Tom Petch
Tom Petch, military leader turned creative visionary, uses his unique frontline-to-filmmaking journey to inspire bold leadership and transformative business strategies.
Why ou should book Tom Petch for your next event
- SAS veteran who led covert intelligence-gathering missions and negotiated peace, showcasing unparalleled leadership and strategic expertise.
- Dynamic keynote speaker featured at top festivals and media platforms, renowned for engaging presentations that captivate audiences.
- Proven innovator who bridges military leadership and creative mastery, providing unique perspectives for transformative growth.
Former SAS commander, award-winning filmmaker, and bestselling author, Tom Petch combines military precision with creative vision to deliver unmatched insights on leadership, resilience, and disruptive innovation. Through immersive storytelling and engaging presentations, he empowers organizations to tackle modern challenges with bold strategies and actionable solutions.
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Keynotes
Keynote by Tom Petch: The Renegade Mind: Embracing the Maverick Mindset in Leadership.
This talk explores the unconventional aspects of leadership and disruptive technology, drawing on Tom's unique experiences in the military and film industry, along with his work as historian. He delves into the importance of embracing innovative, 'maverick' leaders within organisations, challenging traditional leadership models, and fostering a culture that values creativity and adaptability.
Tom's background as a military officer and a film director gives him a dual perspective on leadership. He has firsthand experience with the 'serve to lead' principle and understands the challenges and rewards of taking unconventional paths to achieve goals. His ability to navigate both disciplined military environments and the creative chaos of film production makes him uniquely qualified to discuss innovative leadership.
Keynote by Tom Petch: Creative Collisions: Fostering Innovation at the Intersection of Military Precision & Artistic Chaos
This talk examines the intersection of discipline and creativity, using Tom's experiences to highlight how both approaches combined with creative freedom can lead to groundbreaking innovations in the military and business. He discusses methods for fostering environments where these seemingly opposite forces can coexist and thrive.
Having navigated the disciplined world of the military and the creative realm of filmmaking, Tom embodies the fusion of precision and creativity. His ability to leverage the strengths of both worlds offers valuable insights into cultivating environments that encourage innovative thinking and problem-solving.
Keynote by Tom Petch: The Secret Origins of the SAS (history)
This talk examines dramatic story of the real origins of the SAS that stretches back earlier than the official accounts. It is both a provocative new origin story of this iconic unit and also a dramatic, non-fiction thriller. For lovers of the BBC series ‘SAS Rogue Heroes’ this is the true story behind the creation of the world’s preeminent special force.
Tom Petch served for eight years in the British Army, as a tank commander, adjutant, aide de camp and a Troop Commander of 22 SAS. His military experience gives him a unique perspective on recently declassified archives, operation reports, accounts and interviews of the original SAS and their commanders.
Tom Petch
Lessons in Bold Leadership & Innovation
For eight years Tom Petch served in the British Army as a tank commander, adjutant, aide de camp and Troop Commander of 22 SAS. He led small teams gathering Intelligence on the Khmer Rouge in the jungles of Cambodia and helped persuade the Bosnian Serbs to accept peace. He left the miliary in 1997 to set up and run his own film production company working across advertising and film.
Tom's experience on the frontline of military and creativity gives him a unique insight into leadership and disruptive innovation. His film ‘The Patrol’, a drama set in Afghanistan, won the Raindance Film Festival and his non-fiction book ‘Speed Aggression. Surprise. The untold secret origins of the SAS’ was a non-fiction military history bestseller.
A keynote speaker at Chalke Valley History Festival, We Have Ways Festival, and Imperial War Museum, with appearances on Sky, BBC and LBC, Tom is also a regular guest on history podcasts. He speaks to corporate audiences with a dynamic fusion of insightful military analysis and captivating storytelling. He adopts a direct, engaging approach, often supported by evocative visuals or poignant clips from both war and film. His presentations are immersive narratives that draw on his diverse experiences – from the jungles of Cambodia, to the director's chair, to the pages of military history – to tell the truth about war and its application to modern business.
After leaving the frontline and starting his own company, Tom’s debut as director, ‘The Patrol’, won the Raindance Film Festival 2013. It was released to four star reviews; Peter Bradshaw (Guardian) ‘Petch's dialogue and the resulting psychological picture are tense and plausible’, and Mark Kermode ‘A former soldier's award-winning film about disillusioned troops in Afghanistan is impressive.’
His book ‘Speed. Aggression. Surprise’ published in 2022, received reviews from SAS veteran Andy McNab ‘the true story of the story of the men who invented special forces is even more compelling than the mythology’, and Sir Ranulph Fiennes; ‘combining extraordinary dept of research with and understanding born of first-hand experience.’
Sky News Kay Burley Tom Petch interview
Watch Tom Petch in action!
Kay Burley interviews Tom Petch about the secret origins of the SAS (Special Air Service) on publication of Tom's book 'Speed.Aggression. Surprise.' WH Allen / Pengiun Random House.
