Improve Your Virtual Conference ROI
PHASE 1: THE VIRTUAL KEYNOTE
Total Time: 30-45 minutes
In the current landscape of increased virtual meetings, your team needs more than just another bland keynote. Jeff delivers an engaging and entertaining message that spices up the otherwise ordinary virtual experience and has staying power through multiple phases of content. What we provide your team is a dynamic and interactive, multi-tiered sequence of engagements. All of Jeff’s keynotes include assisting attendees in identifying blind spots with how they interface and engage with their teammates as well as executing their responsibilities within the team.
Through live or prerecorded, customized keynote (PHASE 1), Jeff distills out the learning opportunities that have been baked into his life experiences as an international mountain climbing guide and natural disaster site Physician Assistant, drawing out the parallels and relevance to the post-pandemic, uncertain landscape we all find ourselves currently navigating, both professionally and personally. Jeff uses his real-life experiences from the summit of Everest to the front lines of the war in Mosul, Iraq to create engaging and impactful metaphors that provide the audience with solid take-home tools to move forward in these complex times. Throughout the keynote, Jeff challenges the attendees to self-assess their level of commitment to be the best versions of themselves within the team they operate.
CORNERSTONE THEMES
Nurturing the concept of
Servant Leadership
The cornerstone of Jeff's message, servant leadership, is paramount for success in our personal and professional lives. An organization/team is challenged to foster an atmosphere of trust, communication and teamwork without embracing the mindset of a servant leader. Jeff points out that we are all “guides” in some fashion, and the importance of leading from a place that is centered around fostering the success of others first, prior to considering our own personal summits or agendas. Nurturing the members of our teams (colleagues, clients or family) in order to help them identify their models of success and selecting the route up the mountain that optimizes their particular skillsets. Jeff describes the selfless attitude of his Sherpa partners as well as his role as the chief medic in Everest Air to convey the true nature of a Servant Leader.
Developing and honing solid
Teamwork
Whether you are roped up in the mountains or roped up in a business initiative, you will win together or lose together. Either way, your fate is inextricably connected to those on your team. To promote positive rope team health, each member of the team should be constantly assessing, in real time, how they can contribute to the overall team dynamic. Jeff stresses that we are all connected by a rope…and in some cases, now a virtual rope. So undoubtedly it is more critical than ever to be paying attention to the “tension of the rope” that we’re all connected to and nurturing the concept of The Collective Power of One that the rope creates. Jeff has lead countless rope teams throughout his career and one thing always rings true...the collective power of one that comes from aligning with teammates can propel us forward. It simply requires our attention.
Cultivating honest and transparent
Communication & Trust
Jeff has honed his communication skills guiding his blind adventure partner Erik on mountains, rock faces and races all over the world for over 25 years. This partnership has been successful only because the two men have placed the highest level of trust in each other…where every step, jump and move matter. Jeff uses many of the situations he has encountered while guiding Erik across challenging terrain to illustrate the power and effectiveness of a "High Comms, High Trust" team.
Navigating our landscapes while
Managing Adversity
Adversity is a part of any journey or objective. How we manifest our reaction to that adversity is what differentiates us as effective leaders and teammates and has the potential to strengthen the team or tear it apart. By using the VUCA acronym (Volatile Uncertain Complex Ambiguous) as a learning framework, Jeff reflects back on the numerous events that have threatened to derail the final objective and identifies the tools necessary to optimize our efforts in the face of adversity. Jeff’s new book, Climbing Through Storms: Managing Adversity in a VUCA World is a great tool in support of this theme.
Learning and adopting what Jeff refers to as the
Expeditionary Mindset
The Expeditionary Mindset is based on applying the optic of the mountain guide as we operate in our team settings. The guide is always willing to adjust the route up the mountain so that it’s congruent with the set of variables and conditions that are presented to the team. A guide understands the value in unpacking our backpacks and inventorying the tools and equipment in order to confirm that we have all the appropriate tools for the job, and then making adjustments as necessary. The guide is always considering how the team is acclimatizing as they move up the mountain. For the terms of this conversational topic, we discuss how the team should always be diligent on how we ascend the mountain, giving our “bodies” our “teams” the time necessary to climb the mountain in a healthy way. Occasionally that means we have to listen to the signs, pump the breaks a bit and recalibrate. This mindset also teaches us to manage the storms that circle around us…assessing forecasts and determining when and how we will move from camp to camp in a safe and efficient way.
Following the keynote, we roll directly into PHASE 2 and prepare for PHASE 3 of the Sustained Learning Experience. This is optional of course, but recommended for lasting impact.
PHASE 2: THE Q & A
Total Time: = 15-20 minutes
Immediately follows the keynote and consists of a virtual, live question and answer session with Jeff fielding questions directly from the attendees, taking a deeper dive into the most relevant themes with the goal of establishing future objectives and actionables. It’s recommended that a member of the leadership team field the most relevant and profound questions from the attendees. Although this is a fun and interactive component, we are also planting the seeds for further concept development and discussion.
PHASE 3: THE FOLLOW UP
Total Time: = 30-45 minutes
Included with the keynote cost is an optional virtual gathering for all attendees 3-4 weeks following the keynote. As we wrap up Phase 2, we leave all attendees with a list of topics and discussion points to reflect on in the upcoming weeks. The Follow Up is more of a dialogue style format with Jeff facilitating a discussion for attendees to reflect and dissect how they are implementing the keynote learning topics in conjunction with a customized selection of follow-up topics listed below. This is encouraged to improve communication, teamwork and encourage the flow of ideas. The first follow up meeting is included with keynote cost with subsequent meetings provided upon request for an additional fee.
Adjusting the Route/Plan
•How have I been adapting and altering my mindset necessary to embrace change? What are some tangible examples of how we have pivoted and is more necessary?
The Rope Team
•What does our rope team dynamic look and feel like and have we been cultivating and harnessing its full potential? How could we do better?
Trust When it Gets Steep
•What methods and practices have we implemented to maintain and build healthy trust within our rope teams?
Communication in the Storm
•How have we improved our communication skills? What new and fresh methods of relaying information in a healthy and productive manner have we implemented?
The Sherpa Attitude
•Have we attempted to adopt the persona of the selfless leader Sherpa? Are we thinking with the mindset of “others first and the rest will follow”? In what tangible ways can we alter the way we put team first?
Acclimatization
•How we are managing ourselves, our strides and our overall pace from camp to camp all the way up to the summit? Are we cognizant of the team’s pace and whether it needs any adjustments?
Engagement vs Complacency
•Has this virtual format influenced our individual and team engagement levels? What actions can we take to keep ourselves and our teammates engaged as we all climb together.
Leadership for the Expedition
•Have we done our absolute best developing the traits and characteristics that every “guide” and leader should embrace to maintain a healthy team dynamic during a lengthy, and at times arduous, expedition?
To inquire on fee structure, please contact us HERE
