Go for it, folks!

David Lim walks with a limp in his left leg, but let that not fool you. He's a management guru, the sort who spouts gyaan on motivation in conference rooms. But look at his resume closely, and you discover what makes him such a compelling speaker. He was the first man to lead an expedition from Singapore to Mount Everest. And since then has become a sort of hero there. "Being a small country, Singapore doesn't have too many mountain ranges, so when I did the Everest expedition, I became an instant celebrity," he says, cheerily.

It's been almost six years now since Lim started his own consultancy, aptly named Everest Motivation, to help organisations get their teams all charged up for some serious goal scoring. Or summit-reaching, as the case may be.

Lim dots his motivational speeches with his experiences of expeditions. That also ensures that the term "motivation" doesn't get abused "" as it often gets in loose corporate corridor talk. "It's actually nothing but telling people things which they don't know "" to lift their spirits and give them challenges to do better."

Lim should know what he's talking about. A week after returning from Everest, he suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a serious nerve disorder. The disorder paralysed him for six months. But he didn't lose his spirit, and it was the challenge of going back to mountaineering that kept him going. Since recovering from the disorder, Lim has led about 10 expeditions across Asia, Africa and South America and does mountaineering for a month every year. "This is what I tell people to challenge them to do better." Motivation comes from within, he says.

Lim has already held motivational talks for companies such as Maruti, Cholamandalam and Hyundai. Much of what he says centres around teamwork "" for which he uses "fun and challenging" methods to help everyone understand the sets of behaviour needed for any team to succeed. "It is something which I have learnt from my expeditions "" how important teamwork is. One wrong step could lead to a big disaster, which is true of big organisations as well."

Indians, Lim observes, are an enthusiastic bunch, but are sadly unwilling to take the risks that must be taken to achieve extraordinary success.

Well, maybe he'll be surprised.