Peter Baines

Leadership Expert, Powerful Storyteller, International Speaker, Business Consultant

Author

Visit Peter's website

About

Gender: Male

Languages: English

Travels from: Australia

Engagement Types

Themes

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Biography Highlights

Peter Baines OAM, spent 22 years with NSW Police as a Forensic Investigator. Due to his unique skills he spent many of his later years on international deployments to Indonesia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. He would be seconded to Interpol in Lyon to lead an international counter terrorism project focusing on CBRN. He would also spend time with the UN Office of Drug and Crime in South East Asia before leaving that behind to focus on his humanitarian work with the charity Hands Across the Water that he formed in 2005. Since 2005 he has travelled the world speaking on building and leading teams and sharing the insights he has gained from a life of serving others.

Biography

Meet Peter Baines

Peter Baines OAM, is one of Australia’s leadership experts having road tested leadership the hard way. Peter spent 22 years with the NSW Police leading teams in response to acts of terrorism and natural disasters on a scale not previously seen.

Peter was part of the leadership team that responded to Bali after the bombings in 2002 and was called in 2005 to lead international teams in response to the Tsunami of December 26, 2004 in South East Asia. Peter headed up multiple rotations into Thailand leading international teams in the identification process of those who died. All the time his leadership theories were tested in this trying environment.

Creating sustainable leadership became a passion of his after witnessing the devastating effects of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. He was deeply touched by the number of children left without parents by the disaster and was inspired to set up an organisation that could make a significant difference in the lives of these children. In late 2005, Hands Across the Water was formed to raise funds for, and awareness of, the children of Thailand who were left alone. Today Hands, has raised over $30 million Australian dollars. With this they have built several homes all across Thailand, purchased a rubber plantation to ensure a sustainable and regular income, constructed a community centre in the Khao Lak region of Thailand and a Digital Learning Centre in the North East. Hands, now has operations in seven different locations within Thailand and provide a home to several hundred children every night.

The work of the charity has always taken a different approach to most in that they focus on creating meaningful shared experiences for their supporters. A cornerstone event of the work of Hands are the long distance bike rides that you will find Peter leading throughout the year in Thailand. After a two and half year hiatus, Peter returned to complete his 31st ride leading supporters and corporate groups alike.

His final years with the NSW Police were spent on secondment to the National Institute of Forensic Science where he worked on national and international capacity building projects around counter terrorism and leadership. He spent time advising Interpol in France and the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime in South East Asia. Peter was engaged by the Government of Saudi Arabia following the deadly floods in Jeddah, to review their response and provide advice concerning crisis mitigation and leadership. In 2011 he deployed in Japan in response to the tsunami that would claim thousands of lives there.

Peter has received various awards including an Order of Australia Medal in 2014, for his International Humanitarian work, and in 2016 he was awarded The Fifth Class of the Most Admirable Order of the Direkgunabhorn awarded by the King of Thailand.

In 2010 he was a NSW finalist for the Australian of the Year awards and he was the first Australian to be awarded the international honour of a Rotary Professional Excellence Award in 2008. He received the NSW Police Service Medal and the Australian Federal Police Operations Medal, for his work in Asia. He was the first NSW Police Officer to be awarded the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal and Australian National Medal. He has completed university studies in Law, Forensic Science and post graduate studies in Management.

Today Peter spends his time helping businesses build effective Sustainable Leadership programs through the unique mix of his leadership and corporate social responsibility initiatives. He continues with his work in supporting the kids and communities of Thailand through Hands Across the Water. Peter has written two books Hands Across the Water, published by Pan MacMillan and Doing Good by Doing Good, published by Wiley. He regularly appears as a guests on a variety of podcasts and loves hosting the Hands Heroes podcast.

When not traveling for work you are likely to find Peter with his wife Claire on their rural property tending to the Hereford cattle they bred or in the skies above flying helicopters.

Videos

Topics

The Importance of Balance

Based on one of the most challenging professional careers that you can imagine, dealing with death on a scale not previously seen and leading international counter terrorism projects, the question Peter is most often asked is “How have you done what you have done and seen what you have seen and managed to still be ok?”

You don’t walk into a temple where the decomposing bodies of 3500 people lie and walk out months later in a state of sound body and mind without a clear strategy for dealing with what the vast majority of the entire population will never see.

Peter puts his fitness of mind, body and soul down to three things:

Having a clear clarity of purpose of why he does what he does;
Engaging in a pursuit that is food for his soul; and
Growth through the uncomfortable.

During the keynote he draws on the valuable insights from starting what would become Australasia’s largest contributing charity to Thailand which now has five entities across three countries. The charity Hands Across the Water enriches the lives of those it engages with and has brought profound change to thousands. It’s charity – but not as we know it.

He dissects his latest adventure, scheduled for December 2024, the lead up to running 1400km through Thailand in 26 days. The equivalent of 33 marathons or running from Melbourne to Brisbane and why there is such growth in being uncomfortable.

