SIR CHRIS BONINGTON CBE
One of the UK's finest motivational speakers.
Chris Bonington
Sir
Chris Bonington, (note the spelling -not Bonnington with 4 n's!) is one of the most successful expedition leaders
in the history of mountaineering. He is also a successful
and brilliant motivational speaker with superb
audio-visual presentations which have inspired companies and
workforces all over the world.
In 1970 he led the expedition that climbed the South Face of Annapurna and in 1975 achieved success on Everest - the Hard Way, up its huge South West Face.
He reached the summit of Everest in
1985 but the challenges that now attract him are the few exciting
unclimbed peaks that are left in the World's further ranges.
He has established a reputation as an outstanding motivational
speaker and is a visiting lecturer at Cranfield School of
Management. He has been honoured with a Knighthood in 1996, the
CBE in 1976 and the Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical
Society. He is president of The Alpine Club, the Council for
National Parks, the British Orienteering Federation and LEPRA
(The British Leprosy Charity).
He has presented many television programmes including the award
winning Everest Years, Lakeland Rock and The Climbers and has
written fourteen much acclaimed books, all of which have been
bestsellers.
THE TALKS
EVEREST - PEAK OF ACHIEVEMENT
A
programme illustrating Bonington's management style
•Motivation . Visionary
Leadership •Empowerment •Synergy in Teamwork
•Planning and Organisation •Determination and
Perseverance
Reaching the highest point on earth requires teamwork of the
highest level. Chris Bonington describes his own personal motivation leading to
the success in at last reaching the summit of Everest in 1985 at the age of
50, as a member of the Norwegian Everest Expedition. The
expedition placed eighteen climbers and Sherpas on the summit in
three separate ascents, a record for a single expedition. This
was possible because of superb planning and organisation, but
most of all, because of the quality of teamwork amongst
expedition members.
The leader was Arne Naess, a millionaire ship owner, and
Bonington acted as his chief of staff looking after the logistics
and advising on strategy. He studies Næss's approach to
leadership and explores the dynamics of decision making within
the team.
Bonington was stretched to the limit in his own bid for the
summit and describes how he was helped by the men around him. He
also shares his thoughts as he approached the summit. He takes
the audience step by step up Everest in such a vivid way that
they share in the exhilaration of the climb. Yet he constantly
draws parallels between the effort on the mountain and their
realities in the business and management world.
SUCCEEDING
WITH CHANGE
Crisis management •Dealing with obstacles •Creating
positive reactions to change
The successful climber does not fight his
environment. He or she must become attuned to it; interpreting
the signs and taking appropriate action. He needs to adapt his
strategies to the changing realities of the elements, the terrain
and the capabilities of the other team members.
Indeed climbing provides a strong metaphor for the many, at times
traumatic changes that today are taking place throughout the work
place. Chris Bonington tells a series of dramatic stories to
underline the lessons to be learnt and to help build a strategy
for life - not just to survive - but to succeed and prosper.
He uses many powerful images including the
story of his epic descent of the Ogre with Doug Scott, who broke
both legs just below the summit. They were engulfed by storm and
went without food for five days. Bonington also fell, broke his
ribs and caught pneumonia, but through using all their skills and
working positively they not only survived the experience but
gained from it.
CLIMB
EVEREST WITH CHRIS BONINGTON
The Concept
The participants will join Chris on his ascent of the South West Face of Everest in 1975. It was the largest and most complex expedition ever to leave Britain, tackling what is arguably the most daunting challenge in the history of climbing - Everest the Hard Way. Five strong expeditions had already tried and failed.
He first takes them through the planning process and then on to the climb itself, setting the scene, giving all the relevant information but then asking the participants for their solutions to the problems involved. The questions examined are ones of leadership and dealing with people rather than climbing tactics.
This approach enables the entire group to participate in the climb, exploring different ways to deal with issues as they occur in the course of the expedition. Its strength is its participatory nature and it has worked very effectively in two seminars
he has managed for BP. In the course of the discussion he brings the participants back to their own work day challenges and encourage them to compare these with the issues that we explore on the mountain.
Structure
He starts by giving the background to the story of the South West Face and my own first attempt in the Autumn of 1972.
He then goes into the planning phase of the 1975 Expedition, exploring with the group:
•The Vision/Objective
•Logistic Planning
•Team Selection
We then start the climb and as the story unfolds he involves the group in helping
him solve some of the challenges or dilemmas with which he is confronted on the way.
These include:
•Motivating the Sherpa work force.
•Dealing with conflicts of interest caused by individual ambition amongst team members.
•Selecting the summit teams
•Motivating the rest
•Coping with crisis and tragedy when Mick Burke goes missing high on Everest
•Analysing mistakes as well as successes.
Because the presentation is interactive, the participants not only absorb more of the lessons, but having helped to form them, take on greater ownership of the leadership and team building principles brought out by the climb.
Technical Details
The presentation is run off a computer, allowing him to use a combination of pictures, animated graphics and video to bring the story to life.
Boundless Horizons - By Sir Chris Bonington....
This
is an omnibus edition of all three volumes of Chris Bonington's autobiography:
"I Chose to Climb", "The Next Horizon" and "The Everest
Years". In all three books we learn about the charismatic generation of
climbing personalities who were his friends, with whom he shared his triumphs
and fights for survival on dangerous and sometimes tragic expeditions.
We learn too of Chris Bonington’s development into the devoted family man and celebrity he is today.
"Without
doubt and by the common consent of all the delegates, your talk
was one of the most inspirational and thought provoking that any
of us have ever attended"
The Hon John Sinclair,
Chief Executive, Granfel Holdings Limited
"I really don't recall receiving such a positive feedback
from an audience following a speech. You made a very great
impression on our people and managed to reinforce in a quite
enthralling manner the points made throughout the day about
vision, leadership and teamwork."
A.F Morrison, Chairman, Morrison Construction Group
"The parallels between the mountaineering process and the
business management process are vividly clear and the relevance
of your experience to our business was very much appreciated by
all my colleagues"
David Setchell,Managing Director,Gulf Oil (UK)
"Your multimedia case study on Everest gave our senior
management more insight into empowering leadership than all the
books on the topic put together."
Dr. Susan Vinnicombe, Director of Graduate Research, Cranfield School of Management