we know it, and I feel fine

Take a lesson from someone who has seen his world change on a scale few could imagine… Waking from the operation that claimed both legs, Warren woke to a whole new world, a whole new reality. Navigating a new world takes courage, that’s for sure, but our number one tool in creating our future is PERCEPTION.

We need a vision for the kind of world we want to live in. Make no mistake, the world changed in March 2020; it will never be the same again. You can react to that statement with fear, or apathy, or straight out denial, or you can respond from a place of possibility. We have an opportunity now to create something new; something better. But we need to see it first.

Warren Macdonald can help us form that vision for a new world, a better world.

In this keynote presentation, Warren shares the lessons and tools he’s used to create a remarkable life from what many would have considered a “game over” scenario.

Expected Outcomes:

• The resilience and ability to adapt to the new economy.
• A sense of responsibility leading to ownership and engagement.
• Excitement and hope instead of fear for the future.

One of life’s certainties is that nothing stays the same; the current crisis is cold, hard evidence of that. Creating a mindset that seeks solutions, that looks for opportunities rather than obstacles amidst uncertainty may well be the best investment you’ll ever make.

Next Level Quality of Care: A Patients Testimony

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 patient’s 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 centered (or patient centered) 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.