Jim Davidson

*NEW VIRTUAL Topic - Facing Everest-Sized Uncertainties

Jim’s first attempt to climb Mount Everest ended suddenly when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. This spawned massive avalanches and aftershocks that trapped Jim’s team high on the mountain. It became the deadliest day ever on Mount Everest. Jim returned in 2017 to try again. Along the way, his team had to endure eleven stormy days pinned in their tents, uncertain if they were going to be able to summit. Finally, conditions cleared and after persevering through the uncertainty, Jim and his team reached their goal.

From these intense experiences, Jim shares critical lessons for facing today’s uncertain times. He will share practical tips about:

• Building a resilient mindset for facing change, challenge & uncertainty
• Attitudes and actions to take before, during, and after big storms
• When to rely on passive perseverance vs. active perseverance

Jim has conducted virtual presentations for small companies, international corporations, and multi-location associations. His energetic presentations engage your virtual audience with compelling videos and unique props (climbing gear).

Everest Resilience: Overcoming Adversity and Reaching High Goals - Keynote

During his first Everest attempt in 2015, Jim and his team were trapped at Camp 1 by massive earthquakes and avalanches. After recovering from this huge setback, he trained even harder and returned in 2017 to summit Mt. Everest.

Work, life, and climbing always include change, challenge, and uncertainty. Struggling up Mount Everest reveals how resilience allows you to overcome adversities and still reach high goals. Jim has presented inspirational keynotes across the USA and internationally to prominent clients like Verizon, Capital One, UPS, OppenheimerFunds, Proctor & Gamble, Nokia, and more.

In this thrilling keynote, Jim shares hard-won resilience lessons on how you can:

- Adapt to change

- Face uncertainty

- Overcome challenges

- Recover from setbacks

Jim’s resilience was also tested by a tragic mountaineering accident that forced him to climb alone up an overhanging ice wall to escape from an 80-foot deep glacial crevasse. Jim’s survival epic was made into an episode of the hit TV series “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” (Discovery Channel. From his intense experiences, Jim distills how to:

- Cultivate a resilient mindset

- Leverage your personal resilience

- Increase your resilience through post-traumatic growth

Keynote is 60 - 90 minutes

Resilient Teamwork and Resilient Leadership - Workshop

On his remote expeditions, Jim has encountered many teamwork and leadership challenges. During remote rescues and evacuations, the pressure increases, uncertainty grows, and team dynamics become strained. High-performing organizations face these same teamwork and leadership conditions in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world.

By examining several real-world mountain rescue scenarios, Jim facilitates an invigorating, interactive workshop that has your team working together to resolve leadership and teamwork challenges. Some of the difficult rescues that Jim has helped with include:

- Solo mountaineer with severe altitude illness at 19,200 feet on Denali (Mt. McKinley)

- Hiker who fell 70 feet into a boulder field at 13,000 feet in Colorado

- Climbers trapped at 19,900 feet on Mt. Everest

In this hands-on workshop, Jim uses engaging storytelling and vivid visuals to bring these scenarios to life. Then, he has your attendees work to resolve the dilemmas by having them:

- Debate how to be a resilient team member

- Identify traits of resilient leaders

- Examine their own resilience strengths and weaknesses

This energizing workshop includes interactive sessions with small group work, large group facilitation, and individual self-reflections. Jim regularly facilitates this energizing program for top-quality organizations like Marriott, Credit Suisse, US Army, Kia Motors, and many more.

Attendees vigorously engage with the process because these are real teamwork challenges (not board games or simulations). This energetic scenario will be brought to life by Jim’s intense videos, photos, and first-hand experiences.

Interactive workshop is 1.5 - 3 hours