|
...o climbing is the ultimate adventure.
In 1981, after military service, the Austrian-born Thomas Bubendorfer moved to Florence, Italy, to study Italian and history of art. At the age of 19 he became a professional climber who supported himself by writing articles for magazines and winning his two first sponsorships in Italy and Germany.
In 1984, IBM invited Thomas to speak about goal setting and self-motivation. Thomas was not yet 22 years of age. He had just written a new chapter in climbing history having become the first climber to solo climb the infamous north face of the Eiger, the highest and hardest mountain face in the Alps, without ropes.
This first management speech triggered off a line of thought that has continued to preoccupy him to date: What are the lessons that a solo mountain climber learns under extreme pressure and in danger of his life? Are these lessons applicable to the modern business world? The values and qualities a solo mountain climber must live up to – are they identical with those that lead to success and guarantee survival in an ever-changing business world?
“The answer is yes, there’s no doubt about that”, he knows today. “There is only one truth. What is true for a solo mountain climber - the attitudes that help him to overcome adversity, anxiety and solitude and to deal with ever increasing risk, decision taking under pressure, crisis and zillions of other de-motivating factors - cannot be false for people in any other profession”.
Thomas emphasizes that man, the individual, is at the center of all his thinking. However, he does not deny the importance of the team. “Teamwork is vital. Trust and communication among team members are of the essence. Nobody can excel and achieve true fulfillment all by himself. Still, it’s not the team and the company you’re working for that are running your show. It’s you! Your success and your happiness depend primarily on yourself: on your positive attitude, your self-motivation, your commitment, your self-confidence, which is based on your achievements and excellence in your chosen area of expertise!”
In all these years he achieved to climb some of his most spectacular solo ascents but also suffered his one terrible accident which left him 35% paralized but he overcame his handicap and today, at 48, with more than 90 first solo and record ascents in the mountains of the world, Thomas is still at the cutting edge of extreme climbing with five more first ascents in 2009 alone.
Thomas shares his intense experiences and insights every year with a large audience in the corporate world and tens of thousands of readers of his books and articles.
He is probably the most experienced European adventure speaker having given more than 900 lectures and the only one who masters four languages: native German, French, Italian and, most of all English.
His clients include IBM, Goldman-Sachs, Citibank, Microsoft, Pfizer, Amgen, Apple, Nortel, Vodafone, Compaq, Bertelsmann, DaimlerChrysler, Porsche, Audi, Lufthansa, and many more.
|
|
- Emotion versus Ratio
- Change and Stability
- Strategy and Planning
- Motivation, Achievement, Excellence
|