OW Spotlight Mark Haviland

Can you please tell us a bit about yourself and what you do? 

After a 30-year career with Disney, CNN and Rakuten, living in London, Paris and Tokyo, I last year started Conscious Careers, a mentoring platform for students looking for careers that address today’s global challenges. It’s based on the idea of IKIGAI, a Japanese practice which teaches that happiness comes from doing something you love and are good at, while getting paid and being of value to the community. The world is changing fast, and we need well-briefed and optimistic hearts and minds to innovate in these uncertain times. 

In that same year, I co-founded Train My Generation, a charity in Kenya that is bringing education and health expertise to an island on Lake Victoria in Kenya. In this past year alone we have been busy planting trees, providing vocational training and addressing the critical period-poverty challenges the community faces.  I am also Vice-Chair of the UK’s Marine Conservation Society, where we work to restore healthy seas to ensure a healthy community.  

With my wonderful wife and two growing sons, it’s a busy but fulfilling lifestyle. 

Having such a varied career working with a mix of organisations, what have you enjoyed most? 

The breadth of experience I have had has been perhaps the most rewarding aspect of my career so far. Not that any of it was planned; I found I was good at saying yes to opportunities and making the most of them. A chance meeting on a bus led me to Disney, a great boss led me to Tokyo, and my focus on digital marketing back in the early 2000s led me to Paris. 

Learning to understand the fabulous differences in cultural norms from country to country and how to navigate them has been a joy, but also essential in helping achieve the aims of the businesses and charities I have been involved in. New York, Sydney, Sao Paulo, Nairobi, Tokyo, Paris and many more gave me brain food I never got tired of. 

What unexpected experience or event has shaped and/or influenced your current professional life?  

Two experiences stand out, both again unplanned, but moments of significant impact. After I left Wellington, I went sailing for three months on a tall ship down the west coast of Africa, then trans-Atlantic to the Caribbean. The two-week ocean crossing was mind-blowing; with day after day of 360-degree watery horizons, majestic sunrises and sunsets, all hovering over 8kms of ocean, thousands of miles from land. This is where I discovered my love for the sea. 

The second experience, again in the year directly after Wellington, was nine months of hitch-hiking and working around South America (all before mobile phones!). I learnt Spanish, made lifelong friends, and got in and out of scrapes that have toughened me up ever since. 

What are your top tips for students trying to get involved in your line of work?  

Fifty per cent of the world’s economy is directly reliant on nature, as is much of our culture, science and academia. So, as we move into a world that requires a more balanced and sustainable existence, knowing about nature, what it offers us and how we can realise its potential will ensure you tap into the Green and Blue Revolution we are about to experience. The Blue Economy is perhaps the most exciting area, so dive in as soon as you can! 

Corporate life taught me that the skill of persuasion can be just as valuable as technical knowledge and as AI accelerates its journey into all aspects of our lives, your ability to interpret, empathise and influence will only become more valuable. 

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given? 

It was my parents that helped me see the value of seizing every opportunity. If in doubt, say yes, as nothing unexpected happens hanging around at home. Their encouragement saw me across the Atlantic and South America, and to this day, I follow that advice to the fullest. 

If you were to give students today one piece of career advice, what would it be? 

The world is changing fast and while some of the challenges are certainly daunting, your best chance of success (however you might define that) is to think about your career with the world in mind. The risks we face, the changes that are emerging will need bright, confident and optimistic students to deal with them. If you learn about this new world ahead of us, you’ll find a rewarding path to take. 

Do you have a fond memory from your time at Wellington that you would like to share or perhaps a particular teacher that really stood out?  

David Harrison. In short as my House Master at the Picton, Mr Harrison guided me through thick and thin, kept me largely on the straight and narrow and never stopped believing in me. We all have teachers that made a difference, and I was lucky enough to have had several in my time (shout out to Mrs Jones), but seeing me through every day for five years, I have much to be thankful for the towering Mr Harrison. 

With thanks to Mark Haviland for this OW Spotlight.