Tez Steinberg

My world record row was not a solo feat. I was alone in my boat for 71 days, and I relied on a talented, highly curated team who supported me remotely and helped complete our mission to inspire the world and raise valuable funds for charity.

In this session you’ll learn how to lead, motivate and grow those around you. I’ll share my experience and lessons learned from leading 4 nonprofits across the US and Latin America – experiences which led the World Economic Forum to name me “one of the 50 best young minds in the world.”

I’ll walk you through the secrets of effective self-talk – in other words, how to lead yourself – and then how to guide, mentor and develop others to excel in their roles and achieve your common vision.

You have the power to achieve audacious goals and rally your team, even while you navigate uncertainty and risk.

But first, you need to learn how to focus your mind, to turn stress into success, and to lead others through turbulent waters.

In spring 2016, while I was earning my MBA in London, I got a call that changed my life forever. My father suddenly died. And he had taken his own life.

In the grief that followed I had a clear choice: I could recoil and withdraw, OR to choose to relate to this harrowing experience as an opportunity to grow into the leader I aimed to become.

I chose the latter. And to accelerate that growth, I decided to row across an ocean alone. And to dedicate the journey to inspiring others to believe in themselves and to create a positive legacy with my life.

There was just one catch: I wasn’t a rower or a sailor. I’d never even been to sea!

When I boarded my 23-foot rowboat in July 2020, the next 10 weeks became a crash course in transcending my mental blocks as I pushed farther out to sea, and further inside my mind and heart.

This journey taught me SO much about grit, resilience, and using setbacks as springboards for success. And, in addition to my 15-year journey growing from depressed college student into world-class athlete, it taught me to see every event – whether seeming “positive” or “negative” – as an opportunity to choose growth.

And it turns out, these are the same keys to success whether you’re building a business, leading a team, or simply aiming to become the best version of yourself.

How would your business, conference or community benefit from learning powerful techniques to steady your mind against stress and transcend your limitations?

The upside is enormous. When inspiration strikes, anything is possible. I’m living proof. And through my Tez Talk, that inspiration and action can come to you.

People often assume athletes are built in the gym. But to master your craft – whether in sports or business – you must first find and grow your inner athlete.

This is especially true for solo ocean rowing, the hardest endurance feat on the planet. Fitness is secondary; performance is driven by mindset.

My story shows this lesson in action. Due to lockdowns in spring 2020, I had just 3 days to train in my boat before pushing out to sea.

To survive and thrive amidst the expedition’s obstacles – like week-long counter currents that pushed me backwards every time I rested – I had to change how I related to each setback, measured my progress, and focused my mind.

I came to realize that these setbacks weren’t preventing my success – they would become the very foundation of it. And when you make this connection with your own obstacles, you will discover powerful new ways to adapt, pivot, and accelerate towards your most audacious goals.

In this talk, you’ll learn how to blast past what “should” be possible by cultivating your inner belief in achieving the impossible. And then bring vision into reality with the skills to persevere with purpose and poise against the greatest odds.