Ken Hames has had a fascinating life. From humble beginnings he eventually rose to the rank of Major in the SAS and, as the Commander of the Anti-Terrorist Squadron was graded ‘outstanding’ as a leader. He served in many operational theatres, completing no less than 10 tours of Northern Ireland during the height of the troubles. He is one of the very few British officers to have worn the red beret of the Parachute Brigade, the green beret of the Royal Marines and the sand beret of the Special Air Service. Having left the military to join, as he puts it, ‘the more dangerous world of civilian life’, he had to make a massive re-adjustment to working in the complex and often unforgiving world of television and business development. Ken has created and fronted adventure programmes for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, CBBC, Sky and the Discovery Channel. His ground breaking series ‘Beyond Boundaries’, saw him lead teams of people with disability across the jungles of Nicaragua, the desert of Namibia and the Andes in Ecuador. He continues to work in the documentary world in particular with high-risk expeditions. Ken has become one of the UK’s top business and motivational speakers, able to adapt to small or large audiences and incorporate the key business and leadership messages of a particular organisation. His talks are centered around leadership emotional intelligence and a ‘people first strategy’. With a Special Forces (SAS) background and business acumen Ken has the knowledge and the gravitas to hold an audience’s attention and challenge their thinking. He offers some powerful links between leading hardened SAS soldiers and the pressures of modern business practice. Ken has been a key-note speaker with some of the biggest companies in the world including EON, Shell and Microsoft. As an experienced ‘Executive and Team Coach’, Ken also works with Boards and other executives on building high performance teams in order to facilitate high business performance. Ken’s mantra is ‘Authentic Leadership’ at all times. More recently, Ken gained an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration, from Bristol University for his work in developing outstanding leaders and high performing teams in diverse business environments. In the 2017 New Year’s Honours list, Ken was awarded the MBE for his enormous contribution to charitable causes. In particular, leading and enabling disadvantaged young people through the Duke of Edinburgh’s award and also leading the Community Self Build Agency in supporting homeless ex-service personnel to build their own homes and get back into work.