Mark Pollock

When the challenge is imposed rather than chosen, most resilience playbooks fall apart. Senior leaders are rarely short of mindset slogans. What they lack is a working model for making sound decisions and holding a team together when the facts on the ground have shifted.

Mark Pollock is an explorer, TED speaker and author who helps senior leaders sustain decision-making and team performance through imposed adversity.

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Why organisations work with Mark Pollock

  • He hands leaders a decision framework (“facts, acceptance, hope”) they can actually use mid-crisis, tested under conditions where poor judgement carries permanent consequences.
  • His collaboration work is credible because he has done it at scale, catalysing over $100 million of multi-party scientific collaboration with organisations including UCLA, Ekso Bionics and Onward Medical, the company now producing a clinical breakthrough in spinal cord injury treatment.
  • Where most speakers on resilience rely on metaphor, his frameworks have been tested in polar expeditions and in the slow work of brokering scientific collaboration across institutions.
  • His 2018 TED talk with Simone George has over 1.5 million views and has been translated into 12 languages, which means most senior audiences arrive with a shared reference point the keynote can build on.
  • The senior endorsements are unusually specific: Satya Nadella has written publicly about him, and Bank of Ireland’s Group CEO positioned his contribution to the CEO Council as a leadership lesson drawn from hard practice.

Biography highlights

  • First blind person to race to the South Pole, completing the 43-day Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race alongside Simon O’Donnell and Inge Solheim in January 2009.
  • First person with chronic complete paralysis to voluntarily take steps in a robotic exoskeleton, working with UCLA’s Prof. Reggie Edgerton on spinal cord stimulation research published by the IEEE.
  • TED2018 speaker with Simone George, “A Love Letter to Realism in a Time of Grief”; over 1.5 million views in its first six months; translated into 12 languages.
  • Author of Making It Happen; subject of the documentaries Blind Man Walking and Unbreakable: The Mark Pollock Story.
  • Chairman of Collaborative Cures and founder of the Run in the Dark global running series, which drew over 250,000 participants across all seven continents between 2011 and 2024.
  • World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and former member of the Global Futures Council on Human Enhancement; honorary doctorates from Queen’s University Belfast and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; currently pursuing a Professional Doctorate in Elite Performance (Sport) at Dublin City University.

Biography

Most frameworks for resilience were developed in environments where the stakes are low and the challenges are chosen. That is not where leaders need them. Mark Pollock’s 2018 TED talk with Simone George, “A Love Letter to Realism in a Time of Grief,” addresses the other category: the imposed challenge, where optimism alone becomes a liability and a team still has to make sound decisions. The talk has more than 1.5 million views and has been translated into 12 languages.

The credibility comes from two tested sources. In January 2009, Pollock became the first blind person to race to the South Pole, a 43-day expedition across Antarctica in temperatures down to minus 50. In 2010 he fell from an upstairs window, broke his back, and has lived with paralysis since.

The decade that followed took a distinctive shape. Pollock catalysed multi-party scientific collaboration worth over $100 million, connecting scientists, investors, technologists and regulators working on spinal cord injury. He became the first person with chronic complete paralysis to voluntarily take steps in a robotic exoskeleton, working with UCLA’s Prof. Reggie Edgerton. The company commercialising that research, Onward Medical, has since delivered the field’s most significant clinical breakthrough.

Organisations like Microsoft, Google, GSK, EY and Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One keep booking him. Senior audiences leave with two concrete frameworks: “competitor, realist, collaborator” for maintaining team conviction, and “facts, acceptance, hope” for sound judgement under pressure. Bank of Ireland’s Group CEO framed Pollock’s CEO Council session as a leadership lesson. Satya Nadella has written publicly about him.

