Speaker tells his remarkable life story
When it comes to life experiences, few could hold a candle to Dr Paul Wood. And he will be in Kaitaia on Thursday, October 3, courtesy of Far North REAP, to tell his story.
At 18 he was completely off the rails. He wasn’t coping with the impending death of his mother, he was dependent on drugs, and was an unemployed high school dropout who was committing crimes to feed his habit.
Two days after his mother died he lost control when his then drug dealer attempted to sexually assault him. He was subsequently convicted of murder, and spent more than a decade in some of New Zealand’s toughest prisons. During that period he became the first person in New Zealand to acquire a masters while in prison. He was also the first to begin a doctorate while incarcerated.
His educational pursuits dovetailed with a journey of personal exploration and change, both of which gave him a profound understanding of the ingredients required to successfully strive towards potential, deal with the challenges of change, and build the mental toughness and resilience necessary to flourish in adversity.
Upon his release he used that knowledge to develop strategies for improving leadership effectiveness and organisational culture. As a result, he rose rapidly through the ranks to become the senior manager responsible for training and development within the multinational professional services firm OPRA Consulting Group. He now runs his own practice, and has served as a committee member and adviser to a number of boards.
Dr Wood now spends most of his time facilitating leadership and emotional intelligencefocused programmes in both the private and public sectors, working with everyone from the Hurricanes to central government agencies, while he also visits prisons and is the patron of START Taranaki, which helps at-risk young men turn their lives around.
His presentation style is described as dynamic, humorous, and deeply authentic, speaking to the human experience and providing practical insights into topics such as people’s capacity for change, coping with uncertainty, building mental toughness and resilience, the importance of self-reflection and personal accountability in growth, identifying and maximising potential, and turning adversity to advantage.