Kevin Biggar

Kevin Biggar's Biography

Kevin Biggar takes pride in delivering tailored keynotes and workshops that are fast paced, entertaining and informative. Packed with practical skills and techniques to enable participants to make a significant impact in their performance. Kevin has a B.Sc degree from Auckland University and a Masters in Environment and Development from the University of Cambridge, UK.

He worked for the NZ Treasury and the Boston Consulting Group before deciding to take part in the world’s toughest endurance event- the trans-Atlantic rowing race. Despite not having rowed before he won the race and set a new world record. Together with his rowing partner Jamie Fitzgerald he went on to become the first NZ team to trek unsupported and unresupplied to the South Pole. He has authored three books and co-hosted the TVNZ adventure documentary series ‘First Crossings’ and ‘Intrepid NZ.’

Kevin used his business skills to great effect, analysing and innovating on the most critical elements of the preparations. However, plans went awry just six weeks before the start when his rowing partner pulled out and 22 year old Jamie Fitzgerald signed on as a last minute replacement.

“We encountered storms, curious whales, sleep deprivation, breakages, hallucinations, stinging jellyfish and were dramatically thrown out of our boat in a night time capsize just 130 miles from Barbados, leading to a desperate and thrilling sprint to the finish. In the end, our rookie crew not only won the race we also set a new world record.”

Throughout the preparations and the journey Kevin learned valuable lessons about goal setting, determination, teamwork under pressure, persevering through adversity and maximising performance.

The incredible story of his transformation from couch potato to world record holder is told in ‘The Oarsome Adventures of a Fat Boy Rower’ published by Random House and awarded the Sunday Star Times ‘Sports Book of the Year 2008′.

Kevin then took on an even more ridiculous challenge – the first ever unsupported trek from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back. Starting with very limited experience (Jamie had never seen snow falling) they spent months researching, consulting with their patron Sir Edmund Hillary, training in the Arctic and rehearsing the skills they would need to survive in the highest, driest, windiest and coldest place on Earth.

The skills learned in the Atlantic were tested again and this time taken to another level. Pulling loads that started at 160kg and temperatures as cold as -40C, they battled frostbite, injury, whiteouts, crevasses, gear failure and slow starvation. In the 52 days it took to get to the Pole Kevin lost 50 pounds.

Kevin then co hosted with Jamie Fitzgerald the TVNZ documentary series ‘First Crossings’ and then ‘Intrepid NZ’. In these shows they recreated some of the hardest parts of pioneering adventure stories in New Zealand.

Kevins professional career has included working in problem solving, consulting and strategy roles at The NZ Treasury and large multinationals like The Boston Consulting Group, as well as small businesses and more recently as the CEO of a software startup. This varied background combined with the universal appeal of his adventure stories means that he’s able to relate to a wide variety of audiences, ages and at all levels from the Board, to CEOs to frontline staff.

Whether it’s to a small group of senior management at an executive retreat, a team off-site, or a keynote to 1800 sales staff, Kevin’s advice about how to unleash your potential – shared in highly visual and entertaining presentations or dynamic interactive workshops that have made a lasting impact on thousands of people.

Speaking Topics Include

Fearlessly facing Challenges

Few things stay the same in business. Competitors get faster and smarter. Consumers want more for less. To take your organisation to the next level of performance will often require setting and achieving audacious commercial goals – from achieving dramatically raised sales targets to rapidly developing new products.

This presentation confronts those unspoken doubts head-on and provides tips, tools and realistic strategies to help refocus team members on what they can control, build resilience, create momentum and achieve success.

Energising and Uniting Teams

There is plenty of evidence that shows that teams produce better results than individuals – but only when a team is functioning well. Everyone has experienced the frustration, aggravation and productivity loss of being in a team that is dysfunctional. If the team dynamic is starting to turn sour it is best to address it early before problems become entrenched.
This presentation is about improving the culture within a team, about setting up the ground rules for behaviour and heading off problems before they become serious issues. It's suitable for a team that's just starting out, a team that is starting to show a few cracks or a team that wants to improve performance.

Taking performance to the next level

Every organisation faces times where performance plateaus when the workforce is firmly within their comfort zone. At these times what is needed is a bit of a circuit breaker, something to knock the problems and challenges back into perspective. Something to get people excited, and believing again in their own ability.

This presentation provides the steps for how to break through the plateaus and get the mindset to achieve even more.

Boost Your Mental Toughness

The single most important factor in achieving success is mental toughness or ‘resilience’ – the ability to bounce back aftershocks and setbacks, and persevere through adversity. Think of the young Sir Ed hell-bent for the Pole, or Buck Shelford playing on, in some people there seems to be a built-in resilience and persistence. For the rest of us sometimes this is easier said than done. Not always but sometimes, there is a tendency to internalise the reasons for a setback, generalise it to other areas and to believe that things won't improve. Fortunately, there are a range of skills and techniques, which if learned, can dramatically improve our mental toughness.

This entertaining one-hour keynote, or thought-provoking half-day workshop, is about identifying, exercising and growing your staff's emotional muscles to they have the ability to roll with the punches and continue moving forward even stronger than before. Participants particularly enjoy applying their new theories by analysing how X-Factor and The Voice contestants, along with presidential candidates and Olympic athletes, process setbacks!

It will boost the performance of any group but particularly those staff that are dealing with adversity – for example, salespeople, call centre or support desk operators, employees coping with change and management of all levels!