Mark’s 16-year career with the Australian Military and 6-year career with Australian Special forces has taken him to the most remote of places overseas. As a Troop Commander in charge of 30 elite soldiers, Mark's role was to lead combat missions deep behind enemy lines. At the end of his career, he had completed 10 tours of duty to Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor, Lebanon and the Solomon Islands.
Mark's successful recovery and growth led him to embark on a high-profile career in business. He studied with the Wharton School of Business - before joining the elite consulting firm McKinsey & Company in New York City. Mark was listed in Wharton’s prestigious 40 under 40 awards for business excellence.
In 2017, Mark was a popular contestant in Australian Survivor, and will be starring in the TV show The World’s Toughest Race: Eco Challenge Fiji 2019 (screening worldwide in April 2020)
He is a passionate owner of a tough-luxury e-commerce brand called Kill Kapture, and now works as a corporate speaker training thousands of clients each year in Australia and the U.S.A. Mark’s wife is Samantha Gash, an elite endurance athlete, and they have a two-year-old boy called Harry.
Talking Points
Peak Performance Under Stress
In this 45-minute session, Mark focuses on what aspects of life you can control, and what parts you can ignore. The aim of these sessions is to provide practical steps and tools for maintaining mindsets and capabilities needed to thrive under stress. Mark reviews the science of routine, exercise, health and hobbies in maintaining peak performance in any stressful situation. This is applicable to those working from home in isolation, or in any high-stress job.
Peak Performance Under Stress
Battlefield: Leadership in Uncertainty
Focusing on the skills and mindsets needed to lead teams under extreme uncertainty and using examples from Special Operations, startups, and McKinsey, Mark focuses on tactical tips you can use from Day 1 to improve your leadership and drive results.
Battlefield: Leadership in Uncertainty
The Mind: Mental Resilience
Focusing on the skills and mindsets needed to prevent mental illness, and to recover and grow from trauma and failure, Mark draws from neurobiology and uses personal examples to illustrate a proven approach to prevention, recovery and growth from failure and trauma.The Mind: Mental Resilience
Execution eats Strategy for Breakfast.
Mark shares anecdotes about a hard-earned lesson: execute quickly, with a sound plan. Learn about goal setting, asymmetric warfare, contingency planning and the impact of emotions in a team setting.
Execution eats Strategy for Breakfast.
Video
Mark Wales | Saxton Speakers
Mark’s 16-year career with the Australian Military and 6-year career with Australian Special forces has taken him to the most remote of places overseas. As a Troop Commander in charge of 30 elite soldiers, Mark's role was to lead combat missions deep behind enemy lines. At the end of his career, he had completed 10 tours of duty to Afghanistan, Iraq, East Timor, Lebanon and the Solomon Islands. Mark's successful recovery and growth led him to embark on a high-profile career in business. He studied with the Wharton School of Business - before joining the elite consulting firm McKinsey & Company in New York City. Mark was listed in Wharton’s prestigious 40 under 40 awards for business excellence.Mark Wales was an outstanding Guest Speaker at our regional health service AGM. With a mixed audience of over 200 people including staff and community members, Mark’s fabulous presentation a ... keep reading Northeast Health Wangaratta
Mark delivered a thought-provoking and insightful presentation. He displayed a level of vulnerability which was refreshing and enabled the audience to connect with him and his story. Mark also provided some very practical tips and was able to inspire others to make positive changes for both to improve mental health and perform better in the workplace. Mark made himself available during breaks and lunch to speak with individuals and answer questions and this was appreciated by many. On an administrative note, Mark was easy to contact, engage with and he was punctual and well prepared.
Mark was very engaging and provided the perfect message that the team required as we head into another year of selling. Mark delivered a message that demonstrated mental strong, commitment, ownership and emotion. I would highly recommend Mark.
Mark spoke to our group of approximately 100 executives at a high profile leadership offsite. He led topics related to mental health and effective techniques for stress management in the workplace. He was deeply credible and highly engaging, drawing on his experience from both the battlefield and the boardroom. We would be thrilled to have Mark join us again in the future and would certainly recommend him for other engagements.
In his ‘Peer Perspectives on Leadership’ keystone speech at Wharton, Mark passed on thrilling lessons about life and leadership as a Troop Commander in the Australian Special Air Service Regiment. The unit specialized in sensitive strategic operations, hostage recovery, counter terrorism, and precision air strikes. Mark completed 10 tours of duty overseas, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands. Experiences in each of these countries taught Mark about the importance of how personal values and your perspectives on life can shape your approach to leadership. An unforgettable talk.
