James Castrission

James Castrission is an Australian Explorer constantly pushing the boundaries of human endurance.

On 26 January 2012, he made history by completing the longest unsupported polar expedition of all time, alongside his best mate, Jonesy. In 100 years of polar exploration no-one had ever walked from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole and back without assistance. Many had tried, none had succeeded. After 89 gruelling days they made it back to the coast after having skied 2275km with everything they needed to survive in the harshest environment on Earth.

Four years earlier they Crossed the Ditch – paddling 3318km without assistance across the Tasman Sea for another world first. They braved 10 metre swells, howling winds, endured severe food and sleep deprivation and adverse winds and currents. They became the first kayakers to cross the Tasman Sea as well as becoming the longest transoceanic double kayak expedition. Staggering upon the shores of New Zealand, the adventurers were sunburnt, bearded, underweight and physically and mentally wasted – but most of all happy to be alive.

In 2013, James founded MyAdventure Group – a business commited to providing Australia’s premier corporate Adventure-based development programs. Harnessing lessons learned from the most hostile environments on earth, his corporate programs are designed to develop teams and drive competitive advantage in organisations.

James holds 2 Guiness World Records for his accomplishments and is highly regarded as one of Australia’s premier public speakers. He has written two bestselling books – Crossing the Ditch and Extreme South.

James speaks about:

Choose from one of three Strategically Engaging Keynotes:

1. THE EXPLORER’S MINDSET
Achieving two of the Greatest Adventuring Feats of All Time—kayaking across the Tasman Sea and skiing to the South Pole and back unsupported—was no accident. It is a result of developing a growth mindset, teamwork, and grit. The formula for achieving these World Firsts is universally applicable; your audience can learn the same method to achieve their own goals and ambitions. In this highly motivating story-based presentation, Cas takes your audience on an audio-visual journey to the Tasman Sea and the South Pole. They learn the significance of a growth mindset and effective collaboration. Cas instills your delegates how to confidently navigate uncharted waters, turn change into opportunities, use systems to attain goals, and build resilience.

2. COLLABORATING TO WIN
Effective collaboration and teamwork has been an integral component in Cas’ record-breaking expeditions. In this engaging keynote, Cas shares how he had successfully established an aligned high-performance team to achieve two Guinness World Records. Your delegates learn the critical steps in creating and leading high performance teams that support each other and prioritize collective success over individual ambition. This is the perfect session on how to develop a “culture” that is geared towards team alignment, collaboration, and eventually success.

3. ADAPTING TO THE UNPREDICTABLE: MASTERING CHANGE AND UNCERTAINTY
In this insightful presentation, Cas distills applicable strategies drawn from his extraordinary adventures and corporate experience at Deloitte. Your audience discovers the art of resilience, innovative problem-solving, and effective leadership in the face of uncertainty. Your audience will leave with actionable insights equipped with tangible tools to thrive amid change. Elevate your event with James Castrission’s dynamic, takeaway-rich keynote on mastering change and uncertainty and equip your team with the skills to turn unpredictability into a catalyst for success.

WORKSHOPS THEMES

Each workshop is customized, with an accompanying workbook to assist in embedding takeaways and learnings.

Cas’ deep understanding of the different leadership and team development topics is anchored in the latest theories and refined through years of leading record-breaking expeditions in the most inhospitable environments on the planet.

1. COLLABORATING TO WIN
Every corporate team wants their teams, departments and leaders to collaborate more effectively. After all, increased collaboration results in higher creativity and innovation, improved workplace efficiency, faster decision making and improved ability to adapt to change. Collaboration is however the bi-product of a healthy team. In this workshop, Cas will share insights into how to promote organisational health and drive better collaboration.

2. ENERGY FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE
Executives, leaders and career-driven individuals need to sustain their performance over a long period of time to be successful. In order to avoid burnout, attention needs to be given to our different energy sources-mental, physical, emotional and relationships. In this workshop, Cas will provide a toolkit to better understand these different energy sources and become burnout proof.

3. GRIT
Grit is the perseverance and passion for a long-term goal. This trait is a strong indicator of success in both individuals and organisation. In this workshop, your team starts with understanding the contrast between what GRIT is and isn’t, identifying how gritty they are (based on a 10-question survey), and then concluding the session by exploring four drivers your team can apply to grow and develop their grit.

4. GROWTH MINDSET
Individuals with a growth mindset believe their intelligence, skills, aptitude and behavior are malleable-through hard work and dedication. In this workshop, participants identify the differences between a Fixed and a Growth Mindset then, Cas provides strategies and tools to develop a growth mindset.

5. GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR SUCCESS
Guiding Principles are action oriented, projected specific behaviors formulated to drive performance. In this workshop, Cas reworks both individual and organisational values to formulate guiding principles that can be used to make more effective decisions in rapidly changing environments (values-based decision making).

6. HIGH PERFORMANCE TEAM
The highest performing teams on the planet are both SMART (systems, process, strategy etc) + HEALTHY (culture, trust, collaboration). In this workshop, we explore the building blocks of a Healthy organisation/team. It starts with building a cohesive leadership team, creating clarity on what we are trying to achieve then effectively communicating that clarity to the wider team and stakeholders.

7. SPEED OF TRUST
Trust is crucial component of every high performing team. It occurs when team members feel safe and supported by one another. In this workshop, Cas takes the audience on a journey to not only understand what exactly trust is, the five waves of trust but also shares four research backed drivers to help build trust in your team and organisation.