David Lim set to motivate Muscat audience on April 6

MUSCAT: The more successful you are in your journey towards leadership, the more difficult it is to change. It is human nature to keep going with what we think makes us successful, but change is actually crucial for future success.

David Lim, leader of the 1st Singapore Mount Everest Expedition who made a comeback from total paralysis to return to the great peaks, is visiting Oman in April to deliver a motivational seminar on how to motivate employees to enhance their productivity and achieve their goals and objectives by presenting his story of overcoming the mountains – not just in the minds of the public and the sceptics, but also among leaders and their teams, says a press release.

The seminar will be under the patronage of Saeed bin Saleh bin Saeed Al Kiyumi, chairman of Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and will be held on April 6 at Sindbad Ballroom - Crowne Plaza, Muscat.

During the seminar, Lim will enthral the audience by relating his climbing expeditions to leadership success and winning performances. He will also discuss how to never let past success go to your head or determine your future success and outline his three principles:

1. Know why you do what you do

Are you curious about what you are trying to achieve? What gets you going in the morning?

One does not have to be conquering the peaks of mountains, in order to relate to similar situations when managing a team in the corporate world: Having to inspire a fractious group coming from diverse backgrounds, each carrying with them heavy baggage, and leading them to succeed in a mammoth task never encountered before. It is thus crucial that leaders must first learn to lead themselves.

2. Have a stretch goal

A tip from Lim: Break difficult tasks into bits – every tiny step becomes an achievement. Everest was conquered in stages, and likewise, it remains an ongoing task for leaders to manage resources and mental strength for the long haul. Self-leadership – where the mission and roles are clear – is important when leaders cannot afford to handhold their group members.

“Teamwork is an individual skill that makes people accountable, and team players give up their own chances to climb to the summit so that the best climber can get to the top,” said Lim.

Leaders have to sustain the momentum of the team-building process, even when faced with harsh gales of change, akin to those encountered on a climbing expedition.

When dealing with setbacks in running their organisations, leaders should remember Lim’s story of overcoming the odds. A week after his triumphant return from Everest, a rare nerve disorder left him paralysed completely from the eyes down. He spent six months in hospital, learning to walk and write his name, and to this day remains permanently disabled. This has not stopped him from conquering, even more, mountains.

Lim shared, “Feeling sorry for yourself and being sorry about the past does not help. Look into the future – the journey of success and change is normally painful. Mountains are not climbed if they remain sitting inside of you.”

3. Create resilience

Leaders in organisations have to face challenges of varying magnitudes, but they can deal with them more adequately by embracing change with a forward-looking approach, learning from past experiences (and building character when reflecting upon them), as well as having a resilient mind.

Lim will also provide a few pointers that serve as timely reminders in any organisational setting – surround yourself with a great team, communicate shared objectives, maintain a good sense of humour, and live life to the fullest by creating as many intense moments as possible.

His parting shot: “Successful people aren’t those who have everything, but those who use everything they already have.”