David Breashears: Vision, Courage, Passion
Leadership at 26,000 Feet
David Breashears is the world's foremost high-altitude filmmaker and one of only three Westerners to have reached the summit of Mount Everest five times. Throughout his twenty-five year filmmaking and Himalayan climbing career he has continually been at the forefront of his field, with such audacious and forward thinking achievements as the first live broadcast from the summit of Mount Everest in May of 1983 to being the leadership and filmmaking mastermind behind the unprecedented worldwide success of the "Everest" IMAX film. His leadership and professional imperatives are clearly defined; Never quit. Never do the expected. Never rest on your laurels. Never think great is good enough. Never follow.
Breashears has always set his sights on nearly unattainable goals. These goals have always required tremendous vision, courage and passion to imagine, to achieve successfully. He believes that the attainment of great goals in life is not something to be feared, it is something to be relished because it is only when reaching for a new and higher summit that the best of one's abilities are utilized and brought to the forefront. He knows that great goals are only achieved by great teams and that a leader must always show conviction, responsibility, competence, and a deeply held belief and importance of the goal. He has also learned through years of hard-won experience that leaders are most effective when they show restraint, and a willingness to subordinate their egos for the greater good of the team and the achievement of the summit.
His years of toil on the unforgiving slopes of Earth's highest peak have shown him that the precepts to success in an unpredictable world are Disciplined Leadership, Disciplined Thought, and Disciplined Action. These precepts are organized within the framework of an organic whole, meaning they are inter-dependent on one another for survival. For instance, Disciplined Leaders engage in a Disciplined Thought process when choosing team and designing a multi-dimensional, flexible plan that provides options. The environment for which the plan was devised is rarely the environment to which the plan will unfold. Disciplined Action because the plan is only as valuable as the team's ability to execute it. Without Disciplined Execution and reliance on Disciplined Thought and Disciplined Leadership, great summits are rarely achieved.
Breashears also believes that teams should be built around the concept of excellence, and that the pursuit of excellence has its own intrinsic value. Team members should always strive to perform at their highest possible level, applying their skills for the greater good of the team without the expectation of reward or praise.
The importance and influence of Breashears' lecture is illustrated by the fact he is invited as a repeat speaker to several of the world's top academic institutions including the MBA and Executive Education programs at the Harvard Business School, Europe's leading business school, INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, and at the Naval Post-Graduate School where he speaks to groups of Admirals and Commanders. In all three of these institutions, perpetually he is rated as the most memorable and authentic speaker, despite being measured against a roster of the most renowned leadership and team building speakers in the world.
The Presentation
Breashears' presentation is a spellbinding blend of first person story-telling illustrated by breathtaking and rarely seen images from the 1996 Everest IMAX filming expedition. By popular demand, he has delivered his presentation hundreds of times throughout North America, Canada and Asia. David is proud and pleased that his clients comments are often, "Your lessons and examples will live in the memory of our group for many years to come. I've never seen the room so quiet; everyone was on the edge of their seat." Clients also comment that Breashears has a very high attendance and retention rate. Because of his fame in the Everest and IMAX fields, he attracts huge audiences at large conventions and private corporate functions alike, and has an exceptionally high retention rate once his lecture has begun. Breashears' ability to captivate an audience and convey his important lessons to them is due to his ability to speak as a leader from the frontlines of the world's harshest environment and deadliest mountain. Breashears has said that if there is a lesson to be learned from the tragedy, it is that success was not only being the world's first IMAX team to film on Everest's summit, it was also that everyone on his team returned safely from the mountain.
The Everest tragedy of 1996 captured the world's attention and imagination through frontpage headlines, magazine covers and stories, films, and best-selling books. And, although the experience is eight years old, it is still remarkably fresh in the minds of the general public. Additionally, Breashears' recent twelfth expedition to Everest, where he reached the summit for the fifth time as Co-producer of the $70 million Universal Studios' feature film "EVEREST", brings a contemperary narrative to his presentation.
In the spring of 1996, Breashears and his team found themselves engaged in what many considered an impossible endeavor: to film an ascent of Earth's highest peak, Mount Everest, in the world's largest film format, IMAX. To ensure a safe and successful expedition, Breashears handpicked a veteran team of high-altitude Himalayan mountaineers and filmmakers. In the months before departing, Breashears and his team carefully planned every aspect of the expedition including the monumental logistics associated with the 70mm, forty-two pound IMAX camera. Despite the depth and soundness of Breashears' plan and the unrivaled strength of his team, he found himself at Camp III at 24,500 feet on May 7, 1996 pondering an important decision. Above him were jet stream winds and uncertain weather conditions; below him, sixty-five climbers were ascending the fixed ropes to Camp III, many of them with strength and experience unknown to Breashears.
After meeting with key team members, Breashears made the decision to descend. To him it was obvious that safety and success were not to be found in a headlong push to the summit, but rather in the wisdom of knowing to turn around in the face of a rapidly changing situation and unfavorable weather conditions. Over the next two days four teams climbed Everest's overcrowded slopes to its summit, in high winds. Suddenly and without warning, the now infamous blizzard of May 10, 1996 hit Mount Everest, killing eight climbers. Breashears and his team, in the midst of making their historical film, immediately ceased all filming activities and climbed back up to 25,500 feet where they courageously assisted the exhausted and wind-battered survivors of the storm. Breashears' team also selflessly volunteered their precious and irreplaceable supply of bottled oxygen which had been carried with great effort by the Sherpa team to the high camp at 26,000 feet.
These efforts were not only physically debilitating and a tremendous blow to his team's resources; they also took a terrible emotional toll. And yet in the aftermath of this tremendous setback, Breashears rallied his team and kept them focused on their grand objective. Twelve days later, Breashears and his nine member team of climbers, Sherpas and filmmakers reached the summit of Mount Everest at 9:00 a.m., becoming the first to film with an IMAX camera at the top of the world. Three days later, Breashears and the entire team returned safely to Base Camp at 17,600 feet having suffered no injuries during the seventy-two day expedition. The Everest IMAX film went on to become the highest grossing IMAX film in history.
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