CORPORATE PRESENTATIONS
A LIFE OF ADVENTURE
SAYING “YES” TO OPPORTUNITY
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Stephen Venables’s career has pivoted around a groundbreaking
ascent of Mt Everest. That climb makes a dramatic climax to this
presentation, but in his talk Venables shows how he got to
Everest and what he did subsequently with his success.
Starting with early adventures in the British hills and European
Alps, Venables shows how key decisions shaped his life. He
describes his first shoestring overseas expedition, travelling
by bus to the mountains of Afghanistan. He discusses frankly the
expeditions that failed and the learning he made from those
failures. He illuminates the difficult business of choosing
partners, the give-and-take of expedition life, the reconciling
of radically different temperaments. And he shares the thrill of
his great successes on previously untrodden summits – the
turning of dreams into reality.
Making a career out of mountain exploration is a serendipitous
business. For Stephen Venables success has come from seizing
opportunities, combining different talents, following unexpected
trails. An early intoxication with the theatre led eventually,
via mountains, to success as a public speaker. Half-formed
ambitions to write were eventually fulfilled with several
successful travel books and frequent commissions from national
newspapers. Art studies at school honed the visual awareness
vital to taking the exciting photographs which illustrate his
articles, books and public presentations.
Success on Everest in 1988 opened doors. It gave Venables the
kudos to engage with bigger audiences and to make his first
presentations to the business community. It led to film work for
television and, most recently, on the IMAX movie “Shackleton’s
Antarctic Adventure”. By striving to look over new horizons,
develop new skills, work with new teams and, above, continue
learning, Stephen Venables has maintained the vitality and
enthusiasm with which he inspires his audience.
EVEREST - THE PEAK OF SUCCESS
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Everest was a milestone in Stephen Venables’s career. He
pioneered a new route up the biggest face of the world’s highest
mountain and he climbed alone on the final stretch to the
summit. He is one of the very few people - and the first Briton
- to reach the top of the world without the aid of supplementary
oxygen, a feat which has been described as one of the supreme
athletic tests known to man.
But Everest was not just a physical challenge. Venables
succeeded because he decided to succeed. His personal motivation
was total and he had a wealth of experience to back up that
motivation.
He was also part of a team – an international team of just four
climbers drawn from Canada, the USA and Briton, supported by
four staff at base camp, working together to make a dream come
true. Many experts warned that their dream was crazy. There were
moments when Venables and his companions thought that perhaps
the sceptics were right. But in the end they overcame those
doubts and succeeded in writing one of the most triumphant
chapters in Everest’s history – a new route up the gigantic
Kangshung Face.
In telling the story of this historic expedition, Stephen
Venables concentrates on the human drama, stressing the group
dynamics which made the project such a success. In doing so, he
illuminates the concerns which are at the heart of any great
organisation:
TEAMWORK AND LEADERSHIP
Mountaineers are by nature obstinate individualists, but they
have to work together, resolving tensions, recognizing and
capitalising on their different skills and temperaments. For
each team member, the expedition is a profound exercise in
personal development.
MOTIVATION
The best expedition leaders are not autocrats, but they do have
a gift for inspiring and motivating their companions, not just
for the ultimate goal of the summit, but for the journey itself.
The team has to believe in the value and excitement of the whole
project. Individual members have constantly to remotivate
themselves and each other.
STRESS
Expeditions fluctuate between extremes of inactivity and
feverish action: one week boredom is the problem, the next the
team may be working 20 hour days, stretched to the limit of
physical and psychological endurance, often at very close
quarters. Patience, tolerance and, above all, humour are
paramount.
PLANNING
Half the satisfaction of an expedition is the planning that
makes the dream come true. Every logistical detail from cooking
fuel, to porters’ insurance, to high altitude tents has to be
planned meticulously. Given the huge risks and uncertainties on
a big mountain, the organiser has to create a framework giving
the best possible chance of success.
COPING WITH CHANGE
Mountaineering is about risk - embarking on a great adventure
where the outcome is uncertain and the day to day circumstances
change constantly. The basic plan is only a starting point. On
the mountain the team has to be imaginative and flexible,
constantly re-evaluating tactics.
MAKING THINGS HAPPEN
The best expeditions grow from the germ of an idea. Over a
period of months or even years that idea becomes a reality.
There are usually countless setbacks, but with the right team
there is a conviction that problems are there to be solved.
Mountaineering is about the art of the possible – about saying
“Yes”!
CLIENTS AND COMPANIES ADDRESSED BY STEPHEN
VENABLES
Accenture
American Express
Apter International
Arthur Andersen
Booker Tate
Boots Healthcare Int.
BP Marine
Bristol Myers-Squibb
British American Tobacco
British Gas
Business Pursuits
Chase Manhattan
Civil Service College
Crown Agents
Domino Printing Sciences
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Dairy Crest
First Bus
Flight Centre
Glaxo
Grand Metropolitan Estates
Harrison Crossfield
Henley Management College
Institute of Management
Herbert Smith
Kiln
Kodak
Lehman Brothers
Linton Park
Lloyds Bank |
London Business School
Masterfoods
Mercury Communications
Ove Arup
PowerGen
Powerhouse Communications
Price Waterhouse Coopers
SAB Miller
Shell
Stryker
Sun Life of Canada
Tandem Computers
Telewest
West Canadian Wheat Growers' Association
Zurich Insurance |
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