Rachael Robertson

Rachael Robertson's Biography

Rachael Robertson is one of Australia's most booked speakers

Rachael Robertson returned to Australia after 12 months in the Antarctic, where she successfully led the 58^th Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition to Davis Station.  She was only the second female to ever lead a team at the Station and one of the youngest ever leaders.

This leadership role is a truly unique experience.  Antarctica in winter is totally inaccessible which means once the last ship leaves at the end of February, no one can leave the base under any circumstance (not even if you are dying) until the ship returns in November. It’s a 24 hour a day, every day of the year, leadership role.

Rachael was responsible for all aspects of life on the Station, from the safety and welfare of over 120 expeditioners in Summer, to the delivery of the Australian Government’s $30mn science program.  In any circumstance, this would be a tough role, but for a female in a male dominated environment, it was also a very challenging one!

Prior to this Rachael held senior operational management roles for 16 years in a range of complex and challenging environments and now works in the field of leadership development sharing her experiences.

Since returning to Australia, Rachael has completed her MBA and written two best-selling books. The first, Leading on the Edge, is based on her year in Antarctica. In 2020 she released her second best-seller, Respect trumps Harmony which provides the tools to build resilient, high performing teams based on research and case studies collected over 15 years.

Because Rachael speaks from experience, she connects deeply with audiences, relating her own challenges to the challenges of every workplace. She needs no props, no “rah-rah” moments or no forced audience participation to reach people at a deep level. This is a seasoned leader telling it how it is in her own approachable style. Your people will leave inspired and motivated to make their own lives extraordinary.

Rachael is an international keynote speaker and has presented at over 1,500 conferences around the world.

To enquire about Rachael Robertson for your next event contact Helene Greenham directly – helene@platinumspeakers.com.au

Speaking Topics Include

LEADING ON THE EDGE – Respect  /  Innovation  /  Collaboration

Extraordinary leadership stories & insights from the most extreme workplace on the planet

The challenges leaders face are practically the same in every workplace. Leaders must acknowledge and navigate through the perpetual scrutiny, the frequent isolation, and the need to keep going when you feel you have nothing more to give. And through all this, must be authentic, resilient, innovative and adaptable!

Leading on the Edge resonates with audiences seeking inspiration and tools to build their leadership capability. Whether you’re leading a team in an isolated, remote workplace or arm-wrestling spreadsheets in a busy corporate office, the same rules apply.

Great leaders embrace the technical, political and personal domains. They know how to get the most out of their teams, even when it feels like they are navigating in the dark without a compass. This is Rachael's most popular keynote full of practical and proven tools, hilarious stories and stunning photos and videos. It is suitable for every event from small group to a conference extravaganza.

FUTURE. WOMAN. LEADER.   – Inspirational  /  Practical  /  Relevant

How women can get to the top and stay there

Rachael offers the practical, confidence-building advice women need to advance their careers and lead. Whether addressing a corporate women's group, a business school or an international conference, her approach is forward-thinking and creative, equipping women with tools they can use immediately.

The last twenty years have seen seismic shifts in women’s participation in the workforce. And yet, as a group, women still struggle to reach and maintain the top seats. What’s getting in the way then? It's a nice idea that women can "lean in" but Rachael knows success requires more than that, particularly in male dominated industries.

Women must forge their career, push open doors and sell their success. Success is an active pursuit not a passive experience. In this keynote Rachael speaks to both women and men to provide the insights and tools to create a powerful career.

365 SHADES OF WHITE -  Inspirational /  Funny  /  Moving

Life, love & leadership in Antarctica

If you're looking for an opening/closing keynote; a lively and unique session within a conference program; or an after-dinner speaker that will inspire, challenge and entertain your audience – this is it.

This presentation provides a compelling insight into the highs and lows of 18 strangers living in complete isolation in the most remote place on the planet, for an entire year. With awe-inspiring images of Antarctica, plenty of humour and using real-life stories, Rachael takes the audience on an emotional journey revealing the truth behind life in this most fascinating and isolated environment.