Key speaking topics

  • Resilience under imposed pressure
  • Decision-making in crisis
  • Elite performance and mindset
  • Cross-institutional collaboration
  • Leadership in uncertainty
  • Human and machine collaboration
  • Adversity and opportunity

Ideal for

  • CEO and executive teams during major operational or strategic disruption
  • Chief People Officers and transformation leads rebuilding team confidence during prolonged change programmes
  • Leadership conferences and global off-sites that need a credible account of decision-making in crisis
  • Sales and commercial leadership teams under sustained targets and multi-market complexity

Audience outcomes

  • A decision framework (“facts, acceptance, hope”) audiences can apply in real operational crises, with worked examples from extreme environments and from scientific collaboration.
  • A mental model (“competitor, realist, collaborator”) for deciding how a team positions itself when the challenge is imposed.
  • Concrete examples of how high-performance teams hold together across disciplines and geographies, drawn from Pollock’s multi-million-dollar scientific partnerships.
  • A sharper account of what resilience actually requires when the situation is imposed.

Talks

Adversity & Challenges: Maintaining a Resilient Mindset Under Pressure

Equips teams with a working method for responding when the challenge is imposed and the usual playbook no longer applies.

Key takeaways:

  • How active decision-making sustains resilience through sustained pressure
  • The “competitor, realist, collaborator” model as a practical tool for team behaviour
  • Why the “facts, acceptance, hope” approach holds sound judgement in place when circumstances shift

Leadership & Motivation: Leading Through a Crisis and Developing Intrinsic Motivation

A session for senior leaders on holding teams together and keeping forward movement intact when uncertainty and change become the operating conditions.

Key takeaways:

  • How attitude and decision-making translate into leadership behaviour during sustained crisis
  • Methods for developing intrinsic motivation in a team when external conditions are hostile
  • Specific approaches leaders can use to guide decisions at crucible moments

Mindset & Performance: Challenging Expectations to Perform at a Higher Level

Pushes senior audiences to examine the expectations they hold of themselves and their teams in the pursuit of higher performance.

Key takeaways:

  • Why sustained high performance is built through deliberate action over time
  • How the expectations leaders hold of themselves shape what a team is willing to attempt
  • The role of mindset in raising the standard a team considers normal

Collaboration & Teamwork: Creating and Motivating Dispersed Teams Across Disciplines and Geographies

Examines the human dimension of the Fourth Industrial Revolution through paralysis research and the practical intersection of robotics, neuromodulation and AI.

Key takeaways:

  • Perspectives on the current frontier where human capability and emerging technology meet
  • Insight into robotics, neuromodulation and AI as deployed in spinal cord injury research
  • Why the human dimension of the Fourth Industrial Revolution matters for organisational innovation

Human Enhancement: Where Humans and Technology Collide

Examines the human dimension of the Fourth Industrial Revolution through paralysis research and the practical intersection of robotics, neuromodulation and AI.

Key takeaways:

  • Perspectives on the current frontier where human capability and emerging technology meet
  • Insight into robotics, neuromodulation and AI as deployed in spinal cord injury research
  • Why the human dimension of the Fourth Industrial Revolution matters for organisational innovation

