Leadership is the power to be brave and ignite action within yourself and others.
No one has walked, without mechanised support, to both the South Pole and the North Pole. Robert Swan OBE did it, and the expeditions left a mark that goes well beyond any record.
Robert's 1986 South Pole walk, completed over seventy days across nine hundred miles of ice, coincided with something the team had no way of knowing at the time: the discovery of the ozone hole above Antarctica. He returned with permanent changes to his eyes, partial pigmentation loss in his irises from ultraviolet radiation levels that had never previously reached the surface. He did not choose his cause because it seemed important. The cause found him.
In 1989, he led an eight-person international team across the drifting pack ice of the Arctic Ocean. After fifty-six days, they reached the North Pole. He became, at that point, the first person in history to have walked to both.
Since then, Robert has focused on the question those expeditions made personal. He founded the 2041 Foundation, named for the year the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty can first be reviewed. The Protocol prohibits all mining and commercial exploitation of the continent. Through the Foundation, he has led 25 International Antarctic Expeditions, bringing business leaders, policymakers, and young people to the ice to understand, first-hand, what is at stake. In 2018, he and his son Barney completed the first expedition to the South Pole powered entirely by renewable energy.
Robert served as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Youth and advised on the UN World Summits on Sustainable Development. He organised the removal of approximately 1,500 tonnes of abandoned metal waste from a former Soviet base in Antarctica. His Keynotes have reached audiences at the World Economic Forum, Coca-Cola, HP, IBM, and Swiss Re.
Appointed OBE in 1994, Robert is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the author of Antarctica 2041: My Quest to Save the Earth's Last Wilderness.
Talking Points
Leadership on the Edge
The South Pole walk Robert completed in 1986, nine hundred miles without radio contact or any possibility of rescue, was not decided by courage alone. It was decided by planning, judgement under pressure, and the kind of leadership that keeps a team functional when conditions deteriorate. This Keynote draws those lessons directly from the expeditions, where the consequences of poor decisions were immediate and irreversible, and applies them to the pressures of leading through uncertainty in a professional environment. Robert does not generalise, and he addresses the full arc: leading through failure as much as through success, when complacency becomes the greater risk. Every principle he advances is grounded in a specific moment, a real decision, and the consequence that followed.Leadership on the Edge
Key Takeaways:
- How to set goals that outlast resistance, using Robert's seven-year effort to fund and assemble the South Pole expedition as a model for organisational persistence
- What genuine team cohesion looks like under pressure, and the real-time decisions that sustain it when conditions shift
- A framework for calibrating risk when there is no safety net and no opportunity to revise
- How effective leaders hold conviction and adaptability simultaneously, rather than treating them as opposites
- What it takes to maintain commitment to a long mission when the short-term evidence argues against continuing
The 2041 Mission
The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty can be reviewed for the first time in 2041. That date is not an abstraction for Robert. He named his foundation after it, has spent thirty years building toward it, and presents it to every audience with the specificity of a person who understands exactly what is at stake. This Keynote makes the case for why 2041 matters to organisations with genuine sustainability intent, and for how the kind of commitment it requires, built across borders, generations, and political cycles, is the only mechanism capable of meeting it.The 2041 Mission
Key Takeaways:
- A grounded understanding of what 2041 represents and what the international decision facing Antarctica means for businesses, governments, and future generations
- How to build and sustain momentum on a long-term mission through political change, generational turnover, and shifting coalitions
- The role business leadership plays in shaping environmental outcomes, beyond compliance and annual reporting
- How to connect an organisation's sustainability commitments to a concrete, time-bound global purpose that gives staff and stakeholders a reason to act
- Practical thinking on coalition-building across difference, drawn from Robert's experience leading multinational expeditions and international youth programmes
Video
Robert Swan Speaking Reel
Robert Swan is one of the world's preeminent polar explorers and environmental leaders. By age 33, Robert Swan, OBE became the first person to walk to both the North and South Poles, earning his place in history alongside the great explorers and adventurers. His 900 mile journey to the South Pole, 'In the Footsteps of Scott', stands as the longest unassisted walk ever made on earth.Robert Swan: Let's save the last pristine continent
2041 will be a pivotal year for our planet. That year will mark the end of a 50-year agreement to keep Antarctica, the Earth's last pristine continent, free of exploitation. Explorer Robert Swan the first person to walk both the North and South Poles is on a mission to ensure that we extend that treaty. With passion and vigor, he pleads with us to choose the preservation of the Antarctic for our own survival.Robert has always been outstanding whenever we have had the honor of using him. As a pioneer he challenges us to reach new heights of excellence. ... keep reading KPMG
Shell staff have participated in Robert's expeditions since 2009 and we have been pleased to have Robert Swan visit us as a speaker on more than one occasion. He offers a unique proposition for business; real world awareness, advice and guidance blended with pragmatism and a strong sense of environmental stewardship.
The presentation was the perfect mix of inspiration and humour and most certainly exceeded our expectations. In fact, Professor Swan was by far rated the BEST speaker at our event and arguably, the best any of the audience would ever be privileged to see again. Two weeks down the track we are hearing sound waves about the presentation coming from all areas within our organisation, and further, I know some people have pledged their donations to his fund. Thanks also to you for clearly delivering a perfect brief.
An enthusiastic man who speaks passionately about focus and commitmentworth hearing.
Robert is absolutely brilliant. I heard Robert's presentation in the U.K. I was so moved by his commitment and impassioned delivery I invited him to speak in the U.S.A. The results were outstanding. He spoke to all ages very effectively. He will educate and motivate any audience.
The presentation was very well received. Robert put on a very good show.
Over the years, we have had many 'hired gun' speakers at our National Performance Group meetings for our collision industry customers. Few have hit a 'homerun' like Robert Swan! I never thought anyone could tell a story of exploration and survival and tap in to so many emotions. By the end of his story you have been awed by the challenges he undertook and the photos to prove it; you have felt compassion for the struggles he endured; you have felt disgust and disgrace for the amazing amount of garbage left behind in the name of 'science'; you feel Robert's passion and enthusiasm for cleaning up our environment; unexpectedly, you have laughed at things you thought couldn't be funny, but Robert has a way of finding the humor in otherwise humorless situations; and, most importantly, you walk away asking yourself 'What am I going to do to help' because, by the end of his presentation you feel compelled to do something.
Robert Swan elicited the first ever standing ovation from our sales conference of over 500 people.
If you have a heartbeat, you will be inspired by Robert Swan. Whether talking to C-suite executives or rising stars, Swan is uniquely poised to inspire people to stretch their ideas about what is possiblethen to dig deep to achieve the extraordinary. He doesn't just change people's ideas: he changes their lives.
Profound would be an understatement it will certainly affect how I work, both as an individual, and as a manager and team member.
Who can get 100 Swiss bankers on their feet and give an impressive demonstration of vision, objectives, courage, planning, strategy, commitment, perseverance, persistence, loyalty, trust, tolerance, teamwork, friendship, satisfaction & success? The only person in the world who walked to the South and North Poles Robert Swan.
Robert has spoken to our staff on three occasions. Although it is now more than two years since he first spoke, people still talk about the effect his presentation had on them. He has a unique ability to inspire whilst at the same time giving practical lessons on issues that are facing all organizations such as leadership, team working and empowerment. We have yet to find a better speaker than Robert.