Rachael has a treasure-trove of funny, inspiring and moving stories for this keynote presentation. She will work with you to ensure that, no matter the theme of the event, your audience will be challenged and delighted.

THE FUTURE OF TEAMWORK - Innovation  /  Collaboration  /  Performance

How to quickly create an innovative, collaborative & high performing team

Todays and future teams are very different from what they once were. Now we’re mobile, flexible, real-time and connected. We’re expected to deliver results immediately. The ability to harness diversity to create high performance is critical. Rachael shaped a highly successful expedition team in Antarctica and now shares the critical tools she uses to quickly create innovation, collaboration and high performance in teams.

Few of us get to choose our teams or have the luxury of a year or so to achieve peak performance. Technology and changing attitudes have enabled rapid mobilisation but can also exacerbate the “people challenge”.

Because, fundamentally, teams are about people. We need new ways to create the environment where fresh teams can build a collaborative culture and deliver results quickly.

In this keynote Rachael identifies the most powerful techniques that teams can use to drive innovation, collaboration and high performance.

CHANGE IS THE NEW BUSINESS AS USUAL  -  Trust  /  Respect  /  Resilience 

How to make your organisation change-ready

It's a truism, but change is the new constant. It can be unsettling, energising and create extreme fatigue. In this keynote Rachael provides the tools to navigate this world of "flux" that dominates business today and build teams that anticipate, prepare and lead themselves through change.

Change readiness is the ability to continuously initiate and respond to change in ways that create advantage, minimize risk, and sustain performance. A major lesson from those who have created a change-ready culture is that there is no end point. One change may be addressed, but others are always emerging.

In this keynote Rachael identifies the four most powerful techniques to build an organisational culture that thrives on change.

REMOTE AND DANGEROUS  -  Safety  /  Respect../ Self Leadership

Practical tools for increased safety leadership

Every workplace presents unique challenges to people and their employers. Teams must have a culture of safety and respect. Safety Management Systems alone are not enough. Each individual in the team must have the ability to influence and persuade those they work with and show safety leadership.

Rachael Robertson successfully shaped a resilient, safe and successful team in the most remote and dangerous workplace in the world, Antarctica. Antarctica is an isolated and inherently dangerous environment.

Strangers are thrown together 24x7 and live in complete isolation, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Mental and physical safety is paramount, but so is the requirement to meet targets, be productive and efficient.

Rachael Robertson faced these challenges head-on with the team she was given. She created a culture characterised by respect and safety and now delivers her unique stories and tools to organisations that know personal resilience and an open culture are key factors for staff health and safety. Her presentation is memorable, full of hilarious stories and unique insights.

RESPECT TRUMPS HARMONY   No Triangles  /  Bacon Wars  /  Lead without a title

How to build resilience and respect in your team

The highest performing teams are those that let go of harmony and focus on respect, diversity of opinions and difficult conversations – all in the service of creating resilience and results.

Collaboration requires the ability to raise issues and ideas, in a professional, timely and respectful manner. To build a resilient, adaptable and high-performing team that maximizes the benefits of personal difference requires a rock solid foundation of respect.

We all agree that diversity is great, and the evidence is unequivocal that it has an impact on the bottom line. But as our teams get more and more diverse we won’t always see eye-to-eye, we won’t always agree on things. So how do we create a culture where that’s OK? How do we encourage debate and robust discussion? How do we address issues directly and professionally?

These tools are the 3 pillars that hold up the respect trumps harmony culture.

1 No Triangles – a tool to stop gossip, improve accountability, improve quality of feedback and drive innovation.

2 Bacon Wars – a gentle circuit breaker for calling out dysfunctional behaviour.

3 Lead without a title – how to develop personal leadership in your team, so that responsibility and initiative is shared.