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Testimonials

We require our global teams to maintain a winner’s mindset over time. Mark’s leadership insights resonated with our nternational team and provided a catalyst for further reflection at LinkedIn.
Global Head of Marketing Solutions, Linkedin
If you are looking for inspiration and impact, look no further than Mark Pollock, he stands out when it comes to leading through a crisis.
Vice President, Udemy EMEA
Mark spoke with honesty, openness and humour and it was a keynote that none of us will ever forget,
Vice President CDTO office, GSK
Inspirational, insightful and impactful were how our senior leaders described Mark’s keynote at a previous event at ICON. That’s why we invited him back again and again,
Chief HR Officer, ICON PLC.
Outstanding! Mark is a skilled natural conversationalist, deep thinker, engaging speaker and resilient leader.
Managing Director, Google Customer Solutions, Northern Europe
Mark’s words continue to influence how we confront challenges individually and within our teams across our organisation.
President, Glanbia Performance Nutrition EMEA & ASPAC
Mark’s session was exactly the mix of theory and practice that I hoped Mark would deliver to prompt our team to think about their wellbeing.
Managing Director, Central & Eastern Europe, Google
At a time of relentless uncertainty, we invited Mark into EY to share his insights into turning challenges into opportunities. It was outstanding and we look forward to having Mark deliver another session in the coming months.
Partner & Head of Tax, EY Ireland
As part of our ongoing collaboration with Mark through our Applied Science division, we invited him to share his perspective with our colleagues at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team. During a session called ‘Collaborating to Solve Complex Problems’ Mark and his colleague Paula Cunniffe provided deep insights into creating a culture of trust for high-performance. We look forward to working together further in the coming months.
Head of Corporate Communications, Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
At Paypal, we work hard to find ways to achieve more together and, over 6 months, Mark prompted our leadership team to think deeply about how to adapt, perform, and collaborate better. The impact has been excellent, and we look forward to working with Mark and his colleague Paula Cunniffe again soon.
Head of GCCI Strategy & Global Operations Internal Controls. Dundalk Site Leader, Paypal
Uncertainty and change has swept through the airline industry and we are facing that challenge head on at Avolon, as Mark says “Dealing with the Facts”. To support our employees to remain resilient and adaptive to the evolving situation, we engaged Mark to work with us through his ‘Challenge is the Opportunity’ webinars co-hosted with Paula Cunniffe. Everything from the opening presentation to the interview and interactive Q&A worked excellently. The learning and mental diversion for all was hugely impactful, insightful and worthwhile.
Head of North America, Avolon
With Mark’s deep understanding of how to navigate a path through crisis, we asked him to contribute to our most recent CEO Council at Bank of Ireland. Co-hosted with his colleague Paula Cunniffe, Mark prompted us to consider how we, as leaders, turn challenges into opportunities and provided a mental model for doing it – facts, acceptance and hope. This isn’t just a personal resilience story, it’s a leadership lesson.
Group Chief Executive, Bank of Ireland
Mark used his story to encourage us to think differently about how we decide to respond to challenges, regardless of where they come from.
Director & Associate General, Facebook
It was a privilege to have Mark address both our customers and our Management Team at Google. He delivers that rare combination of inspiration, perspective and practical insight that forces his audience to really reflect on how they rise to their personal challenges and set goals that seem unachievable. He delivers his message in a deeply personal, humorous and memorable way that lands with his audience. It was a pleasure for all of us to spend time in his company. Inspiring.
Shane Holland
Regional Director, Northern Europe, Google
Mark presented at our Global Sales Partners Conference in Twitter and was exceptional. His ability to link his personal story to people’s everyday life and work challenges was excellent. The session was not just about listening to an incredible story, it was a chance for everyone to really think about themselves. There is something in this talk for everyone.
Barry Collins
Senior Director EMEA, Twitter
Mark opened our global launch meeting in Rome. His motivational speech on “Mindset” really captivated and helped to motivate the entire launch team! Mark’s inspirational story about mindset and perseverance linked directly to the launch plans and his three themes (e.g. competitor vs. spectator, realist vs. optimist, and collaborator vs. soloist) made the talk very relevant to our journey ahead with the product launch.
Global Brand Leader, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD)