Audience Take Away

The key takeouts for the audience from Peter’s latest offering are:

Why action will always beat intention
The value of creating meaningful shared experiences
Building resilience through the embrace of the uncomfortable
Why we can’t let yesterday define our tomorrow
Not waiting until the time is right
When we embrace the challenge we embrace the learning.

Available: Virtually

LEADERSHIP MATTERS

The stories of inspiration, resilience and overcoming adversity. How true leadership doesn’t come a position or title by from actions and reactions.

Leadership without Authority
Clarity of Purpose
Building Strong Teams
Growth through Adversity
Results not Excuses

Available: Virtually

EXPERIENCE MATTERS

Real engagement comes from engineering shared experiences. Peter shares stories of how your business will benefit from the power of presence.

Building communities and families through Shared Experiences
Engagement strategies that stick
Increasing your retention rate
Removing self imposed limitations
Celebrating your victories

Available: Virtually

DOING GOOD BY DOING GOOD

Hear how with an alignment of values and an appreciation that community and business can both profit when working together. Why the future of mutually rewarding relationships is the way to go.

Aligning your values
Building collaborative programs
Developing stronger relationships
Measuring your impact
Realising a return

Available: Virtually

Books

Leadership Matters: Stories and Insights for Leaders, Achievers and Visionaries

Become a courageous leader and learn how to take risks, defy limitations and inspire the extraordinary In Leadership Matters, celebrated humanitarian Peter Baines OAM shares remarkable stories and unique insights about leadership in challenging times. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in leading others through crises and disasters, Peter demonstrates how great leaders rise above adversity. He unpacks how leadership skills such as courage, compassion, and integrity are essential for finding a way forward and triumphing against the odds. Leadership Matters shares the leadership lessons that have emerged from Peter’s decades of work in international counterterrorism and disaster response. In particular, it reveals how the devastating aftermath of Thailand’s Boxing Day Tsunami has shaped Peter’s understanding of what it means to be a true leader. You’ll learn how Peter founded a multi-million-dollar charity to help those he met along the way. And you’ll learn the principles that have guided him in the decades since that transformative event: how to lead and inspire others as you work together to achieve the extraordinary. Leadership Matters will inspire you to: ● Stop making excuses and take action ● Find the unique solutions that are required by unique challenges ● Motivate your team by being present and fostering integrity ● Find courage for difficult decisions and compassion for hard conversations. Leadership Matters: Stories and Insights for Leaders, Achievers and Visionaries shows how great leaders can find their purpose and make a real, vital impact on the world around them.

Doing Good By Doing Good: Why Creating Shared Value is the Key to Powering Business Growth and Innovation

Bring the heart of your company into the community with effective CSR Doing Good by Doing Good shows companies how to improve the bottom line by implementing an engaging, authentic, and business-enhancing program that helps staff and business thrive. International CSR consultant Peter Baines draws upon lessons learnt from the challenges faced in his career as a police officer, forensic investigator, and founder of Hands Across the Water to describe the Australian CSR landscape, and the factors that make up a program that benefits everyone involved. Case studies illustrate the real effect of CSR on both business and society, with clear guidance toward maximizing involvement, engaging all employees, and improving the bottom line. The case studies draw out the companies that are focusing on creating shared value in meeting the challenges of society whilst at the same time bringing strong economic returns. Consumers are now expecting that big businesses with ever-increasing profits give back to the community from which those profits arise. At the same time, shareholders are demanding their share and are happy to see dividends soar. Getting this right is a balancing act, and Doing Good by Doing Good helps companies delineate a plan of action for getting it done. Readers will: ● Define an effective CSR strategy that promotes better business and makes a real impact ● Understand the current landscape to evaluate the CSR options that are right for your company ● Understand why corporate philanthropy is no longer enough ● Identify the hard and soft key performance indicators that help keep your program on track ● Gain an understanding of the concept of shared value and the importance to business ● Gain insight into each step of the CSR process, from interest, to information, to implementation. The concept of CSR is not new, but traditional “payroll deductions” and “volunteer days” are out-dated and grossly ineffective. Today, companies are building simple, well-constructed programs that are changing business and changing lives on a much grander scale. Doing Good by Doing Good provides a fool proof strategy for CSR planning, with value to the company, employees, and community at large.

Hands Across the Water

Peter Baines started his career as a police officer in the streets of Cabramatta in the early nineties. Becoming a specialist in forensic crime scene investigations he was called upon to bring his skills to the Bali bombings in 2002. But it was the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that forever changed the direction of his life. Helping the people of Thailand identify their dead, he met the countless children who had been left behind, orphaned, with nowhere to go. With a colleague he decided to do something, and set about creating the charity Hands Across the Water, building an orphanage and raising funds to support and educate the children. This is Peter’s story about how one knockabout Aussie bloke can change the lives of thousands by offering a hand.