Ken Hames

Ken Hames is one of the country's leading motivational speakers focusing mainly on leadership attitude and competence training. He provides a fascinating insight into pressure, survival, teamwork and motivation. His presentations bring strong evidence of best practice in difficult and demanding circumstances. His main effort is to promote development, provide motivation and give inspiration to leaders and managers. With his business development work he can combine the integration of success factors.

Ken Hames served in the British Forces for 25 years and is one of the elite British Officers to have worn the red beret of the parachute parade, the green beret of the Royal Marines and the sand beret of the Special Air Service. His military experiences have taken him world wide and he was one of the last British soldiers to guard Rudolph Hesse in the infamous stronghold of Spandau in Berlin. Ironically he was there when the Berlin Wall was finally broken down as one of the last British Officers to work behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany. Ken’s operational experience is vast. He completed no less than eight tours of Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles. He was also at the liberation of Port Stanley in the Falklands and served in the SAS in the first Gulf War after commanding Britain’s anti-terrorist team for one year.

Ken Hames completed one of his toughest challenges to date In February of this year, leading a team of people with disabilities across Nicaragua from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. This started with the inhospitable Mosquito Coast, through jungles, over mountains and up live volcanoes to the huge rolling waves of the Pacific Coast, a distance of 300 kilometres. This remarkable achievement was a first as no other expedition in history has ever attempted this difficult and dangerous route overrun with drug running bandits, arduous terrain and temperatures of over 40 degrees. With inspiration from Ken the team made it in one gruelling month evading some of the world’s most dangerous snakes, penetrating the infamous jungles of the Mosquito Coast and climbing the most difficult live volcano in Central America. Soon to be seen as a four one hour documentary on BBC2 entitled ‘Beyond Boundaries’ this expedition breaks new ground as a real example of inspirational leadership and teamwork.

Ken Hames’ corporate work has been dominated by motivational speeches to some of UK’s leading Blue Chip companies. In his speech ‘Lead, Follow, Change or Get Out Of The Way’ he offers a powerful comparison between leading hardened SAS soldiers and the pressures of modern business practice. Ken’s latest achievement has given him even greater focus to talk about the formulation and operation of high performance teams in difficult circumstances and how to nurture better behavioral skills, leadership and positive attitudes. Ken’s recent experiences have enhanced his workshops where he delivers his leadership master class providing a structure and toolbox to help senior managers maintain a cutting edge, develop best practice and compete to win in competitive markets.

In October 2002 Ken filmed the follow on to ‘Desert Darlings’ in Namibia, which witnessed couples attempting to cross the harsh Namib Desert in the hope of re-defining the fundamentals of relationships. This was screened by Channel 4 in the spring of 2003. Ken was involved in the design and development of the highly successful ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here’. Kens other TV credits include the popular BBC 1 children’s programme ‘Bring it On’, ‘Hero Factor’ for the Discovery Channel in 2002, ‘Battle Stripes’ for Sky in 2000 and ‘Future Fighting Machines’ for an American channel in 2003. Ken also recently filmed SAS Battles in 2004 as a presenter for Channel 5.

Ken Hames is a powerful and charismatic speaker. His experiences in the cutting edge of the military and at the forefront of some of history’s most significant expeditions combine with those in the business arena to provide a fascinating insight into pressure, survival, teamwork, leadership and motivation. Ken is an action man who leads from the front. He is an accomplished Mountain Guide and skier and represented Great Britain in cross country skiing. He has played rugby for the Combined Services and is an expert in the great outdoors in all survival disciplines.