Bruce Kirkby

Elite Adventurer and Bestselling Author

No Opportunity Wasted: Forging a Path to Excellence

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Bruce Kirkby has led a life of adventure through sixty countries -- from Africa to the Arctic. There's simply not a better person in Canada to help normal Canadians achieve their goals, whether professional or personal. As the host of the hit CBC show No Opportunity Wasted, he helps regular people overcome their personal fears to accomplish their goals -- things they've always dreamed of doing, but which they have put off for years.

Sharing his adventures -- and the lessons they hold -- is Kirkby's passion. He has crossed Iceland by foot, traveled by horse through Mongolia, and joined an expedition to the summit of Mount Everest. He is the author of the bestsellers Sand Dance and Dolphin's Tooth; is a contributing editor at Explore, and has written for The Globe and Mail and TIME. His journeys have been featured in National Geographic documentaries, and his photographs have been shown in National Geographic Adventure.

Select Keynotes by Bruce Kirkby

No Opportunity Wasted: Forging a Path to Excellence

In this high energy keynote, Kirkby shows you how to ditch the excuses, plan bravely, move carefully, use fear as a compass, and embrace the unknown. Along the way he unearths key elements of excellence in leadership and teamwork, providing a step-by-step strategy for systematically breaking down barriers and achieving goals. Combining video, photography and awe-inspiring stories from his expeditions, he explores the fundamental principles of working (and living) with passion, purpose and vitality -- and he challenges you to step outside your comfort zone to rise above self-imposed limitations. Whether facing massive uncertainty and change, or striving for new and extraordinary results, Kirkby will help you and your organization plot a course towards lasting success.

Teamwork: High Performance Keys

In this talk, Kirkby shares practical stories from his adventures to show you how to move from a "disorganized group" to a "high functioning team" -- Commitment, Alignment, and Relationships. He explores the importance of collective responsibility, constant communication, and clear goals, and he takes you inside both the disastrously malfunctioning teams and highly polished crews he's worked in. He leaves one clear message: by working together, everybody achieves more.

An Adventurer's Guide to The Importance of Risk Management

Using images and tales from his adventures, Kirkby reviews the fundamentals of risk management, and then digs deeper, sharing specific strategies and lessons. Risk is a variable that must be constantly monitored. Human fatigue and error, along with single-minded focus on only the biggest hazards, can lead to tragedy. Most major accidents do not result from a single catastrophic failure, but rather from a culmination of small, seemingly innocuous mistakes. Kirkby's scenarios provide strategies on avoiding such pitfalls. With preparation and planning, even seemingly intolerable risks can be overcome. Kirkby advocates nurturing a culture of safety, providing guidelines on how to determine risk and to act accordingly.

VIDEOS

BOOKS

The Dolphin's Tooth

Sand Dance

ARTICLES

"Thrill Seekers" - The Globe and Mail

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