Alan Hobson

After seven years of preparation, Alan Hobson's first self-guided, self-organized and corporately sponsored $500,000 expedition to Mt. Everest missed the summit by 3,000 feet when his team's high camp was blasted off the mountain by gale force winds. He returned home to judgments that he had failed. Instead of becoming disheartened and giving up, he used the hard-won lessons from his expedition to begin again more intelligently. Three years later he was back to Everest with half the budget of his first expedition, half the personnel and no bottled oxygen. This time his team missed the top by just two city blocks when their lead climber developed severe high altitude sickness. His team members decided to try to rescue him rather than continue blindly for the summit. They saved his life but it cost them the summit. So ended Alan’s second expedition. Again, he returned home to allegations that he and his team had failed. Undeterred, another three years of intense fundraising, training and organizational work later, he returned a third time to Everest and finally made it safely to and from the summit. Ironically, an even harder climb lay ahead.

Three years after reaching the top of the world, he found himself at the bottom when he was diagnosed with the very aggressive blood cancer, acute leukemia, and given less than a year to live. At diagnosis, 90% of the cells in his bone marrow were cancerous. Again however, Alan defied the skeptics. He made a 100% recovery. Today he has been leukemia-free for over 12 years and is one of less than a few dozen people in the world ever to have regained an elite level of fitness after an adult blood stem cell transplant for the treatment of leukemia—a tiny fraction of the number of people who have climbed Mt. Everest. And, he is officially medically cured. Through the brilliance of resilience, Alan shows audiences how to triumph in turbulent times and turn setbacks into comebacks. If your group is struggling to overcome adversity, this presentation will give them the tools they need to win today—and tomorrow.

We can’t do it alone. We can’t climb big mountains alone and we can’t take on big organizational challenges alone either. Each of Alan’s three self-guided, self-organized and corporately sponsored $500,000 expeditions to Mt. Everest consisted of 10 to 20 expedition members from different countries, cultures and customs. They had different languages and faiths. They ate different foods. They even looked at Everest differently. Yet united around one common goal and skillfully organized and led, they executed near flawlessly. How? By sticking together and surviving the avalanches, the injuries, the setbacks, the storms and the storms of uncertainty together. Alan’s first expedition to Everest took seven years to finance, organize and execute. It ended 3,000 feet short of the summit when the team’s high camp was blasted off the mountain by gale-force winds. Undeterred, three years later Alan and his team were back on Everest with half the budget, half the team members and no bottled oxygen. This time, the team’s lead climber came down with life-threatening high altitude sickness just two city blocks from the top. After crawling on his hands and knees back into the team’s high camp, the expedition launched a grueling 33-hour continuous rescue to save his life. Everyone came home safely but so ended their second expedition. Finally, another three years later, Alan’s team succeeded in putting almost half its climbers on top of the world—a feat equaled by very, very few teams in Everest’s long and storied climbing history.

Unbelievably, an even greater triumph of teamwork lay ahead. Three years after stepping down from the top of the world, Alan had to step up to the base of a medical mountain more challenging than Everest. His team consisted of hundreds of team members, many of whom Alan never even met. Yet in the end, the team saved his life and today, he embraces life more than ever before. “We’ve all heard the expression, ‘There’s no ‘I’ in the word ‘team,’” he says. “Well for me, there would be no ‘I’ were it not for a team.” If your team is struggling or if you just want to bring them closer together around a story that will uplift them, inspire them and show them what it takes to work and win as a team, this presentation is for you.

Even before he could read, Alan dreamed of climbing Mt. Everest because he’d seen pictures of it in books. Then, when he began to read he discovered the fascinating stories of high altitude mountaineers and he asked himself one question...What did they have that enabled them to do these amazing things? “They were doing things that were apparently impossible to do,” Alan observes. “They were surviving for days, weeks, even months with insufficient sleep, insufficient food, insufficient shelter and insufficient oxygen.

Temperatures regularly reached 40 degrees below zero and winds hit 50 and 60 miles per hour. The specter of death went everywhere they went. So what did they have that enabled them not only to survive, but to thrive in these kinds of hostile operating conditions?” In this presentation, Alan answers the question and in the process pinpoints the key to all effective leadership—self- leadership. We cannot lead others unless we first lead ourselves. That doesn’t start from an external goal. It starts from an internal drive. Fuel this drive in your leaders—and followers. This presentation ignites it.

