Who is Pete Cohen
Pete Cohen is a world renowned speaker, coach, and author of 21 books with more than thirty years of experience working at the intersection of leadership, mindset, and human performance.
Pete Cohen
He has worked with world class athletes, Olympic champions, senior leaders, and organisations across the globe. His focus is not motivation for its own sake, but helping individuals and executive teams slow down enough to regain perspective, choose intention over reaction, and perform with discipline under pressure.
He hosted the top ten Mi365 Podcast, and spent many years working in television. He presented his own programme The Coach on Discovery and was the resident Life Coach on ITV’s GMTV for twelve years. Millions have engaged with his work through speaking, writing, and structured practices designed to help people calm their nervous system, clarify their thinking, and respond more intentionally to challenge.
Often referred to as Mr Intention, Pete specialises in leadership behaviour, mental wellness, and performance under pressure. His work integrates psychology, neuroscience, and lived experience to help leaders take ownership of their responses rather than operate from instinct.
Today, that work is formalised through Stop 2 Think™.
Pete’s Journey and Challenges
Pete’s professional authority is rooted in lived experience.
From a young age, he navigated dyslexia, imposter syndrome, and a persistent sense of inadequacy. These early challenges shaped a deep drive to prove himself and to keep moving forward without stopping to reflect.
In his twenties, he developed chronic fatigue syndrome. It was the first time his body forced him to stop. Although his career continued to grow, something remained unresolved. Even as a published author and coach working with world champions, he recognised a pattern of striving without arrival.
He began to see how easily high performers drift into survival mode.
Busy being busy becomes identity.
Urgency becomes reassurance.
Acceleration replaces reflection.
The external performance may succeed, but the internal foundation weakens.
The Turning Point
A defining chapter of Pete’s life began in 2010 when he met his wife Hannah during the Icelandic ash cloud crisis. Her calm strength and disciplined mindset reshaped how he viewed uncertainty.
When Hannah was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer in 2011, they chose intention over fear. She survived cancer twice before later losing her life to COVID in 2023.
Losing Hannah was the most profound disruption Pete had ever faced. It forced him to confront grief, identity, and the deeper foundations of performance. It revealed how many people live in survival mode, constantly reacting to circumstances rather than consciously choosing how they respond.
Through grief, reflection, and disciplined thinking, Pete recognised a truth that now underpins all of his work.
When stability disappears, behaviour determines whether we weaken or strengthen.
In the midst of his grief, Pete made a decision that would become part of his healing. He chose to make a film documenting Hannah’s extraordinary journey and the lessons they had lived together.
The process was not about creating a product. It was about understanding loss, honouring love, and making sense of what had happened.
When the documentary was completed, Pete showed it to a close friend. That friend suggested entering it into film festivals. There was no expectation of outcome. No strategy. Just a quiet willingness to share the story.
Since then, the documentary has gone on to win twelve international film festival awards around the world.
What began as a personal act of reflection became a global story of resilience, love, and intentional living.
You can watch the film by clicking here or click the button below.
In the midst of his grief, Pete made a decision that would become part of his healing. He chose to make a film documenting Hannah’s extraordinary journey and the lessons they had lived together.
The process was not about creating a product. It was about understanding loss, honouring love, and making sense of what had happened.
When the documentary was completed, Pete showed it to a close friend. That friend suggested entering it into film festivals. There was no expectation of outcome. No strategy. Just a quiet willingness to share the story.
Since then, the documentary has gone on to win twelve international film festival awards around the world.
What began as a personal act of reflection became a global story of resilience, love, and intentional living.
You can watch the film by clicking here or click the button below.
A Life Shaped by Hannah’s Legacy
Hannah’s belief in intentional thinking continues to shape Pete’s work.
Her influence reinforced the importance of presence, courage, and disciplined pause in the face of uncertainty.
Her legacy inspired Pete to fully commit to helping leaders and organisations turn good intentions into lived behavioural practice.
STOP 2 THINK™ is built on that principle.
Pause.
Reflect.
Respond with balance.
In environments shaped by AI acceleration, market volatility, and sustained pressure, this discipline becomes essential.
A Life Shaped by Hannah’s Legacy
Hannah’s belief in intentional thinking continues to shape Pete’s work.
Her influence reinforced the importance of presence, courage, and disciplined pause in the face of uncertainty.
Her legacy inspired Pete to fully commit to helping leaders and organisations turn good intentions into lived behavioural practice.
STOP 2 THINK™ is built on that principle.
Pause.
Reflect.
Respond with balance.
In environments shaped by AI acceleration, market volatility, and sustained pressure, this discipline becomes essential.
From Personal Insight to Organisational Framework
Through his long standing collaboration with Dr Ray Sylvester, professor and leadership strategist, Pete transformed lived experience into structured leadership architecture.
What began as deeply personal reflection evolved into STOP 2 THINK™ — a disciplined framework designed to help organisations operate with stability in environments of sustained pressure and uncertainty.
Grounded in professional depth, academic rigour, and real world disruption, the framework addresses the behavioural foundations that determine whether organisations weaken or strengthen during change.
STOP 2 THINK™ is not about slowing momentum.
It is about reinforcing the human foundation beneath performance so that acceleration does not create fragility.
What Pete Brings to Organisations
Three decades of leadership experience
Global corporate and media exposure
Deep understanding of behavioural patterns under pressure
Personal experience of profound uncertainty
Academic partnership through Dr Ray Sylvester
A structured framework designed for modern organisational realities
Pete’s work centres on one defining belief:
Performance remains human.
And leadership behaviour under pressure determines organisational outcomes.
The Mission
STOP 2 THINK™ was created to strengthen organisations when stability can no longer be assumed. It helps leaders move from:
React to respond
Survival mode to disciplined leadership
Busy being busy to sustainable execution
Because thriving in change is not accidental.
It is behavioural.
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Stability can no longer be assumed. But disciplined leadership can be chosen. STOP 2 THINK™
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