Kate Philp
Former Army Major
Leadership Coach
Kate is a Leadership Consultant and Keynote Speaker. Drawing on her extensive experience in leadership and communications from her time in the military, as well as key lessons she has learned from dealing with a life-changing injury, Kate applies her drive and enthusiasm for personal development to help people and organisations release their potential.
Kate joined the Army in 2002 leaving only in 2015 to set up her own leadership development consultancy. After a year conducting officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, she was commissioned into the Royal Artillery. At the age of 25, Kate was posted straight from training to a tour of duty in Iraq where she was responsible for 40 soldiers, many of whom were older and more experienced than her. From this, Kate learned the importance of knowing your people, trusting yourself and being able to adapt quickly to new situations.
Further deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan posed key challenges, including: working in the fast-paced environment of front-line operations; reporting to multiple hierarchies and being the only female amongst 120 men. These experiences have given Kate valuable skills in reacting to change, providing solutions under pressure and managing challenging relationships to ensure operational effectiveness is maintained and individual contribution is valued.
Her tour of Afghanistan in 2008 came to an abrupt end when a Warrior armoured vehicle that she was commanding ran over a 50kg Taliban bomb. The injuries sustained resulted in her electing to have her leg amputated below the knee, marking her out as the first British female to lose a limb in combat. After a gruelling 16 months of rehabilitation she returned to work and gained promotion. Following revision surgery in 2012, Kate decided she needed a goal to re-focus her rehab and was successful in being selected for an expedition to Antarctica. In 2013 she skied to the South Pole supporting the charity Walking With The Wounded. This earned Kate the honour of being shortlisted in the 2014 Women of the Year awards.
Determined always to seek out the positives, Kate believes that the challenges we face in life offer the best opportunities for progress. Combining her military background with her experience of dealing with adversity, Kate applies the same mentality to elicit the true potential from others. A hugely sought-after speaker: Kate offers a unique and inspiring perspective on high-level performance.
“You were the perfect end to the formal part of our conference. Your story is inspiring and the message really came through clearly and had an impact on the team.” – Marketing International
“We loved Kate’s talk! I’ve just completed a survey, and her session came out on top – being the most engaging, relevant & fun session of our whole two days. So safe to say – we loved her!!” – Octagon
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