As a covert Human Intelligence Officer, Tim Bradshaw influenced behaviour, built truth rapidly, and led without formal authority in situations where error was not an option. Today, he brings these lessons to senior leadership teams navigating complexity, change, and sustained pressure.

Since leaving the British Army, Tim Bradshaw founded, and is a director of Sandstone Communications, an international leadership and team building consultancy. He is also listed as a leadership influencer by LinkedIn and the Legal, Education and Training Group.

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Tim Bradshaw | Resilience Experience

Military Training: Aged just 19 he was selected to attend the Royal Military Academy for officer training, educated and tested academically and physically, in almost every aspect of leadership, decision making, and man management, often with little sleep. As a human intelligence officer, he had to have the skill and resilience to extract themselves and their teammates from dangerous situations, and he needed to develop a resistance to interrogation.

Climbing Mount Everest 2015: On the completion of his second tour of Afghanistan, he became increasingly aware of friends not coping as well as they would have liked as a result of spending protracted periods in war zones. “What better way than to stand on the highest point on earth, the summit of Mount Everest, and shout that it’s okay to ask for help?” Tim spent two years getting fit, learning new skills, and gaining as much altitude experience as possible. During the climb, they experienced one of the most deadly days in the mountain’s history, after an earthquake-induced avalanche killed 27 climbers on the mountain.

Climb the Matterhorn: In 2018, Tim and his fellow Sandstone Director decided to take on a summit attempt accompanied by mountain guides Mark Chadwick and Andy Towsend. At 4478m tall, this climb represents a unique blend of physical and psychological challenges for the amateur adventurer.

L’Etape du Tour: Weighing in at 95kg, Tim decided to take on the ultimate amateur cyclist’s challenge. A distance of over 169km with a total elevation gain of 4152m, this climb was the equivalent of half the height of Mount Everest and saw over 16,000 cyclists start.

Race to Dakar – Africa Eco Race: The Dakar rally represents the ultimate combination of adventure, endurance, and motorsport. The original race left Paris and raced across the Sahara to Dakar, a distance of about 10,000km. The race has now evolved, and was made famous when Mark Thatcher, son of British Prime Minister Margaret, got lost in the desert, prompting the deployment of a special forces team to find him. He spent six days, riding up to 12 hours a day across the desert in temperatures over 40 degrees centigrade, Tim was nearing the finish line.

Africa Eco Race 2024: Tim decided to finish his “Project Dakar” in 2024, racing from Monaco to the desert in Morocco, spending 48 hours at sea. Sadly during this attempt, he hit a rock doing over 140km/h, resulting in him losing his ability to move his legs or right arm, struggling to breath, and with his helmet crushed into his face. After alerting his team that he needed help, he lost consciousness. Upon arriving in hospital, he was told he had broken his neck in two places and damaged his spinal cord.

The Cresta Run: Riding a 30kg toboggan going headfirst at 80mph down a 1.2125km ice chute in Switzerland.

Tim Bradshaw | Keynotes

Enabling Resilience: The real key to effective performance is to enable resilience in the team around you. Being resilient on your own isn’t always helpful. The real role of an intelligence officer is to empower those around them and build resilience in their team with one eye firmly on achieving the mission. Tim explores and teaches the secrets of how to build resilience, along with the tricks that enable individuals to keep going when all seems lost.

Influence and Persuasion: Tim exposes the techniques used to build rapport, reassurance, and trust and how these skills can be translated into a corporate environment to create a workplace in which business is won and teams perform at their best.

Why Should I Follow You? There is no such thing as a motivated team, but you can have a team of motivated people. Understanding where your base of power comes from and which leadership style to adopt when can transform your team’s outcomes.

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Tim Bradshaw | Audience Takeaways

In his keynotes, leaders learn how to:

– Make found decisions with incomplete or imperfect information
– Reduce fear-driven behaviour and unnecessary risk aversion
– Build trust and influence without relying on hierarchy
– Create teams that perform under sustained pressure
– Lead change without creating unintended fragility

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Tim Bradshaw | Other Speaking Topics

– Are you facilitating resilience or ticking a box?
– Helping to create resilience in Ukraine
– Understanding their needs
– Decision making under pressure
– No change, no opportunity
– Define resilience
– Ask not what your country can do for you
– Be courageous
– What is influence
– Intelligence not information
– Enabling resilience

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Tim Bradshaw | Masterclasses

– Skills Development
– Engaging Techniques
– Enhancing Your Agenda
– Enabling Resilience
– Business Development
– Negotiation
– Presentation Skills
– Leading Change
– Influence and Persuasion
– Communication Skills
– Intelligence, Not Information

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Tim Bradshaw | Clients

Clyde & Co, Deloitte, Gateley, Gateshead School Sports Partnership, Hitachi Solutions, Jaguar Land Rover, Knight Frank, Mercedes-Benz, Netflix, Scottish Engineering, St James’s Place, Taylor Wessing, With Intelligence.

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To check fees and availability for Tim Bradshaw, contact Great Business Speakers on 0044 (0)1753 439289

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