Andrew May

Do you spend half your day responding to email? Do you have Road Runner Syndrome, racing from crisis to crisis?
Do you get sick on weekends and on holidays? Are you too busy to take proper time out to relax and recover? The task of navigating life's frantically paced, 24/7 digital age has never been more complex or daunting. We are all under constant pressure to perform, day in day out. So many people are wired up, but eventually melting down.

The rapid speed and intensity of modern business demands a new way of approaching performance. Armed with the latest palm pilots, blackberries and productivity gadgets, we are cramming more and more into our already jam packed schedules. Rather than running at a fast pace and then taking time out to recover, a vital strategy used by high performing teams in the sporting world, every working day now requires the stamina of a Grand Final.

Sold on the Multitasking Myth, the average worker attempts to juggle 6 tasks at a time and wastes up to half day on email, totally 'Inboxicated'! Add an average of 55 to 60 interruptions throughout an average working day. Is it any wonder we're starting to feel the strain?

As a result, workers are trying to find a variety of ways to stay ahead. Working until the early hours of the morning, avoiding holidays and time out, stocking up on caffeine (Cappuccino Cowboys) or loading the system with the sweet stuff (Sugar Addicts).  Unfortunately most of theses 'quick fixes' overload the system even further and eventually lead to melt down. So, in today's fast paced business environment, how do High Performers continually make the distance?

The most effective approach involves the ability to Switch On when you need to and to Switch Off when you can.
 
Andrew May, a leading expert on performance and productivity, has spent the past 15 years perfecting the art and science of performance. As both former elite middle distance athlete, Physical Performance Manager for the Australian Cricket team and coach to Olympic athletes in a range of sports.

Andrew May is also a forward thinking businessman. Having co-founded Good Health Solutions, Australia's largest corporate health promotion company with an annual turn over of more then $12 million. In addition to PT Plus; an international business consultancy based in Australia and the United Kingdom. Andrew has also recently launched Australia's latest concept in corporate recovery, a series of exclusive 'Recharge' clinics in Sydney, Australia.

At the heart of Andrews 'Switched On' philosophy is an understanding that we all have the power to control our internal thoughts, energy levels and personal leadership ability. Throughout the day we all make decisions that either ramp up or drain away our available energy stores. Andrew's presentations teach audiences how to recognise their four different performance zones - chill, thrill, spill and kill - then providing the tools to consciously move between these zones. One vital tool being the concept of conscious recovery, taking regular time out to do the things we love in order to reenergise and reconnect to our goals and purpose.

Andrew is also the author of the best selling book 'Flip the Switch', a regular voice on 2UE radio and the resident lifestyle expert on Channel Nine's TODAY show.

Andrew's presentations and tailored conference programs deliver key strategies to give your team the power to really Switch On when they need to ... and Off when they can!

Conference Keynotes

Switched On Performance
The rapid speed and intensity of modern business demands a new way of approaching performance. Today's workplace is a highly competitive cauldron sharing many similar characteristics with the world of the high performance athlete. Intense effort, thriving under pressure, focused concentration and the ability to recover are all fundamental to success. Being able to consistently perform at your peak requires a balance between intense effort and essential periods of rest and recovery. You cannot be 100% efficient if you are on 24/7.

• Understand the 4 different performance zones - chill, thrill, spill and kill.
• Why more people suffer from Road Runner Syndrome, Presenteeism, ADT and CPA. Plus why we're all turning into Sleep Camels, Deskfast Diners and Button Smackers.
• Tap into your biologically determined Energy Personality and make every day productive and on purpose - even when you're feeling flat!
• Use the Recovery Rocket to help you recover, recharge and reconnect.
• How to be ON when you have to and OFF when you can.

Switched On Leadership
Leadership is not about making as much noise as you can and charging into the opposition team! Some of the best leaders are quiet in nature, yet very loud in their delivery of results. With the merging of generations (Gen Y, Gen X and Baby Boomers), flattening of the world, changing work patterns and an obsession with speed; strong leadership is not just necessary, it is critical. Join Andrew as he explores what he has learnt from working in elite sport for 15 years, and from consulting to some of the world?s largest companies for the past 5 years.

