Chuck Garcia was scheduled to give a keynote address at the world trade center on the morning of September 11, 2001, when he was asked to switch presentation times with a colleague. That colleague never made it out of the building when the terrorist planes struck the twin towers on that horrific day. One year later, while on the summit of Mount Rainier, he made a pact to honor his fallen coworkers devoting his life to the service, success, and happiness of others.
After a twenty-five-year career on Wall Street, Chuck experienced a realization after a fourteen-day summit of Mount Bona in Alaska; he founded The Climb Leadership Institute to assist leaders develop into powerful and compelling communicators. This master storyteller teaches us the science and practical application of public speaking in his best-selling book, A Climb to the Top—Communication and Leadership Tactics to Take Your Career to New Heights.

Chuck Garcia is the founder of Climb Leadership International and coaches executives on leadership development, public speaking, and emotional intelligence. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University where he teaches Leadership Communication in the Graduate School of Engineering. A 25-year veteran of Wall Street, he spent 14 years in sales and marketing at Bloomberg in a variety of leadership positions and held senior managerial positions in top worldwide investment management companies. Tune in for stories of transformation on his weekly A Climb to the Top Podcast on C-Suite Radio.
Chuck is also an accomplished mountaineer who has climbed some of the world’s tallest peaks, including Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Elbrus, the Matterhorn, as well as mountains in Alaska and the Andes. We are honored, inspired, and thrilled to share Chuck’s impactful life and message on this episode of Intrinsic Drive ®.
Intrinsic Drive ® is produced by Ellen Strickler and Phil Wharton. Special thanks to Andrew Hollingworth, our sound engineer and technical editor. For more information on this and other episodes visit us at www.whartonhealth.com/intrinsicdrive