Antarctica is one of the driest, coldest and most hostile of environments on the planet. It is a place devoid of any permanent life and a place that requires the utmost competence and sheer determination to survive for any length of time. Through history the tales of suffering and perseverance are legendary and etched into adventure folklore. For more than a hundred years of polar history, no African had ever made an unsupported walk to the South Pole. That is, until Alex teamed up with another South African Sibusiso Vilane.

In January of 2008, Alex and Sibu became the first Africans to complete the 1200km trek unsupported and unassisted. The journey took 65 days and was in Alex’s words, quite simply the hardest thing he has ever done.

Alex relates his trek with powerful images and video and shares some key strategies for tough times. First, the need to balance risk and understand when its critical to be aggressive and push forward; but also when its necessary to pull back and wait. Secondly, the need to simultaneously keep in mind the bid picture compelling stuff, like vision and purpose. But also the mundane minutia of the day to day grind that make up the audacious goal. Finally, Alex highlights the power of process and our ability to increase our effectiveness in any given situation when we make principled decisions.

One of the last great adventure problems was to cross the Rub Al Khali, or Empty Quarter as the Arabs call it, unsupported and on foot. Known commonly as the Arabian desert, it is the hottest and most hostile of all the worlds deserts, and splits the Arabian Peninsula in two. While virtually everyone said this project would be impossible, Alex and a small team set out to prove them wrong. In February and March of 2013, Alex finally succeed after three years of planning to cross the Rub unsupported. The journey took 40 days and covered 1210kms.

This is the story of overcoming impossible odds. Specifically, how to plan and strategize when the goal is complex, challenging in every sense and has never been done before. Alex talks about 1st Phase vulnerability and the need to predict initial problems as your team is refining processes and levels of accountability. This talk also highlights the importance of ruthless discipline in an environment that takes no prisoners. Finally, Alex relates how critical it was to be positive and encouraging as a leader when things were taking a turn for the worse.

If your team is embarking on a project that your peers feel is impossible, then this talk is for you. It will shift the boundaries on what you believe to be impossible and empower you like never before.

Most people think the greatest challenges in our loves are those very big, audacious goals; the complex and challenging intricacies of teams tackling new projects or ventures. Or, in a simpler sense, the actual Mount Everest. However, the greatest obstacles are the very ones we take for granted all of the time, the feelings of doubt and uncertainty. It is these things that hamper our ability to achieve any level of success.

Over a period of nine years Alex has spent 180 days on Mount Everest, leading teams in varying conditions before he finally succeeded summiting in 2005. Alex relates the trials and triumph of what it’s like to fight doubt and disbelief on the icy slopes of the world’s highest mountain, before finally tasting the sweetness of success.

Alex’s message is simple. Each one of us will one day face our own personal Everest. It might not be 8848ms of ice and snow, but whatever it is, our ability to overcome self-doubt and disbelief will allow us to taste success. Focusing on Passion, perseverance and that illusive thing called Purpose, this talk will change your perspective on what are the things that really challenge us.

In a world where precious metals, minerals, oil and natural gas are the traded and highly valued commodities, belief, and specifically self-belief will increasingly be valued higher and higher and come at a premium.

Alex has spent the last 20 years leading groups of executives and high performance teams on some of the world’s more challenging terrain; from the slopes of Kilimanjaro to the high plateau of Tibet and the wastelands of Antarctica. During this time he has noticed a very subtle but consistent theme. Irrespective of the challenge, the teams and individuals that have thrived and succeeded, and have consistently tasted success; have had one thing in common. Incredibly high levels of self-belief.

Alex describes the particulars of what gives these teams and individuals such high self-belief; from the process of ‘trading’ belief, like any other commodity, to creating and adding to a ‘belief pool’. Key to this process in understanding the concepts of positive and negative cycles of belief, and what we can do to shift from one to the other. Alex shares anecdotes and incredible pictures from the slopes of Everest to the icy cold of Antarctica to the desperate heart of the Arabian Desert.

This talk will empower you and give your team an unbeatable competitive edge. If you are wanting to know what the future differentiator is for high performance teams; it’s this. Self-belief and a set of skills to gradually increase your belief pool and make your competitors irrelevant!