Mark spoke at our first ever global managers meeting at Dr Martens in London. Mark’s powerful talk around perseverance, teamwork and collaboration really resonated and mirrored our own brand values. Mark’s delivery connected with our entire team and was continuously referred to over the whole event. We would absolutely recommend Mark as a truly inspirational individual who encouraged us all to re-frame our thinking and approach
Change Communication and Culture Lead, Dr Martens
Mark was a speaker at National Geographic’s Extreme Explorers dinner in Davos in January 2016. His personal story and insights were incredibly powerful, and clearly had a profound impact on everyone in the room. He embodies the spirit, resilience and determination that are the hallmarks of what it means to be an explorer.
Editor in Chief, National Geographic Magazine
An amazing, humbling experience. Mark held a room of over 400 people and you could not hear a pin drop – his messages on continuously reinventing yourself and using challenges to define your future was done in an engaging, perceptive, inquisitive and humorous way. His insights truly connected with the audience on so many levels and left them with one enduring quote “…sometimes you do not choose a challenge, it chooses you…”. Mark is proof that it’s one thing to read the theory but quite another to live it.
Board Member, Pharmaceuticals, Bayer PLC
Mark’s contribution was a perfect fit at our global conference at CDB Aviation. His experiences of creating multi-national teams aligned perfectly with our international audience. And, Mark’s insights into innovation, collaboration and leadership informed many of the discussions across our teams from Europe, Asia and the US for the rest of the conference and continues to do so during our day to day work.
President and Chief Commercial Officer, CDB Aviation
Thank you for your presentation at our 2018 Partners’ Conference. The story, your response and the manner in which you have turned such adversity into a positive is awe-inspiring enough. But the real message for me lies in your delivery which is laced with humour, warmth and humility. As you may have detected, building our community is very important in the business we’re building and the characteristics you displayed, coupled with your inspiring messages, will serve as model behaviours for everyone who heard you.
Head of PFP Change & Controls, Prudential Financial Planning
As part of our vision to change lives through physical activity and sport we invited Mark and his colleague Paula Cunniffe to contribute to our first virtual GM Moving conference. Focusing on how to bring people together to solve complex problems, the session couldn’t have been more aligned with our efforts to create collaborations with multiple agencies across systems. And, as we took a step into the unknown with our first online conference, Mark and Paula’s thought provoking contribution launched the day perfectly.
Exec Lead (GM Moving) and Chief Executive Officer (GreaterSport)
Mark opened our virtual conference at Cisco EMEAR, titled ‘Making It Happen’. I had high hopes and expectations and they were all exceeded significantly. Since the session, so many of our business partners have commented on how much they appreciated Mark’s input and how we used his insights to set the tone for the conference. Most importantly, Mark is living proof that we are able to overcome any challenges.
EMEAR Strategic Account Lead, Cisco
Mark and his co-host, Paula Cunniffe, provided us with an insight into how to adapt to the circumstances that we are now operating in – an excellent, impactful intervention at this time.
Chief Investment Officer, Islandbridge Capital
I was honored to meet with Mark Pollock in Ireland this year, where we engaged with teachers and students at St. Patrick’s College to discuss the ways technology is changing how students learn. Mark is an extreme adventurer and athlete who has raced to the South Pole — and even more incredibly, he was the first blind man to ever do so. Mark is a brilliant example of the fact that we can always achieve more than what we think is possible.
Satya Nadella
CEO, Microsoft
During our recent away day in Belfast, Mark spoke to our team who had travelled from across the UK. He was truly inspiring, sharing insights into resilience and adaptability while showing how important it is to be both competitive and collaborative if you want to succeed – a powerful message for the challenges and constant changes we face in our business. The entire team were not only fully engaged on the day, but since Mark’s talk, we have reflected on what he said and has undoubtedly shaped how we think about what we do at all levels of the team. Truly inspirational.
Business Development Director, Nestlé Nespresso UK&ROI
“The rule of seven is one of the oldest concepts in marketing, the rule states that you must hear something seven times before you act. Mark is a rule breaker in so many ways, but most importantly his message to be a competitor or spectator, realist or optimist, collaborator or soloist was a onetime hit with our team at LinkedIn. I have heard Mark speak many times and each time I come away with a renewed sense of purpose and willingness to act. Mark’s drive to build radical collaboration hubs is one of the most important efforts in his drive to find a cure for paralysis however it’s also the biggest lesson he has for those he interacts with.”
