Pat Williams

  • Sr. VP of the NBA Orlando Magic

Pat Williams is the senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic and a highly respected speaker on the lessons of leadership and motivation he has learned from his successful time in the NBA.

 

Pat Williams headshot
Past Hosts Include:
  • Kiwanis International
  • Seminole County/Lake Mary Regional Chamber of Commerce
  • First Baptist Church
  • Gibraltar
Rave Reviews About Pat Williams as a Speaker
Your presentation at our Leadership Meeting this past Saturday was a huge hit with our people. We've heard back from many of them, and they were unanimous in their praise for the content of your speech and the manner in which you presented it.

Talks & Conversations with Pat Williams
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The Seven Keys to Leadership in the 21st Century

Pat gives managers practical and proven techniques for immediately increasing their productivity in a leadership capacity.  In this thought-provoking speech, Pat details the seven keys to leadership and teaches how you can be a more effective leader.  Learn how to create a personal strategy, communi ...

Pat gives managers practical and proven techniques for immediately increasing their productivity in a leadership capacity.  In this thought-provoking speech, Pat details the seven keys to leadership and teaches how you can be a more effective leader.  Learn how to create a personal strategy, communicate effectively with your employees and make profitable decisions.  Pat’s humorous anecdotes and unique leadership philosophy make this one of his most highly-regarded speeches. 

The Magic of Teamwork

When you see his diamond-encrusted NBA Championship ring, you understand that Pat is a master at building successful teams.  Based on what he has learned from his experience in building sports teams for over 45 years, Pat offers proven principles for building a winning team in your business or organ ...

When you see his diamond-encrusted NBA Championship ring, you understand that Pat is a master at building successful teams.  Based on what he has learned from his experience in building sports teams for over 45 years, Pat offers proven principles for building a winning team in your business or organization.  After implementing the techniques presented in this speech, you can expect an organization that will produce better results while working more cohesively. 

Walt Disney’s Five Secrets to Success

To sell more effectively than ever before, it helps to look at those who have had the most success.  Through relevant and amusing anecdotes, Pat reviews the qualities that helped Walt Disney become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in American history.  Taking cues from Walt Disney and some o ...

To sell more effectively than ever before, it helps to look at those who have had the most success.  Through relevant and amusing anecdotes, Pat reviews the qualities that helped Walt Disney become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in American history.  Taking cues from Walt Disney and some of America’s other great successes, this talk offers pragmatic principles for exceeding business goals. An inspiring talk, especially when visiting the Orlando area, Walt’s Five Secrets highlight a magical, miraculous way of life. 

Finding the Will to Win

How have “The Greats” achieved such extraordinary success?  How can you achieve the same results?  In this speech, Pat discusses the qualities that the winners in life possess.   Based on over 45 years in professional sports studying successful athletes and coaches who have produced great triumphs, ...

How have “The Greats” achieved such extraordinary success?  How can you achieve the same results?  In this speech, Pat discusses the qualities that the winners in life possess.   Based on over 45 years in professional sports studying successful athletes and coaches who have produced great triumphs, Pat will teach you the secrets to becoming a more focused person, finding passion in your work and succeeding in the face of defeat. After hearing this speech, you will feel like you can conquer the world!

The Ten Keys to Creating a Quality Organization

Successful people know how important it is to have excellence in the workplace.  In a fascinating seminar based upon his personal principles, Pat provides the ingredients of his recipe for quality.  This fast-moving series of ideas and techniques offers the practical steps that can transform any org ...

Successful people know how important it is to have excellence in the workplace.  In a fascinating seminar based upon his personal principles, Pat provides the ingredients of his recipe for quality.  This fast-moving series of ideas and techniques offers the practical steps that can transform any organization into a quality organization.  As one of Pat’s most requested talks, these keys to quality can be used by anyone to enhance not only their work life, but their work environment as well.    

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Biography

Pat Williams is the senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic. As one of America’s top motivational, inspirational, and humorous speakers, he has addressed thousands of executives in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies and national associations to universities and nonprofits. Clients include AllState, American Express, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Disney, Honeywell, IBM, ING, Lockheed Martin, Nike, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Tyson Foods to name a few. Pat is also the author of over 71 books. 

Pat served for seven years in the United States Army, spent seven years in the Philadelphia Phillies organization—two as a minor league catcher and five in the front office—and has also spent three years in the Minnesota Twins organization. Since 1968, he has been in the NBA as general manager for teams in Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia—including the 1983 World Champion 76ers—and now the Orlando Magic, which he co-founded in 1987 and helped lead to the NBA finals in 1995. Twenty-three of his teams have gone to the NBA playoffs and five have made the NBA finals. In 1996, Pat was named as one of the 50 most influential people in NBA history by Beckett’s, a national publication. 

Pat has been an integral part of NBA history, including bringing the NBA to Orlando. He has traded Pete Maravich as well as traded for Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and Penny Hardaway, and he has won four NBA draft lotteries, including back-to-back winners in 1992 and 1993. He also drafted Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney and Darryl Dawkins. He signed Billy Cunningham, Chuck Daly, and Matt Guokas to their first professional coaching contracts. Nineteen of his former players have become NBA head coaches, nine have become college head coaches while seven have become assistant NBA coaches. 

Pat and his wife, Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four nations, ranging in age from 24 to 37. For one year, 16 of his children were all teenagers at the same time. Pat and his family have been featured in Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, the Wall Street Journal, Focus on the Family, New Man Magazine, plus all of the major television networks, The Maury Povich Show and Dr. Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power

Pat teaches an adult Sunday school class at First Baptist Church of Orlando and hosts three weekly radio shows. In the last 13 years, he has completed 54 marathons—including the Boston Marathon 12 times—and also climbed Mt. Rainier. He is a weightlifter, Civil War buff and serious baseball fan. Every winter he plays in Major League Fantasy Camps and has caught Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, Rollie Fingers, Gaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, Tom Seaver and Goose Gossage. 

Pat was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, earned his bachelors degree at Wake Forest University, and his master’s degree at Indiana University. He is a member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame after catching for the Demon Deacon baseball team, including the 1962 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship team. He is also a member of the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame.