Profile

Key Biographical Points

• Successful entrepreneur and founder of two multi-million dollar companies
• Delivered more than 2000 presentations, to more than 300,000 people in 15 different countries
• Author of six books including the best-sellers Fl!p: How to turn everything you know on its head and succeed beyond your wildest imaginings and Generation Y: Thriving (and Surviving) with Generation Y at work.
• Peter’s latest book is due out in January 2010 Making it Happen: How to turn good ideas into great results
• 2009: Peter was named one the 25 Most Influential Speakers in the industry by National speakers Association
• 2009: Peter was named one the 25 Hottest New Speaker in the US by National speakers Association
• 2008: Featured Expert on CNBC’s 5 part global special on Innovation - ‘The Business of Innovation’
• 2008: Awarded ‘Thought Leader of the Year’, Thought Leaders International
• 2008: Named in Top 30 Entrepreneurs under 30 – Smart Company Magazine
• 2006: ‘Best Keynote Speaker in Australia’ as Voted by his peers at the National Speakers Association of Australia
• 2003: Awarded ‘MBN NSW Young Entrepreneur of the Year’
• 2003: Awarded ‘MBN National Emerging Business of the Year’

Biography

Peter Sheahan has spent a decade teaching business how to flip their thinking and find opportunity where others cannot. He believes that the real money gets made in the cracks, and that the opportunity for mind-blowing success is all around us. The problem is we get conditioned by our experience, blinded by our business models and conned by the popular media to believe success is a product of the economic conditions. Peter’s clients include Newscorp, Google, Hilton Hotels, GlaxoSmithKline, Harley Davidson, Cisco and Goldman Sachs. Many of which engage him on an ongoing basis to provoke their leaders to re-think their assumptions and challenge them to find innovative ways of doing business. He has been described by one of his clients as the “guy to call when you want your answers questioned”.

Peter’s success is driven by his ability to identify areas of untapped potential within organizations, develop the unique thought processes needed to profit from them, and then catalyze the key individuals to take the risks required to make it a reality. Clients consistently remark on the depth of his insight, the global nature of his business perspective and the comprehensive research he does into their industry, their organization, its model and the current threats and opportunities they face.

Peter’s fifth book Fl!p, an international best-seller available in 25 countries, emphasizes the need for leaders to have mindset flexibility. It explores the changing nature of leadership; evolving business models; and unpacks dozens of strategies for finding opportunity and making money in tough economic times. Peter walks his talks, and can speak from personal experience. A former General Manager of a $10 million hotel business, Peter has established himself as highly successful entrepreneur. In addition to his world renowned thought leadership practice, Peter is also the CEO of the Centre for Skills Development (CSD). The CSD specializes in large scale social change projects and now runs the largest face-to-face financial literacy program for teenagers in the world. In partnership with Apple, the CSD developed and continues to run the ground breaking Beyond Chalk program, working with educators to create 21st Century learning environments. More recently the CSD has taken on IBM as a client and is running development programs in large corporations and Government departments teaching staff how to use technology to foster collaboration and drive productivity in their organizations.

In January 2010, Peter’s sixth book is due for release - Making it Happen. This book will guide individuals through the 5 key strategies required to turn good ideas into great results. Or better said, turn opportunity into profit.

Peter’s outstanding achievements were first officially recognized in 2003 when Peter had the honor of being named Young Entrepreneur of the Year in his home state. He is best known though for his skills as a presenter and his ability to customize his expertise to meet the needs of the audience. He has delivered more than 2000 presentations to over 300,000 people in 15 different countries. In 2006, Peter was awarded the National Speakers Association Keynote Speaker of the Year, as voted by his peers.

Seen as a global thought leader, Peter’s insights into business trends and the changing needs of customers and staff make him a regular presenter on Fox Business, as well as appearing on ABC and the BBC as well. In 2008 Peter was a featured expert in a five-part global series on Innovation on CNBC, and he has been written up in the Washington Post and Fast Company Magazine.

Peter Sheahan is a unique and inspiring thought leader whose ideas and experiences are changing the face of the business world.