John Amaechi is a psychologist, New York Times best-selling Author and social entrepreneur working in both the US and the Europe. His work is mostly in industrial/organisational settings with medium to large institutions: business, educational and philanthropic, to help them maximise their human capital.
In the UK, John works with his own charity as well as local and national government to create a network of holistic community and sporting centres for urban communities (
www.amaechibasketball.com).
John is an
accomplished motivational speaker with experience addressing a diverse cross-section of clients, including an impressive list of fortune 500 corporations, international charities and world-class educational institutions, throughout Great Britain, Europe and the United States.
John inspires, informs and charms audiences with his candour and wealth of international experience in sport, business and life. At the age of 17, when he first picked up a basketball, John was considered "too late to the game" and "not athletic enough" to have any chance of success in domestic sport, much less overseas. Six short years later he became a "starter" in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Cleveland Cavaliers - the only un-drafted free-agent in the leagues history to start at the beginning of an NBA season. Eleven years from first picking up a basketball, John became the first and only Britain to have a place in the U.S. Basketball Hall of Fame. John captained the England squad since his arrival to the team in 1997 and even in ‘retirement’ led the English Squad to Bronze in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
He has been part of two European championship teams and turned down a seven-year guaranteed contract from the most successful team in American Sports over the last decade, the Los Angeles Lakers. John is the only British player to have had a career in the NBA and was
honoured as one of the NBA’s most improved players in 2000, showing an amazing ability to adapt and learn well into his career.
John has continued to pursue a PhD in psychology, recently co-authoring a paper on the subject of
self-esteem, goal setting and personality. He is also well versed in the use and interpretation of various personality inventories and other psychometric testing platforms.
When in the UK, John is a current affairs and
sports pundit for the BBC, ITV and SKY as well as a presenter on a range of radio and television programmes, including ITV’s ongoing "Britain on the Move" series and Channel 5’s weekly "Sport on Five". He has just finished shooting a prime time BBC 2 programme called "The Speaker" that looks to find Britain’s best young speaker as well as inspiring youth across the UK to embrace the power of their voice.
In 2008 John became a sporting ambassador for Amnesty International and went to the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a dual purpose: to shed light on the Olympic promises and continuing human rights abuses in China, reporting his discoveries and daily interactions in his Beijing Legacy Blog; he also led the BBC’s coverage of basketball in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. By the end of 2008, John took a full Amnesty International Ambassador role covering the entire spectrum of human rights.
In addition to maintaining broadcast interests in the United States, he is currently the face of Sport England’s latest "Everyday Sport" campaign as well as an Ambassador for the London 2012 Olympic Bid. He is now one of four people to be hold a post as a director for the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) Diversity Board that sets strategy for procurement, recruitment and standards for every employee, supplier and volunteer for the 2012 Olympic games effort.
He maintains a broad political interest and has met on several occasions with the leaders of all three major parties and even interviewed the former conservative leader, Michael Howard as part of the build-up to the 2005 general election. More recently he has had meetings with Tony Blair and Gordon and Sarah Brown on issues of diversity within Britain and Britain's role in world politics as pertains to issues of diversity and inclusion.
John is highly regarded for his ability to overcome adversity, including a life-threatening injury, in his quest for international success. He has made a habit of achieving the seemingly impossible in sports and life for more than a decade. Indeed, he has even been described as
"a player with little innate physical talent, who rose to remarkable heights on the back of exceptional personal drive, terrific will and a tremendous goal-setting and life- planning strategy."
He has first-hand knowledge of planning for your dream, setting goals and
maintaining standards of achievement for the long haul. He understands motivation and personal development, the roots of success. Having lived in Continental Europe for four years before moving to America for a further ten, his international and cross-cultural experience is immense and his formulas apply to an endlessly diverse clientele across Europe and the Americas.
John has extensive expertise in keynote and motivational speaking, conference chairmanship and workshop administration. He is able to set and maintain tone, as well as use wit, warmth and insight to link the individual facets of any programme. His demeanour and experience allow for an inspiring, entertaining and unforgettable interaction.
The challenge that he particularly relishes is that of an executive advisor, working alongside leaders, embedded in organisations to analyse strategy, facilitate intra-organisational communication and highlight and tackle potential problems that diminish workplace harmony and performance.
