Rachael Robertson (writer)

Rachael Robertson is an Australian author and keynote speaker. She is best known as an authority on leading in extreme environments.[1] Robertson is a former Antarctic Expedition Leader, who lead the 58th Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) to Davis Station in 2005.[2] Her current work of speaking, writing and mentoring[3] is based around the leadership lessons she learned in what she terms as"the world's most extreme workplace".[4]

Rachael Robertson
Born (1969-07-07) 7 July 1969
Geelong, Victoria,
Australia
NationalityAustralian
OccupationKeynote Speaker
Author
Mentor
Years active2006 – present
Known forAntarctic Expedition Leader (2005)
Leading in extreme environments
Websitehttp://www.rachaelrobertson.com
http://leadingontheedge.com

Personal life

Robertson was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia to Sharon and Lawrence Robertson and grew up as the oldest child with a younger brother and sister. She spent the majority of her pre-adult life living in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne.[4] Robertson now resides in Melbourne with her husband and child.[5]

Early career

Robertson graduated from Deakin University with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Public Relations and commenced a career in Public Relations with Melbourne Parks and Waterways (now defunct). She quickly moved out of PR and into the operational role of Park Ranger - Customer Services with the newly created Parks Victoria. Over a period of 14 years Rachael successively moved into more challenging and senior roles such that, at the time of leaving for Antarctica she was Chief Ranger of Victoria's South West Region.[4]
Rachael hates the cold and had only seen snow once before she led the expedition to Antarctica.[4] She holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School.[6]

Robertson's year in Antarctica

Robertson's role at Davis station was to provide leadership to the 120 scientists and tradespeople over Antarctic summer (December 2004 to February 2005) and then lead and manage the 17 other people who remained behind at Davis Station to maintain the operation until the scientists and tradespeople returned in November 2005. In "Leading on the Edge" she recounts the wide disparity between Antarctic life in summer, and Antarctic life in winter. Where the pace of life and work over summer is intense, and the leader must remember not just to manage but to lead people, the focus over winter turns inwards as all the work suddenly stops. As Robertson describes in her book "the repetitive monotony of the day-to-day work and the same old faces at breakfast, lunch and inner create a nine-month-long 'groundhog day' experience".[4]:192

Robertson's leadership ideas

Once she returned from Antarctica Robertson earnt an MBA and used this education to develop her own leadership frameworks based on her Antarctic experience. These frameworks include:

  • Bacon Wars[MEDIA 1][MEDIA 2] - A framework for understanding which of the small things that irritate people has the potential to become a larger problem and what to do about it.
  • No Triangles[7][8] - A framework to enable people to have difficult conversations directly with the individual concerned, rather than "rope in" a third party.
  • The Plane Crash[9] - Four pillars of effective Crisis Leadership
  • Respect Trumps Harmony[10] - Why it's more important to show respect for each individual than it is to seek out harmony in a team
  • Lead without a title[11] - A tool to help individual show leadership in their current position, regardless of their official title.

Clients

As of September 2017, Robertson has delivered more than 1000 keynote sessions to organisations and associations across the US, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.[12] Her clients range from large global organisations such as Randstad[13] to local fundraising events such as Day of Inspiration[14]

Charitable work

Rachael is an Australia Day ambassador[15] and is a media-spokesperson for RUOK? Day[5]

Corporate Ambassador

In 2019, Rachael was sponsored by outdoor clothing company Yarra Trail[16] as one of their three "Trailblazers" for the Autumn fashion season.[17]

Notes
  1. Sharwood, Anthony (20 October 2013). "10 essential lessons for leaders from Rachael Robertson". news.com.au. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  2. Jager, Chris. "How Bad Bacon Can Erode Business Leadership". Lifehacker.com.au. Retrieved 7 November 2013.

References
  1. "Rachael Robertson in Asia in November 2013". Speakers Connect. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  2. "Antarctic station leaders announced for 2005". Australian Antarctic Division. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  3. "Robertson's Website". Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  4. Robertson, Rachael (2013). Leading on the Edge (First ed.). Melbourne: Wiley. pp. 3–10. ISBN 9780730305491.
  5. Doutr, Tim (9 September 2013). "R U OK? Day: "A conversation can change a life"". The Weekly Review - Stonnington. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  6. "Rachael Robertson's Speaker Profile on National Speakers Association Website". Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2013.
  7. Robertson, Rachael. "The Four Things I Learned About Leadership in the Harshest Work Environment on Earth - Antarctica". Business Insider. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  8. "Rachael Robertson: An Extraordinary Leadership Adventure". Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  9. Robin, Myriam. "A plane crash, four people stranded: Rachael Robertson's lessons from leading an expedition to Antarctica". Smart Company. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  10. Clennett, Ross. "Want a high performance team? Then don't aspire to team harmony". Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  11. Connor, Ange. "Leaders don't need manager titles". Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  12. Ryan, Gary. "Make the decision". Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  13. "Shaping the world of Work - Video Series". Randstad Global. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  14. "One of Australia's most inspiring events". Day of Inspiration. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  15. "An Australia Day special with Melbourne author Alice Pung as co-host, Bart Willoughby performing live, Jessie Lloyd chatting about her work with Songlines Aboriginal Corporation and the Share the Spirit festival, and to cap it all off Australia Day Ambassador Rachael Robertson chats about her time at Davis Station in the Antarctic". 774 ABC Melbourne. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  16. "Yarra Trail - About Us". Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  17. "Autumn 2019 Trailblazers - First Ladies". Retrieved 1 May 2019.
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