After three self-guided, self-organized and corporately sponsored $500,000 expeditions to Mt. Everest, an experienced Alan Hobson finally stepped onto the roof of the world. It was a true triumph of tenacity almost two decades in the making. In this presentation, he shows audiences that even when times are hard, if we remain focused on executional excellence and maintain a relentless upward drive toward higher performance and continuous learning, we really can achieve the ultimate. His powerful personal example resonates on an individual and organizational level. When this is combined with his trademark customization of every presentation in perfect context and with 100% accuracy, the results are impressive. This keynote is a must-see for any individual or organization aspiring to greater heights of performance, unity and results.

 It happens to everyone. You establish a goal, but fall short of achieving it. You try again, but a competing priority suddenly requires you to shift your focus, or your resources. Then, you finally succeed, only to be blindsided by the unexpected. Alan Hobson faced all of these situations on his three self-guided, self-organized and corporately sponsored $500,000 expeditions to Mt. Everest and while climbing back from near-terminal cancer. In this spellbinding fully?personalized?presentation, he draws invaluable connections between the priceless lessons of his life experiences and the specific challenges you face personally and organizationally. Alan inspires audiences to transform obstacles into opportunities and emerge swifter, stronger and smarter than ever before. As it turns out, it all comes down to two words. That may sound simple but what we can do with the knowledge is powerful.

After his first self-guided, self-organized and corporately sponsored $500,000 Everest expedition did not make it to the top, Alan’s second attempt missed the summit by just two city blocks when the expedition's lead climber came down with life-threatening high altitude sickness. His team worked for 33 continuous hours and saved the man’s life, but it meant postponing the achievement of their goal. Discouraged, but not defeated, Alan walked away again with another set of precious lessons and started over on his third expedition with renewed determination. This time, he succeeded in safely climbing to and from the top of the world. Then came an avalanche of a totally different sort. In today’s tough economic times, instant adaptability and psychological resilience are essential to success. Alan shows audiences how to rise to the challenge of cataclysmic change and effectively re-prioritize without losing sight of their mission, vision, values or objectives. Beyond that, the possibilities are limitless—if we stay focused on what we can manage. This presentation unleashes possibilities and pinpoints the keys to peak performance amid change.

In today’s environment of uncertainty and constant change, Alan’s messages of adaptability, tenacity and teamwork could not be more timely. He offers practical tools for managing the unexpected, as well as those challenges we can more easily predict. The hard-won wisdom he has garnered on the outer and inner Everests of his life has real world relevance, applicability and power. When he links it directly to your specific challenges using his trademark customization process, the results are palpable. He is a tough man for tough times but a master at making his messages immediately applicable today—the perfect guide for anyone facing an Everest of ambiguity, uncertainty and the unknown. So get ready for the climb of your life! This presentation is all about finding opportunity where we least expect it.

Three years after Everest, Alan faced his biggest mountain—an inner Everest. Diagnosed with the aggressive blood cancer, acute leukemia, and given less than a year to live, he refused to give up. At diagnosis, 90% of the cells in his bone marrow were cancerous. He endured over 500 hours of chemotherapy, including 120 hours of high dose chemotherapy designed to completely eliminate his immune system. Then, at the 11th hour, his life was saved by the modern day equivalent of a bone marrow transplant, an adult blood stem cell transplant. After the transplant, he was so weak that he could not stand for more than a minute—and he had stood on top of the world. Today, he is one of less than a few dozen people?ever to regain an elite level of fitness after an adult blood stem cell transplant for leukemia – a tiny fraction of the number of people who have climbed Mt. Everest. But Alan’s inner adventure wasn’t over. In 2010, he was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, a preliminary form of bowel cancer. It required surgery but amazingly he was back cross-country skiing within a week. Alan is now considered to be officially medically cured. He is living proof that no mountain, no matter what kind, is insurmountable. This presentation provides a refreshing new perspective on adversity, opportunity and the power inside all of us. It’s a must-see for any healthcare group looking for inspiration, illumination and a mountain of a message that’s instantly applicable in today’s healthcare environment.