Robyn Benincasa was born in Long Island, NY, but spent most of her youth in
Tempe, AZ, where she competed at the state and national level in gymnastics,
diving, and cross country. After graduating from Arizona State University with
a B.S. in Marketing, Benincasa accepted a pharmaceutical sales job in the San
Diego Territory and earned honors as "Rookie of the Year" in 1990.
Benincasa was shortly thereafter caught by the triathlon bug , and ultimately
went on to complete six Ironman races, with two podium finishes in her age
group in Kona, Hawaii. By 1995, however, she was really really tired of
triathlon AND wearing panty hose to work, so she embarked on a mission to live
her dreams of becoming an adventure racer and firefighter.
In the past 8 years, she has completed over thirteen "expedition length"
adventure races (7-10 days, non stop), and has earned World Champion honors in
both the Eco-Challenge (Borneo, 2000) and the Raid Gauloises (1998). Ever in
search of a way to "spread the luuuuuuv", Benincasa launched World Class Teams
in 2000, with the hopes of bringing her unique and inspiring perspective on
teamwork to the corporate world.
In the past three years, her "8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy" keynotes,
training seminars, and outdoor AdventureTeambuilding challenges have been
embraced by Starbucks, Tony Robbins, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Aramark,
Honda/Acura, Timberland, Earthlink, and Fast Company Magazine.
She also accepts full blame for inspiring some of her corporate clients to do
insane things like climb mount kilimanjaro, run their first triathlon, or
(gasp!) start their own adventure racing teams. "It's a tough job", Benincasa
says, "But someone's gotta do it".
Extreme Teams: "The 8 Essential Elements of Human Synergy" (1-2 Hours)
The focus of the "Extreme Teams" keynote is on the "8 Essential Elements of
Human Synergy" required to foster empathy, effective communication, shared
responsibility, mutual respect, and a real sense of interdependence among
teammates. Using the platform of the Eco-Challenge "expedition competition" for
her amusing stories and hard-won insights, World Champion Adventure Racer and
Firefighter Robyn Benincasa will share the inside secrets of team success in
the most challenging situations; from leadership and "followership" skills to
dynamic role shifting. This unforgettable program will not only inspire you,
but provide concrete take-home skills for developing synergy with all of the
teammates in your life.
Extreme Performance: Why Winners Win
What are the 5 most common attributes of people who make a lifelong habit of
winning? In the "Extreme Performance: Why Winners Win" keynote, Robyn Benincasa
uses the model of Adventure Racing to highlight the attitudes and mind set of
world class athletes, teammates and leaders in their quest for victory-and
provides some real world guidelines and principles for reaching the "top of the
podium" in any endeavor.
High Performance Leadership
Created for the HPL (High Performance Leadership) Program at IMD Executive
University in Lausanne, Switzerland, this research-based presentation is geared
toward mid to senior level managers who wish to gain further insight into the
particular leadership styles and behaviors that are proven to have a positive
affect on both productivity and organizational climate-thereby reinforcing the
bottom line.
