Rachael Robertson

Rachael Robertson

Former Antarctica Expedition Leader. Leadership Expert. Best-selling Author
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About Rachael

“Rachael Robertson presents with great humour, humility and passion to audiences that value her practical, no-nonsense approach. No matter the event, Rachael will leave your audience inspired, ...”

Rachael Robertson (CSP, MBA) is an Antarctic expedition leader, best-selling author and Australia’s pre-eminent authority on extreme leadership.

She presents with great humour, humility and passion to audiences that value her practical, no-nonsense approach. No matter the event, Rachael will leave your audience inspired, challenged and equip to take the next step in their leadership journey.

As a Chief Ranger and leader with 20 years of ‘extreme’ leadership experience, she is a best-selling author and leadership guru whose talents are in great demand from leading organisations around the globe.

As only the second female to lead a team to Davis Station in Antarctica she managed a diverse group of up to 120 people, through total isolation, months of darkness, with no way in and no way out. It was a leadership laboratory in the most extreme and hostile environment on Earth, where most of the theory doesn’t apply.

It was a ‘leadership laboratory’ in the most extreme workplace on Earth. In Antarctica she built a resilient and highly successful team based on the foundation that ‘respect trumps harmony’. Prior to leading the expedition Rachael had 16 years experience in a variety of senior operational roles in complex and challenging environments.

Since returning to Australia, Rachael has completed her MBA, written a best-selling book on her experience, Leading on the Edge, and has presented at over 600 conferences and events around the world. Rachael presents with great humour, humility and passion. No matter the event, Rachael will leave your audience inspired, challenged and equipped to take the next step in their leadership journey.

Watch Rachael in action

What people say about Rachael

Rachael was a perfect speaker for our audience as the tools and ideas she uses to lead people can be easily adapted in our worplaces immediately. Our audience could relate to Rachael on many levels and found her to be a very ‘real’ person who was interesting and easy to listen to. Rachael’s willingness to stay on after her presentation and speak to our manager’s on a personal level was very much appreciated. It was great that Rachael was available to sell & sign her book which many people were happy to purchase on the day.

– Bendigo Bank

Super relevant content and delivered in a very natural and humble way. Engaged with the audience very well.

– L'Oreal

Rachael presented in a casual manner which I think was really appropriate for our group of delegates, especially after 3 full days of workshops. Rachael’s down to earth story of an ordinary person achieving extraordinary things inspires us all to work with all the tools available to us and to make our own opportunities and not just wait for them to come to us!

– Choice Hotels Australasia

Rachael provided insights and inspiration of leadership in a truly challenging environment engaging both new and experienced executives within our own “Challenging workplace”

– Village Cinemas International

I have never received so much positive feedback from a guest speaker as I have this time. People continue to tell me how impressed they were with Rachael’s story. She provided a fantastic insight into difficulties around management in a remote site. Her messages and insights can be applied within our business. She shared a range of unusual and interesting stories which made her message even stronger.

– Crown Casinos & Hotels

Rachael’s warm, down to earth nature were themes that were repeated in the positive feedback we’ve received and would have to be among Rachel’s best assets.

– Worley Parsons Group

Rachael’s experience itself was incredibly interesting and different to most speakers you usually see at these kind of events. She was honest, engaging and made her experience relevant to us. Having her for dinner to chat more informally after the presentation was great as she was interested in what we do, our challenges, etc. and gave us excellent advice by relating to some of the adversity she went through in Antarctica.

– UBS

Rachael’s safety insights were spot-on, practical and eminently useful. Fantastic presentation.

– BHP-Billiton

Inspirational leadership, real and fascinating stories. Great safety insights…simply excellent.

– Exxon Mobil

Rachael is a passionate and enthusiastic speaker. She has that magic mix of tangible down-to-earth stories that give way to strong and inspiring messages on leadership, relationships and life. She fully engages with the participants from the moment she arrives right through to the moment she leaves.

– Alstom

I have seen a number of speakers over the years, however Rachael was amongst the absolute best of them. I took so much away from her amazing story, and have relayed some of her messages to other people. Love the bacon war!

– Randstad

We were delighted with the feedback on Rachael from our advisers. Evaluation forms contained phrases such as: “Excellent”, “Truly inspiring”, “Interesting” and “Fantastic presenter – very informative and interesting”. Working with Rachael over five events around Australia was a delight. She has a very professional and flexible approach.

– AXA

Rachael was engaging and responded well to the group. Her experiences are extraordinary and she did a great job of relating what she learnt. She was also able to illustrate the similarities between her roles and those of my team. In one word, “Terrific!”

– ANZ Bank

Rachael was kind, funny, relatable and engaging. Our students adored hearing her speak and spoke very highly of her presentation. They found her real-world leadership skills and examples easy for them to put into practice. We cannot speak highly enough of Rachael. She was a dream to work with.

– La Trobe University