Whether it’s as a keynote speaker, seminar leader or guest lecturer, David Breashear calls on his harrowing 1996 ascent of Mount Everest as an expedition leader and IMAX film co-director to fascinate, educate and inspire his audiences. His talks combine first person story-telling with breathtaking images from that film expedition. Breashear's extraordinary leadership experiences allow him to speak on a range of topics, including leadership, motivation, teamwork, team building and safety, while targeting his talk to the audience and its goals.

Vision, Courage, Passion: Leadership at 26,000 Feet
Breashears's leadership presentation is based on 25 years of experience as a mountaineer, adventurer and filmmaker. In telling about the infamous 1996 tragedy on Mount Everest, Breashears recounts the vision, courage and passion that helped his team reach the summit on May 23, 1996, despite insurmountable odds. His multimedia presentation includes breathtaking images from the IMAX “EVEREST” expedition. Breashears has said 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.

What It Takes to Climb Any Mountain
His years of difficult work on the unforgiving slopes of earth’s highest peak have taught Breashears that the interdependent keys to success are disciplined leadership, disciplined thought and disciplined action. Disciplined leaders engage in a disciplined thought process when choosing their team and designing a multi-dimensional, flexible plan. Occasionally, the environment for which the plan was devised is not the environment in which the plan unfolds, so disciplined action is required since the plan is only as valuable as the team’s ability to execute it. Without disciplined action and reliance on disciplined thought and leadership, great summits are rarely achieved.

Leading at the Edge of Possible; Leading Through the Storm
This presentation is a hands-on and practical session designed to help leaders assess their strengths and weaknesses. Breashears provides questions for leaders to ask themselves as they create and lead teams. He talks extensively about how leaders need to provide options for their team and not back them into a corner. He emphasizes the qualities of a great leader—intense curiosity, energy and humility—and talks about different ways leaders behave under pressure. He uses the example of the sherpa from his trips to and from the summit to talk about dignity within the team, and how selfish leaders can destroy a team.

Extreme Leadership in an Unforgiving World
Breashears says becoming a good leader and teammate is getting harder as the world becomes more complex and rapidly changing. In this talk, he explains why it is paramount for leaders to know their world, communicate a clear set of goals and mission, and have the commitment, conviction, and energy to lead your team to flawless execution. World-renowned Himalayan mountaineer and filmmaker Breashears knows what it’s like to lead in the world’s most unforgiving and often deadly environment of the high altitude slopes of Mount Everest. Similar to the corporate world, an Everest team needs to have supreme confidence in a leader’s expertise and ability so they know, no matter what, they will be safe through their own storm.