Rachael Robertson
Antarctic expedition leader Rachael Robertson presents ‘The Edge Effect’ – how to sustain change, demonstrate leadership and build resilient teams.
Do you wish you could inspire people to be their best? Most leaders have the will but often not the skill to inspire people, particularly over a long period of time.
Leading an Antarctic expedition required extreme leadership and the ability to inspire through months of darkness. As Rachael reveals using incredible and often hilarious examples, it demanded big leadership in small moments. And those small moments built momentum leading to a highly successful expedition. As only the second female to lead a team at Davis Station she managed a diverse group of up to 120 people, through total isolation, months of darkness, with no way in and no way out. It was a leadership laboratory in the most extreme and hostile environment on Earth, where most of the theory doesn’t apply.
For the last six years Rachael has been sharing insights and practical advice to business leaders around the world. Her unique framework, “The Edge Effect”, is helping leaders and managers make great choices and make them stick, and provides the tools and techniques to inspire teams for the long haul.
Rachael was fantastic. She gave engaging presentation that left the audience wanting more
Leadership Great South Coast
I have seen a number of speakers over the years, however Rachael was amongst the absolute best of them. I took so much away from her amazing story, and have relayed some of her messages to other people. Love the bacon war!
Randstad
Rachael was engaging and responded well to the group. Her experiences are extraordinary and she did a great job of relating what she learnt. She was also able to illustrate the similarities between her roles and those of my team. In one word, "Terrific!"
ANZ
We were delighted with the feedback on Rachael from our advisers. Evaluation forms contained phrases such as: "Excellent", "Truly inspiring", "Interesting" and "Fantastic presenter - very informative and interesting". Working with Rachael over five events around Australia was a delight. She has a very professional and flexible approach".
AXA
Rachael is a passionate and enthusiastic speaker. She has that magic mix of tangible down-to-earth stories that give way to strong and inspiring messages on leadership, relationships and life. She fully engages with the participants from the moment she arrives right through to the moment she leaves.
Alstom
My speaking topics...
Rachael Robertson - Topics
What does leading an Antarctic expedition have to do with corporate leadership?
Much more than you could ever realise!
There can be no argument that leading Antarctic expeditions is extreme. Once you commit there is no turning back. Yet the challenges for the leader are the same in every workplace. Leaders need to acknowledge and navigate through the perpetual scrutiny, the frequent isolation, and the need to keep going when you feel you have nothing more to give.
Leaders need to be able to develop personal resilience and be able to manage the scrutiny spotlight that their position attracts. This keynote is perfect for leaders and aspiring leaders in all forms:
Specific Takeaways
- Leader for a reason, a season and for life - how to make the right decision, the right way
- Open Door Policy 2.0 – it's not time management, it's boundary management
- Power of reflection - how to hone your self-awareness and build resilience
- Tools to build teamwork, influence and trust in organisations
- Antarctic winter: How to sustain yourself in the dark times
- The "Bacon Wars" and why its critical to 'major in the minor' things
Inspire, empower and equip your people to lead their teams with mastery
Few of us get to select every member of our teams. Usually, we need to build an effective and resilient team from an existing group of diverse people. The ability to understand and harness this diversity to create high performance is critical.
Rachael shares her experience and techniques including how to motivate and reward staff using intrinsic measures and how to keep teams focused on your main goal, but know what needs to be done now.
Specific Takeaways
- LADAR – listen out "pings" for on your 'language radar' to strengthen respect and integrity
- Adapt or perish - why collaboration is critical and why only the smart teams survive
- The "Bacon Wars" and how to shape your team's attitudes and behaviours
- Lessons from emperors - How to protect the tribe so the individual thrives
Practical tools for safety, resilience and teamwork
Remote and dangerous worksites present unique challenges to people and their employers. Workers need the skills to quickly adapt to the work and then re-assimilate into their home lives. Teams must live a culture of safety. Employers must strive to create a zero-harm environment without losing productivity and efficiency.
Keynote speaker Rachael Robertson successfully led in the most remote and dangerous workplace known to man, a year long expedition to Antarctica. Now she shares her insights, experience and tools!
Specific Takeaways
- Bacon Wars - why every organisation has a coffee cup sign in the kitchen and what it means for safety
- Plane Crash- how to lead through an emergency
- Resilience – choose and develop mental toughness
- Mode switch – tools to streamline swing transitions
- Antarctic Winter- how to keep teams inspired and motivated during the long dark times
- Spotlight – coping strategies for close living
How to turn good people into great leaders, strategy into execution and ideas into action
The big things are important, but it's the small things that make the difference. Great leaders know how to show BIG leadership in small moments.
Most people want to lead. They really do, and they make great efforts to do so. Yet research shows that most "leaders" don't inspire their people. There is a deafening chorus of employees shouting "I want my leader to inspire". So... what is it that great leaders do differently? They understand the value of edge moments. Edge moments:
- shape strong connections, which create trust and loyalty
- build commitment, that turns strategy into execution
- Get ideas into action, which turns good people into great leaders
Specific Takeaways
- Appreciate how moments create trust and momentum
- Learn how to create powerful edge moments
- Learn how to spot, address and fix moments
- Learn the language of moments – body, voice, context
- Receive the tools to immediately become an Edge Leader
Men wanted... safe return doubtful
This presentation has been specifically designed to give an insight into the highs and lows of 18 strangers living in complete isolation in the most remote place on the planet, for an entire year. With awe-inspiring images of Antarctica, plenty of humour and using real-life stories, Rachael takes the audience on an emotional journey revealing the truth behind life in this most fascinating and isolated environment.
Specific Takeaways
- Entertainment – even the rowdiest crowd quickly comes under Rachael's spell
- Inspiration – your audiences will be moved to dream the impossible
- Education – learn the most interesting facts about life in Antarctica
- Motivation – your people will leave motivated to rise to new challenges
See me...
https://www.odemanagement.com/speakers/rachael-robertson.html#sigProIdedfebe5e7e
eVideo Program
Although Rachael had over fifteen years experience as a professional team leader, making the jump to heading up the 58th Antarctic Expedition was one guaranteed to provide extreme challenges. The rarified interpersonal environment of leading such an isolated, remote team gave Rachael invaluable insight into the challenges businesses face each day - and the environment gave her the opportunity to learn how to deal quickly and effectively with all the issues that arose. The lessons from those experiences have been captured in this seven-part eVideo series - every business should take note!