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Mark Pollock

Explorer, Speaker and Founder

It is tough to deal with uncertainty and change. Your people won’t do it by chance. With a high-impact catalyst you can help them act with the courage to make it happen. Mark Pollock is that catalyst and that’s why leaders worldwide have asked him to support their teams to remain resilient, adapt to change and collaborate with others for 20 years. As a speaker, Mark is best known for his 2018 TED Talk focused on resolving the tension between acceptance and hope delivered jointly with his fiancée, Simone George. It has gathered over 2 million views and has been subtitled in 17 languages.

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Mark Pollock's videos

What Mark Pollock's clients say

Here is some of the feedback from audiences and clients who have worked with Mark.
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How would Mark Pollock deliver their presentation at your event?
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Languages: 

  • English
Click the button below to check Mark’s fees and availability for your event.
CHECK AVAILABILITY

Check availability

Check Mark Pollock's availability for your event

Complete the form below to check Mark Pollock's availability. If you prefer, you can also send an email directly to our head office.

How would Mark Pollock deliver their presentation at your event?
Please provide details of your budget for Mark Pollock's speaking fee, including currency.

Mark Pollock's 2025 biography

About Mark Pollock

Everything Mark Pollock does is about inspiring leaders and their teams to build resilience, optimise performance and collaborate with others so that they achieve more than they thought possible.

Unbroken by blindness in 1998, Mark became an adventure athlete competing in ultra-endurance races across deserts, mountains, and the polar ice caps including being the first blind person to race to the
South Pole. He also won silver and bronze medals for rowing at the Commonwealth Games and set up an international motivational speaking business.

In 2010, a fall from a second story window nearly killed him. Mark broke his back and the damage to his spinal cord left him paralysed. Now he is on a new expedition, this time exploring the intersection where humans and technology collide to cure paralysis in our lifetime.

Chairman of Collaborative Cures and founder of the global running series Run in the Dark, Mark has been involved in catalysing collaborations worth over $100 million on his mission to cure paralysis. He was selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, served on the Global Futures Council on Human Enhancement and the Advisory Board of Cybathlon. In addition, he is a Wings for Life Ambassador (Europe) and was on the Board of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (USA) for a decade.

Currently Mark is pursuing a Professional Doctorate in Elite Performance (Sport) at Dublin City University, he is author of ‘Making It Happen’ and is the subject of the acclaimed documentaries’ Blind Man Walking ’and ‘Unbreakable – The Mark Pollock Story’. Mark has been awarded honorary doctorates by The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and also from Queens University Belfast. Furthermore, he holds a diploma in Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century from Harvard University, degrees from Trinity College Dublin and UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School.

Articles and podcasts

Mark Pollock's 2025 talks & topics

Adversity & Challenges – Maintaining a Resilient Mindset Under Pressure

Sometimes we choose our challenges, sometimes our challenges choose us. What we decide to do about them is what counts. Deciding to be a competitor, a realist and a collaborator offers your people a chance of maintaining a resilient mindset under pressure. Mark Pollock’s keynote on adversity and challenges uses the power of active decision making to deal with challenges, regardless of where they come from, to help your people become more resilient.

Leadership & Motivation – Leading Through a Crisis and Developing Intrinsic Motivation to Move Forward

Uncertainty and change typify a crisis and it’s difficult to lead in such circumstances. By providing your people with insights into the resilience, attitude and decisions of others facing extreme circumstances you will help them to develop the intrinsic motivation to move forward. Mark Pollock’s keynote on leadership and motivation delivers deep insights for leaders to navigate through the crucible moments they face and lead others to achieve more.

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

It is tough to deliver world class performance. Your people won’t do it by chance. With a high impact catalyst you can help them act with the courage to make it happen. Mark Pollock’s keynote on mindset and performance is that catalyst – it challenges your people to examine expectations of themselves and others to perform at a higher level.

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

Galvanising a disparate group of people around a common goal is not easy. Yet when it happens, when we collaborate, that is when major breakthroughs happen. Mark Pollock’s keynote on collaboration and teamwork provides your people with insight into how high performance teams get things done when others can’t.

Human Enhancement – Exploring the Intersection Where Humans and Technology Collide During the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Exploring the intersection where humans and technology collide is essential for businesses to maintain their competitive edge. By raising the consciousness of your people to the human dimension of the 4th industrial revolution, you will empower and encourage innovation at the edge. Mark Pollock’s keynote on human enhancement provides your people with insight into the transformative intersection of technology and humankind as he explores a cure for paralysis using robotics, neuro-modulation, AI and VR/AR.

