“Heard Brad Borkan speak recently. He paralleled the adventures of leadership with the adventures of Shackleton and his expeditions. Brad isn’t just a speaker…..he’s a storyteller! One of the best. Engaging, insightful. His storytelling makes ice floes and life-threatening weather vividly exciting.” Donna Moore
Podcasts, Webinars, and Presentations
Magazine Articles
Informing Crisis Response from Expedition Decision-Making in Antarctica, June 2023 (link coming soon)
Webinars for Business
Additional Activities
4 Lessons for Business Leaders from Brunel’s Banquet under the Thames, Dec 2022
Brad delivered a terrific, fascinating and extremely motivational session at the B2B Marketing Leaders Forum this year – his passion and knowledge about the great age of exploration is extraordinary, and this made for an excellent addition to our agenda.
Joel Harrison
B2B Marketing - Editor in Chief
Helen Dwight
Marketing Executive at SAP
It gives me great pleasure to write this letter highly recommending Brad Borkan. Brad was the guest speaker at the Present Day Club in Princeton, New Jersey. He shared amazing stories from his book, When Your Life Depends on It.
Brad had a very skillful, relaxed and authentic manner. His eloquent expression, his enthusiasm and his professional yet casual demeanor fully engaged the entire audience of over 100.
Catherine Judd Hirsch
President, Present Day Club
If you ever get the chance to hear Brad speak, seize it.
Not only will you hear a spellbinding account of some of the toughest journeys every undertaken, you’ll also come away feeling challenged to make courageous choices in your own life.
Claire Jones
UK
Thank you so much for your talk tonight. Really passionate and inspiring…. exactly what I needed to help my own decision making.
S Lawrence
London, UK
I was riveted throughout the talk, listening to the adventurous and courageous stories of those amazing Antarctic explorers.
Equally there were some extremely insightful lessons for business and leadership, I particularly liked the way that rather than failing when the original goal wasn’t achieved, Brad tells the story of how Shackleton, “ pivots” the goal, to keep everyone motivated (the team and staff) in order to come back with a success story for the outside world (shareholders). Overall a really interesting talk, the lessons for business I will remember more than other leadership sessions, because of the extreme and exciting stories from those simply amazing, brave men.
Jane Wilkinson
Global CEO and Board level Chief Marketing Officer
Brad Borkan is a charismatic, natural and engaging speaker, and we were pleased to welcome him both as keynote speaker in our opening ceremony and for his illustrated talk on Lessons Learned from the Early Antarctic Explorers.
Brad has the knack of making his expert knowledge and insights accessible and interesting to the many kinds of people – our audience at the Literary Festival ranged from young executives interested in the business and management to retired folk keen on the historical angle. His pleasant, gentle manner makes him very approachable for Q&A and outside of the lecture hall, and he continued to contribute to the success of the Festival throughout the day by being ready and willing to chat informally to fellow speakers and audience alike.
His fresh enthusiasm for his subject was infectious, and he left us wanting more.
Debbie Young
Organizer of the Hawkesbury Upton Literary Festival
… an enthralling and engaging session, packed with insights and thought-provoking points.
Chris Page
Business Conference Producer
Informative and entertaining… Brad Borkan’s enthusiasm for the subject shone through and the excellent photographs added drama. His tie-in with decision making, which is so much in the current interest thanks to Daniel Kahneman, added a unique touch to the subject. Compared to the explorers, our own decision making seems mundane.
Irene and Sam Goldfarb
Attendees, Princeton Talks
A highly engaging presentation set in the historic surroundings of the Scott Polar Research Institute theatre.
Brad Borkan delivered a talk filled with a series of captivating, high-risk, hostile environment story lines to the audience, setting the scene and asking the audience ‘what they would do’?
His final summary contained ‘Seven lessons from the Antarctic’, an invaluable framework of strategies employed in the heroic age of polar exploration. Lesson #5 (‘Never ever give up’) is the one that has resonated throughout my life, especially during my personal experiences in the high Arctic and in the military.
I would highly recommend both Brad’s presentation and the book that he co-wrote.
Kevin O'Brien
What a fascinating presentation and it really made me think about the decisions I make both professionally and personally. Brad’s knowledge on the expeditions is brilliant and left me totally captivated as he relayed the stories.
Carolyn Delehanty
Attendee, Customer Experience World Conference
Brad gives keynote and after-dinner presentations at business conferences. He is also available for TV, radio and podcast interviews.
His talks focus on goal setting, leadership, and teamwork, all set in the exciting context of Polar exploration.
Brad brings a strong background of business acumen to his talks in that he has worked for the world’s leading technology companies like Oracle and SAP, and as part of his work has advised many large and mid-sized organizations on how to make better business decisions.
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