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Shaun Tomson started, managed and sold two multi-million dollar clothing brands – Instinct in the 1980’s and Solitude (co-founded with his wife Carla) in the 1990’s. He is the author of the best-selling books “Surfer’s Code” and “The Code: The Power of “I Will“, and the writer and producer of the award-winning documentary film Bustin’ Down the Door.

Shaun is a Business Administration and Finance graduate from the University of Natal and has a Master of Science in Leadership from Northeastern University. He is a World Surfing Champion, an inductee in the Jewish and South African Sports Hall of Fame, the US Surfing Hall of Fame, and has been described as one of the greatest surfers of all time and one of the most influential surfers of the century (Surfer Magazine 1999). Shaun is a past board member and ambassador for Surfrider Foundation, the world’s largest environmental group dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans, waves and beaches and he received the SIMA Environmentalist of the Year Award in 2002. 

In this episode, Shaun shares the tragic story of losing his firstborn Matthew.  He shares a magnificent story on the power of healing and how his family was able to find grace to move forward and eventually adopt their new son, Luke.  The meaning of Luke brings "light, and that is exactly what he has done for their family.   

In his motivating work called The CODE, Shaun instructs employees or family members to write down their own 12-line CODE. More specifically, each employee is given 30 minutes to write down 12 “I will” statements that serve as mantras in the organizational context. After all, employees have finished their personal CODE’s, they are read aloud to the entire group. In addition, employees are instructed to pick their most meaningful “I will” statement that Shaun aggregates into one summary list. Upon completion, Shaun reads all of the statements aloud and notes any pertinent themes that cut across the employees in the exercise. Shaun completes the exercise by informing employees that the CODE is a tool to help them with their organizational lives. It serves to keep them accountable to their best selves at work and beyond. 

You can follow all of his work at www.shauntomson.com where you can learn about all of his work and contact him to have him speak at your event.  He is launching virtual keynotes and I would highly encourage you to contact him if you're interested.

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