conrad humphreys

Around-the-world yachtsman and inspirational leader

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'Leadership' - Workshop

Conrad Humphreys is an inspirational team leader and world-class British yachtsman, as well as a renowned personality in the south-west and on the international sailing scene. At 35, Conrad has already crammed a lifetime of adventure and achievement into his life enduring some of the most hostile oceans of the world. Conrad has sailed around the world three times, competing in three different races: As a crew member in The Whitbread Round the World Race (now Volvo Ocean Race) in 1993-94; as race skipper in the 2000-01 BT Global Challenge, when he became the youngest winning skipper in the history of the race; and more recently, solo skipper in the non-stop single-handed round-the-world Vendée Globe yacht race in 2004-05, in which he became only the 5th British sailor to ever complete the race.

Conrad is an experienced speaker and regularly delivers inspirational and motivational speeches. He also delivers leadership workshops and team-building events. Using examples from the challenges he experienced in some of the most hostile conditions on earth, Conrad powerfully draws out key business and interpersonal lessons. His thought-provoking and inspirational messages are brought to life with slides and incredible video footage captured during his voyages. The speeches are tailored to the theme of the conference or workshop and illustrate inspirational and practical examples of how to apply critical lessons to the business-place to include:

From his early days and throughout his career, Conrad has shown his vision and ability to lead and inspire teams.Conrad was just 28 years old when he led his team ‘LG Flatron’ to the finish of the BT Global Challenge in 1st Place having performed consistently well, winning four of the seven legs of the race.

In so-doing Conrad became the youngest skipper ever to win the prestigious round-the-world race. Conrad attributes this to the winning attitude cultivated within the team, the driving philosophies being “winning is infectious” and “self-belief is everything”.

In 2003, Conrad won Class 2 of the Transat Jacques Vabre with his co-skipper Paul Larsen. Conrad’s ambition did not stop there as he launched an Open 60 campaign to compete in the non-stop single-handed round-the-world Vendée Globe yacht race. Despite suffering major technical problems including a broken rudder, causing him to have to find shelter in a bay near Cape Town to inspect and replace the rudder with a spare without any assistance; having to deal with generator failure; keel ram failure; and engine failure, Conrad’s single-minded determination and self-belief ensured he completed the Vendée Globe race. He fought back from last place, nearly 4000 miles behind the leading boat after replacing his rudder and crossed the finish line in 7th place. After 104 days racing alone at sea, he became the second British skipper to complete the 2004-05 Vendée Globe. Conrad’s captivating story of the 2004-05 Vendée Globe race is now available on a DVD film “Against the Odds”.

The Blue^® Climate and Oceans Project

Conrad is the founder of the above project which uses sport, adventure and human endeavour as a means of encouraging us all to actively play our part in caring about the health of the planet.

Testimonials:

“Conrad gave a very effective, thought provoking presentation on the challenges faced by his team and the leadership style necessary to achieve results and bring the crew through their adventure to ultimately win the world's toughest yacht race. Highly recommended.” – BT|

“Conrad Humphreys delivered a powerful and highly relevant talk on ‘leadership’, to a group of Ericsson's Next Generation Executives. His style is low-key and engaging and his message is well presented and carefully thought through. What gives his presentation the greatest impact is his own credibility. He 'is the message that he puts across' and that immediately clicks with everyone in the group.” - Ericsson

“Conrad was inspirational… his messages were clearly articulated. The challenges he has faced on the oceans provided a great metaphor for our business conditions” - LEK

"Your stories of motivating your team and leading them across the Southern Ocean have left a huge impression on our management team. Well done!" - Microsoft

"The entire team was enthralled throughout Conrad's talk, an exceptional tale which left us very motivated as a team. Highly recommended!” - Natwest

‘Our senior team remained attentive, competitive, energised and above all took some profound learning back to Motorola. You made a real difference!’ - Motorola

“Your speech was very inspiring and received excellent feedback from all our guests" - Oracle

“Conrad provided the Pfizer team with an inspirational presentation which had the whole audience on the edge of their chairs. An incredible achievement delivered in a moving and emotional way.” - Pfizer

“Your excellent presentation at our conference has proved to be one of the most memorable events of that day. I have no hesitation in recommending yourself in connection with similar events to other organisations.” - PPMA

Previous Clients:

Conrad has delivered leadership and team building workshops and inspirational speeches to Barclays, BT, England Netball Team, Ericsson, Gill, GlaxoSmithKline, Henley Management College, Hull City Council, IMPACT, Jumeirah Group, LEK, LG, Microsoft, MKM Building Supplies, Motorola, NatWest, Oracle, Pfizer, PPMA, RBS Insurance, Salespage Technologies, The Sewell Group, Trader Media Group, UBS, Yell.

DVD - Conrad's official story of the Vendee Globe 2004-05 on sale now

104 days alone at sea including unseen footage of the amazing underwater rudder replacement. Against The Odds is Conrad's amazing story of the 2004-05 Vendee Globe. Order online: price £10.99