Turning Challenges into Opportunities – The Resilience Cycle

The positive mental attitude industry requires us to be optimists. Yet optimists rely on hope alone and leave themselves open to becoming disappointed and demoralised if the best-case scenario doesn’t play out.
In contrast, realists manage to confront the brutal facts while also keeping hope alive. The realists have resolved the tension between acceptance and hope by running both in parallel.
During this masterclass focused on how to adapt and build resilience, participants develop a deeper understanding of how to rapidly adapt to change and deal with uncertainty.
Turning Challenges into Opportunities masterclass prompts participants to reflect on how to:
  • Respond to expected and unexpected challenges
  • Confront the facts of their current reality
  • Anchor themselves with a sense of control
  • Chart a path through uncertainty

Exploring Performance Potential – The Competitor’s Mindset

In a world where challenges are inevitable, some people are held back while others are propelled forward. Either we sit on the side lines as spectators, or we step into the arena as competitors.
Competitors find a way to pursue success and risk failure. They define themselves by their willingness to try, displaying a mindset that values the endeavour as much as the outcome.
During this masterclass, participants reflect on the science of human performance and why recovery is a non-negotiable in reaching their potential.
The masterclass prompts participants to reflect on how to:
  • Embrace a competitor mindset to reach their potential
  • Use clarity, commitment, and connection for optimal performance
  • Create the conditions to enter the high performance flow state
  • Treat recovery as a peak performance non-negotiable

Collaborating to Solve Complex Problems – The Trust Imperative

It is easy, even for world class performers, to work in isolation as soloists. Yet it is when we find a way to galvanise a disparate group of people around a common goal that we have a chance of making major breakthroughs. The question is how do we create the conditions for people to become collaborators?

When we’re operating in a stable environment, we need structure and hierarchy to scale existing solutions. But when challenges appear and the path forward is uncertain, we need something different. We need flatter collaborative approaches with people working together to achieve more.

The masterclass prompts participants to reflect on how to:

  • Choose to be a collaborator not a soloist
  • Create the conditions for collaboration
  • Build trust with other people
  • Develop high-trust teams

Adversity & Challenges — Maintaining a Resilient Mindset Under Pressure.

Sometimes we choose our challenges, sometimes our challenges choose us. What we decide to do about them is what counts. Deciding to be a competitor, a realist and a collaborator offers your people a chance of maintaining a resilient mindset under pressure. Mark Pollock’s keynote on adversity and challenges uses the power of active decision making to deal with challenges, regardless of where they come from, to help your people become more resilient.

Leadership & Motivation — Leading Through a Crisis and Developing Intrinsic Motivation to Move Forward.

Uncertainty and change typify a crisis and it’s difficult to lead in such circumstances. By providing your people with insights into the resilience, attitude and decisions of others facing extreme circumstances you will help them to develop the intrinsic motivation to move forward, Mark Pollock’s keynote on leadership and motivation delivers deep insights for leaders to navigate through the crucible moments they face and lead others to achieve more.

MASTERCLASSES

Mark’s 3-part ‘Challenge is the Opportunity’ masterclass series can be delivered individually or as 3 connected sessions.

Delivered in 45 – 60 minutes, Mark’s masterclasses are split into 3 parts:

Masterclass Format
Part 1 Talk: Mark delivers a short keynote to introduce his story and frame the session. (15 – 20 minutes)

Part 2 Interview: Using set questions provided by Mark, the client or MC interviews him to understand how to implement what he has proposed in his short keynote. (15 – 20 minutes)

Part 3 Q&A: Attendees ask Mark questions facilitated by the client or MC. (15 – 20 minutes)

MASTERCLASS TOPICS

Turning Challenges into Opportunities – The Resilience Cycle

The positive mental attitude industry requires us to be optimists. Yet optimists rely on hope alone and leave themselves open to becoming disappointed and demoralised if the best-case scenario doesn’t play out.

In contrast, realists manage to confront the brutal facts while also keeping hope alive. The realists have resolved the tension between acceptance and hope by running both in parallel.

During this masterclass focused on how to adapt and build resilience, participants develop a deeper understanding of how to rapidly adapt to change and deal with uncertainty.

Turning Challenges into Opportunities masterclass prompts participants to reflect on how to:

  • Respond to expected and unexpected challenges
  • Confront the facts of their current reality
  • Anchor themselves with a sense of control
  • Chart a path through uncertainty

Exploring Performance Potential – The Competitor’s Mindset

In a world where challenges are inevitable, some people are held back while others are propelled forward. Either we sit on the sidelines as spectators, or we step into the arena as competitors.

Competitors find a way to pursue success and risk failure. They define themselves by their willingness to try, displaying a mindset that values the endeavour as much as the outcome.

During this masterclass, participants reflect on the science of human performance and why recovery is a non-negotiable in reaching their potential.

The masterclass prompts participants to reflect on how to:

  • Embrace a competitor mindset to reach their potential
  • Use clarity, commitment, and connection for optimal performance
  • Create the conditions to enter the high performance flow state
  • Treat recovery as a peak performance non-negotiable

Collaborating to Solve Complex Problems – The Trust Imperative

It is easy, even for world class performers, to work in isolation as soloists. Yet it is when we find a way to galvanise a disparate group of people around a common goal that we have a chance of making major breakthroughs. The question is how do we create the conditions for people to become collaborators?

When we’re operating in a stable environment, we need structure and hierarchy to scale existing solutions. But when challenges appear and the path forward is uncertain, we need something different. We need flatter collaborative approaches with people working together to achieve more.

The masterclass prompts participants to reflect on how to:

  • Choose to be a collaborator not a soloist
  • Create the conditions for collaboration
  • Build trust with other people
  • Develop high-trust teams