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Continued from previous page
Stay centered: A noontime discussion of Buddhist ideals
and practices at the foot of a ridge leading up to the Tengboche
Monastery points to the practical value of cultivating
a sense of inner serenity, of deflecting distractions. One
participant recalls a boss who was decisive and calm even
at moments of "total chaos," and others confirm the point
with their own accounts of managers whose confidence in
the face of conflict kept the organization on course.
Distribute your leadership: Near the end we share examples
of leadership we've witnessed along our 80-mile trek.
Many single out Ang Jangbu, our head Sherpa, who has
flawlessly delivered us to the slopes of Everest with a large
team of Sherpas arranged through our outfitters, Geographic
Expeditions and Great Escapes. The Sherpas always seemed
to know what to do. Jangbu “handled everything very quietly
and efficiently,” recalled one participant, “managing our
Sherpa staff without a fuss.” He also infused our mobile multitude
with an implicit but ever present leadership: “You
never saw him actually leading,” said the observer, “but
whenever you needed him, he was always there."
Incorporate divergent intents: On leaving the village of
Chukhung, many choose to go for the summit above, others
to admire the view from a hill on its slopes. Both
objectives fit the trek’s agenda of achieving each member’s
goals. “I had come for the view and the sights,” said one
of the participants, “and even on that hill I got it. I relaxed,
I was enjoying myself, it was a beautiful day, and feeling
good sounds like a good finish to me.”
Persistence pays: After several hours of arduous climbing
above the village of Chukhung, those who chose to go to
the summit finally achieve the trek’s intended high point,
Chukhung Ri at 17,772 feet. Personal and collective determination
have made the difference:
Sara Sutherland: “I hit a major wall 2,000 feet ago.
I looked up and couldn’t do it, but Dorje [one of our
Sherpas] said, ‘Take small steps and you can do it.’ So I
dumped my pack, ate an Ironman bar and started up.”
Anita Orellana: “I wanted it so much that I didn't stop
to think that I wouldn't be able to do it. What helped
me was to keep a regular pace and to stick together. We
were all pushing together.”
Daniel Neal: “I noticed on the way up that every single
step counted, every one. It's amazing how all these little
steps, every little muddy gritty step, resulted in this
marvelous vista.”
The view is as spectacular as the guidebook has promised.
We look across at Ama Dablam (“Mother’s Charmbox”), a
22,493-foot Matterhorn-like spire, and at Makalu, the
world’s fifth highest mountain at 27,790 feet; behind us
rises Lhotse, the fourth highest at 27,890 feet with a two-mile
vertical face, capped by the highest overhang in the
world. The 360-degree panorama is mesmerizing, but the
gaze of Tim Urekew is riveted on just one point of the compass:
a still higher pinnacle rising behind us. Given the
thin air and exhausting ascent, the rest of us are more than
content with our present perch. But within minutes, we’re
stirring again, and an hour later, we’re standing at 18,238
feet above sea level, lost in wonder at the magnificent
panorama and the path that placed us there.
Michael Useem is William and Jacalyn Egan Professor of
Management and Director of the Center for Leadership and
Change Management at Wharton; he is author of The Leadership
Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and
Their Lessons for Us All (1998). Edwin Bernbaum is Senior
Fellow at The Mountain Institute and Research Associate at
the University of California at Berkeley; he is author of
Sacred Mountains of the World (1998) and a frequent lecturer
on mountains, creativity and leadership.
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