• Proven strategies used by the world's leading coaches to inspire optimal performance and teamwork.
• How to be clear on your teams vision, trademark and behaviours and project a world-class leadership brand.
• True leadership comes from within, not from external motivation sources
• Understand 'Rigid Flexibility' and how fusing tension and opposite attitudes together provides a platform for success.
• How to cut through all of the leadership rhetoric, management speak and consulting theory to come up with a simple, yet results focused one page Leadership Plan.

Staying Switched On : How the Best Get Better
What defines great achievers in business, sport, entertainment and life is their ability to sustain performance. It's not about only having a good month, or a good quarter, or even just a good year and then dropping back again. It's about consistently turning up and delivering time and time again. There is a process and set of behaviours high achievers and the world's best teams follow day in day out.

• Learn the frontiers of modern brain science and how the best play to their strengths and focus on what's right, not on what's wrong.
• Understand 'esrever gnireenigne' and how to begin with the end in mind.
• Why 'happy discontentment' is an essential component displayed by all top performers and how it is different from perfectionism.
• Why the world's best have the world's best support teams, and how you can apply similar strategies.
• How to quickly adapt and learn from mistakes and not get stuck in the 'performance dip'.

Client Ovations: Thanks for your great 'Switched On' keynote at our annual conference. It was our pleasure having you as part of our 'people' day and I thought your speech was fantastic! One of our international guests from London was so impressed with your presentation that he said he's going back this week to let them know what an innovative company we are down here and to speak to International HR about running something similar in UK - all very positive.

EMI Music Australia

I wanted to take a minute to thank you for all of the time and effort you have put into the AXA manager conference program over the last year. Combining the morning wake up activities, masseurs, and the online learning and intranet with your keynote presentations is a perfect way to blend content and practice. The Switched On reviews where you summarise all of our activities and provide us with downloads and photos of the entire experience is always very well received. We are looking forward to running this program with you again next year!

Capability Manager, AXA

Feed-back from delegates clearly shows your talk was not only well received, but a highlight of the event. Your experience and understanding of sustained performance and its impact on our businesses certainly gives us all plenty to think about in planning ahead.

Fitpro

Andrew's energetic style always leaves the audience buzzing. We can always count on Andrew to partner with us and deliver a humorous, thought provoking and very practical presentation. He is a master speaker and the perfect choice to stimulate the audience with a fact filled health message. One of the best I've seen!

Grand United Health Insurance

From the very start your message was powerful and to the point. I was particularly impressed the way you researched the audience and continually linked the key messages back to our specific business and day to day pressures.

Accor Hotels

Andrew recently partnered with Human Resources to develop a specific presentation that outlined the theory behind designing and managing Work Life Balance programs; as well as providing employees with powerful and realistic strategies they could immediately use. This provided a very strong platform for HR to then explain what we are doing on both a global and local initiative. I strongly recommend Andrew May as one of the best in the business I've come across.

Hewlett Packard

Andrew May has now presented to Ernst ' Young employees throughout Australia in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth. His high energy, enthusiasm, subject knowledge and capacity to relate to large numbers of people both professional and non-professional is the reason we contract him again and again. Andrew has an engaging and sense of humour which allows him to draw in and interest his audience. We also belive Andrew is now very aware of our culture and our objectives and he is able to deliver addresses to large or small audiences within an appropriate contextual framework. We have been very satisfied with Andrew's contribution to our health and well-being program and look forward to a long and successful working relationship with him.



Andrew, it was indeed a pleasure to have you work with us again, at one of our national brand conferences in Adelaide during November. The Workshops presented by you were met with an extraordinarily positive response with many delegates expressing a desire to have you return for more at our next event.

Head of Events - Stella Travel Services