"Normally my speaking engagements are private events for organisations, so this is a real pleasure because it provides me with an opportunity to share my message with a broader audience."
"Leadership and Resilience", an Otago Chamber of Commerce event hosted by Otago Polytechnic, allowed Dr Wood to talk about his own personal experience of change and growth and what messages he had derived from that in the context of leadership.
Dr Wood was convicted of murder as a teenager, and used his time in prison to complete an undergraduate and masters degree.
Now a consultant, he has applied his life experiences to a variety of roles.
"Often my backstory is a point of interest which will give me an opportunity to do really interesting things with organisations, and then I'll get to work further with them because I delivered, rather than because of my backstory," he said.
"But my backstory also serves as a daily source of inspiration for development and growth.
"I'm passionate about helping people find who they want to be in the world, and how they can more consistently and deliberately demonstrate behaviour in line with what they want their reputation to be, because I've personally had that experience of being more deliberate about who I am and figuring out who I want to be."
Dr Wood's day in Dunedin offered plenty of variety; in the morning he spoke to about 500 pupils at Columba College.
"I don't talk about my background to an audience like that, I just give some general messages about emotions, self-acceptance, emotional management, courage, things which are incredibly useful for anyone but especially people of that age."
