Everest: Peak of Achievement – Lessons for Leaders
I recently attended a masterclass talk by Sir Chris Bonington, organised by Eventbrite at Lancaster university management school. His address was rich in understanding leadership and teamwork both from a mountaineering perspective and lessons for leaders for in business.
Sir Chris Bonington as many will know is a prolific mountaineer with several first ascents to his name. He spoke largely about his 1985 ascent of mount Everest with a Norwegian team, which was both the first Norwegian ascent and the first ascent of the “treacherous” southwestern face.
He was an engaging speaker despite a humble and softly spoken voice, I would say quite ‘David Attenborough’ in style!
Southwestern Face
In the 1970s there were two notable failed attempts at the southwestern face.
First of all, by a Japanese expedition, which failed because the team had divided objectives: Some wanted simply to climb Everest for Japan for the first time, while some were only there to make first ascent of the SW face.
Second was an expedition made up of ‘all-star’ climbers from various countries – the best in their domain. This expedition failed because it was full of individual performers with their own aspirations and egos… and not the best team workers!
Chris first climbed Everest in 1975 with a team of six people, but lost two people on the way whose bodies were never found. After this he promised himself he would never climb the mountain again… until he was tempted by his friend and colleague Arne Naess to join the Norwegian expedition, ten years later.
The Next Attempt
The 1985 expedition began as many others did: Not with a premade team of people, but with a group of individuals each with the burning desire to reach the summit. The first climb to base camp (around 5600m up) can be done in a single day, but the team spent ten days on this part of the journey acclimatising to the conditions of the mountain, and acclimatising to each other. In my eyes, Chris saw this part of the journey as absolutely essential: A lot of time was spent in the beginning cultivating the friendships and trust in each other that would lead them to have such strong bonds later on.
Characteristics of the Strongest Leaders
Chris spoke very highly of Arne, the expedition leader, who showed several of the classic characteristics of the strongest leaders. He was very humble and complimentary to everyone around him, in particular to the supporting team and Sherpas. He continually observed the wellbeing of his team (during one lunchtime suggesting that everyone speaks English so that Chris could join in their conversations!). But along with his humility and listening skill, Arne was also very decisive and made extremely clear judgements.
Chris asked several of the team the question, “How important is it to reach the summit?”, to which the prevailing response was, “As long as we can get two people up there, it’s all good”, which I think displays how selfless these men were: None of them had a burning desire for individual success, but they were all absolutely committed to making sure that somebody got there.
Final Ascent
The final ascent to the summit took two attempts. On the first, the sheer wind force near the peak made the conditions too dangerous to carry on, and the mountaineers held on another day. The decision not to carry on must have been a very tough one – their goal was in sight and only a few hours’ climb away, but in Chris’s words if they had continued they almost certainly would have lost lives.
Sir Chris was certainly the oldest man on the team at fifty years old. On the second attempt at the summit, he fell to his knees more than once and felt he couldn’t make it: but another experienced mountaineer by the name of Uld took the time to wait for Chris. “Take your time – you set the pace and I’ll follow”, Uld said, which helped Chris set his pace faster than he would’ve done alone. Without Uld’s help Chris might not have made it to the summit: Another example of the extreme selflessness of the team thanks to the bonds they cultivated.
For Sir Chris, this was the first major expedition he had been on that wasn’t his first ascent; but what stood out to him about this one was the quality of experience, all the result of having such a great team.
Lessons for Leaders
In closing remark Chris said that the biggest lesson he learned was
“To always live in the present – however awful the present might be, and do what you can to thrive in it”.
The host from the university of Lancaster also mentioned four key takeaways he got from the session, in terms of what makes a great leader:
1) Attention to detail and planning at every stage, from formulating the team through to each stage of the project.
2) Instil motivation in your team to succeed, not in personal achievement but in a shared goal that everyone contributes to.
3) Be prepared to make judgement calls and have the final say on behalf of your team, and take responsibility for doing so.
4) Be humble!
Jacob Minihan
Business Psychologist
Dove Nest Group
At Dove Nest we are passionate about learning, leadership and development. For a free of charge consultation about integrating culture, or to have an informal exploratory conversation, call us on 015395 67878, email us at enquiries@dovenest.co.uk or visit our website www.dovenest.co.uk