Aaron Downs
Head of Solutions SMB, EMEA and Growth Markets, LinkedIn
At the European Investment Bank, we have a clear understanding of our mission to improve the state of EU countries through strategic investment. And, Mark joined us in Luxembourg to help our employees face the challenge of implementing that vision. His insights into resilience, innovation and collaboration were powerful, emotional and uplifting in equal measure, an excellent contribution to our event.
Vice President, European Investment Bank
Mark’s fascinating contribution was a perfect fit at our global conference to celebrate 30 years in business. His experiences of making decisions in difficult circumstances aligned with the challenges faced by our Brunswick people and our clients. Mark’s insights into resilience, innovation and leadership prompted action across our international team at Brunswick. He is truly an inspiration and a fantastic example of what we can all achieve through sheer hard work, determination and imagination.
Sir Alan Parker
Chairman, Brunswick Group
Whenever we gather our demonstration team together, we seek to motivate and inspire them to each personally impact the business when they are back in the trade environment. We took the opportunity to bring Mark into the meeting to deliver a powerful message, that we hoped would resonate with the team throughout a key trading period. We certainly got the reaction we were looking for thanks to the compelling way in which Mark delivered such a personal experience, blending moments of real pain with great hope and at times humour, ensuring the team left the meeting with a renewed enthusiasm and belief to think differently and approach their challenges head on – Thank You Mark!
National Sales Manager, Nestlé Nespresso UK&ROI
Mark spoke to our global team during our sales development conference at LinkedIn. His experiences of remaining resilient when faced with challenges and creating collaborations that have never been done before was exactly the message that we were looking for. Mark connected with everyone in the room, despite the multiple nationalities involved and his messages filtered into many of our discussions over the remaining days at the conference.
Global Programs Manager, LinkedIn
At our first virtual global team day in AMCS, we wanted to give employees some perspective s on how to deal with the challenges presented by Covid-19. Having heard Mark speak previously at live events, I felt that he would contribute greatly to that effort – he did not disappoint, mixing story and theory brilliantly.
Head of Human Resources, AMCS
What a fantastically inspirational session with Mark Pollock and his colleague Paula Cunniffe. We invited Mark to share his deep insights into how we adapt, perform and collaborate with our multi-cultural team across Europe. Combining personal experiences with the neuroscience of human performance, Mark left us with practical and actionable guidance – relevant to both our professional and personal lives.
Associate General Counsel and Director of Corporate, External & Legal Affairs, Microsoft Europe
Mark Pollock has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to adapt as he has dealt with challenges in his life. And, during my recent LinkedIn Live interview with him, Colleagues from across our global team at Unilever, as well as public subscribers worldwide, tuned in to learn about building resilience, collaborating with others and achieving more together. Our expectations were high and Mark delivered an incredible session. He is clearly a thought leader in this space and we look forward to working with him again soon
Global Executive Vice President of Marketing & the Global Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Unilever
What a fantastically inspirational session with Mark Pollock and his colleague Paula Cunniffe. We invited Mark to share his deep insights into how we adapt, perform and collaborate with our multi-cultural team across Europe. Combining personal experiences with the neuroscience of human performance, Mark left us with practical and actionable guidance – relevant to both our professional and personal lives.
Associate General Counsel and Director of Corporate, External & Legal Affairs, Microsoft Europe

Books

Making It Happen
When Mark Pollock lost his sight in 1998 at the age of twenty-two, he thought his life was over. The story of how he overcame the…
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Fees

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Home Country €12000 to €40000 £10,001 - £35,000 $15000 - $50000
Asia Pacific €12000 to €40000 £10,001 - £35,000 $15000 - $50000
Europe €12000 to €40000 £10,001 - £35,000 $15000 - $50000
Middle East & Africa €12000 to €40000 £10,001 - £35,000 $15000 - $50000
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United Kingdom €12000 to €40000 £10,001 - £35,000 $15000 - $50000
US East Coast €12000 to €40000 £10,001 - £35,000 $15000 - $50000
US West Coast €12000 to €40000 £10,001 - £35,000 $15000 - $50000
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