Epic Leadership In The Turning Points With Peter Baines

Welcome to Episode Two, Season Two of The Decoding Purpose Podcast.

I'm going to kick off today's podcast with a quote by Steve Jobs that I love.  

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

The reason I bring up this quote is that when I interviewed today's guest, I suddenly felt conscious of the fact that I was in one of those ‘looking backwards’ moments. That the person sitting there across from me in the studio was not only an influential person but a person who influenced my career in ways I could have never anticipated upon meeting them. 

Why is that you may ask? I have spent most of my career working alongside some of the world's best thought leaders. They all had influence, but there were a few that also created epic social impact. Today's guest is one of those people. I first met Peter Baines in my early twenties and his presence in the formative years of my career in the speaking industry, was in looking back one of the main influences in my life leading me to my passion for understanding purpose driven influence. The kind that changes the world. 

Pete's story also happens to be jaw dropping! Why? Because investigating homicides, leading international teams into scenes of crisis and disaster is not your typical path to becoming a speaker or business consultant. Then again, Pete learnt about leadership on the front line. Where it matters most. He worked on the ground after the 2002 Bali Bombing and the 2004 Boxing Day Thailand Tsunami where his life changed forever. This was the turning point that ignited Pete's purpose - The creation of Hands Across The Water, a charity on a mission to provide children in Thailand with a life of choice.

Fifteen years after starting the charity he now spends much of his time helping other charity leaders through The Growth Project and advises business on how they can and indeed should benefit from their engagement with their community partners through corporate social responsibility programs. 

Welcome to the podcast, Peter Baines.