Geopolitical volatility. A fractured international order. More armed conflicts than at any point in recorded history. If the world feels harder to navigate than ever, that’s because it is — and few people are better positioned to help make sense of it than The Honourable Bob Rae.

Bob was our opening speaker at Showcase 2026 — our annual client-exclusive, TED-style event. This year’s event featured four speakers, each offering a distinct perspective on how to lead, adapt, and excel in an increasingly complex world.

As Canada’s former Ambassador to the United Nations, Premier of Ontario, and interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Bob has spent a lifetime navigating complexity at the highest levels. He drew on five decades of experience in international diplomacy and national politics to offer a grounded, honest, and ultimately hopeful roadmap forward.

Absolutely adored The Hon. Bob Rae, felt very inspired throughout the whole event.

Showcase 2026 attendee

Finding Your Footing in an Uncertain World

It’s easy to get wound up about the state of the world and increasingly hard not to right now. As a keynote speaker, Bob covers serious ground — examining the seismic forces reshaping global politics, from the crisis of democracy and the weaponization of misinformation to shifting bilateral relationships and the emergence of new global power centres. But his goal isn’t just to decode the trends — it’s to leave audiences with a sense of hope and a place to start. So he opened with the question he gets asked most: what can I do to make a difference?

Bob was quick to point out that while we have little control over global forces, what we can control is how we respond to them. He shared three lessons from his career that he keeps coming back to.

1. Accept Imperfection and Failure

Bob calls himself lucky to have experienced a nervous breakdown in his early 20s because it taught him that failure isn’t the end — it’s a reset. No one is looking for perfection, and you won’t find it anyway, he said. What matters is to keep going, to stay open to new opportunities, and trust that there’s always another chapter ahead. As someone who has, by his own humorous admission, failed publicly at least 28 times, he speaks from experience.

2. Listen More than You Talk

In politics, Bob said, no one asks a question without already knowing the answer they want — and no one answers the question actually being asked. It’s a perpetual exchange of pre-packaged messages, and it plays out just as readily in boardrooms as it does in question period.

When he arrived at the United Nations, Bob made a deliberate choice to do something different: listen first. Rather than positioning himself as Canada’s voice in the room, he sat with delegates from 193 countries and tried to understand where they were coming from. It changed everything.

“Listening means curiosity,” he said. “It means reading, watching, engaging — and not being afraid to disagree, and accepting that you can disagree with someone and still like them.”

3. Embrace Humility

But real listening requires something first — the willingness to accept that you might be wrong. Humility, Bob said, is the prerequisite for any meaningful exchange.

If you can’t accept your own fallibility, you can’t accept that the person across from you might be right. And if you can’t do that, you’ll never have a real conversation, Bob said. You’ll only ever be exchanging messages you’ve been told to deliver, to someone who isn’t listening, who is doing exactly the same thing back.

Bob’s seen it play out at every level — from question period to the UN Security Council. And in his experience, it’s one of the most corrosive forces in both politics and leadership.

Mind the Gap

When Bob looks at global politics today, he sees a world that isn’t applying these lessons. Leaders aren’t listening. Humility is in short supply. And the consequences are everywhere.

Over the years, Bob has adopted a personal motto familiar to anyone who has ridden the London Underground — mind the gap. It’s the gaps that matter enormously, he said. The gap between walk and talk. Between generations. Between men and women. And right now, globally, a series of gaps so large they’re creating an enormous level of conflict.

The most pressing is the gap between what we know and what is actually happening, Bob said. With a limited attention span and a multitude of messages coming at us from every direction, it’s incredibly difficult to distinguish signal from noise — and when we can’t, he continued, we act impulsively. Bob pointed to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran as a case in point: leaders who failed to think through the consequences of their actions, underestimating the ripple effects on neighbouring countries and on goods vital to the global economy.

We live in a world where decisions have to be made quickly, Bob said. That’s the challenge. But it’s also the opportunity.

Find the Cracks

Bob closed with Leonard Cohen — specifically, the poet’s observation that there is a crack in everything, and that’s how the light gets in, i.e., the opportunity.

While the world is complicated and dangerous, he said, we gain nothing from being paralyzed by it. The goal is to find the cracks — the openings, the possibilities — and move toward them. To look for solutions rather than criticism.

“Find the gaps. Look for the cracks. Find the light.”

Book The Hon. Bob Rae for Your Next Event

One of Canada’s most distinguished voices in global politics, the Honourable Bob Rae offers audiences rare insight into navigating complex global challenges, building consensus across divides, and leading through transformation. His keynotes draw on firsthand experience with humanitarian crises, negotiations with world leaders, and critical issues — delivered with the wisdom of a statesman and the accessibility of a natural storyteller.

Contact us to learn more about Bob and how to book him to speak at your next event.