Recently, I had the
opportunity to watch the 2015 movie Everest which loosely depicts the
1996 climbing disaster in which 8 climbers from two parties attempting to
summit Mt. Everest perished. In one scene of the movie, the lead guide allowed a lagging climber to attempt the summit of Mt. Everest even though a weather window was quickly closing. This got me thinking
out loud about how sometimes as leaders, a good intention can be a bad idea.
The movie starts out with
the lead guide (played by actor Jason Clark) for outfitter,
Adventure Consultants, gathering an international party of experienced climbers
who wanted to attempt to climb Mt. Everest in 1996. The guide was an experienced
professional and knew full well the dangers of attempting to climb the highest peak in
the world. In fact, in one scene you hear Clark tell the climbers that he was
responsible for their safety in both the ascent and the descent from the peak.
Things start out well but
as the climbers near the peak, the lead guide is informed by base-camp staff that a
massive blizzard is quickly approaching the summit. Based upon that
information, he starts the party climbing early in the morning of the final ascent due to the
fact the weather window will close quickly as the day progresses. Whereas most
of the climbers are successful, the movie depicts the guide postponing the descent in
order to allow a lagging member of the party to reach the summit. This decision
would prove to be disastrous in that a powerful blizzard quickly closed in and
trapped members of the party above the safety of their base-camps.
The leadership lessons here
are numerous. The film depicts an experienced leader who suspended his good
judgement to allow a paying client to reach the summit. Hall knew that
conditions would deteriorate and that the success of one lagging client was not
worth the safety of an entire party. Unfortunately, this was not the case in
that he allowed a good intention to overshadow his judgement. Granted, many of
us will never face such life and death circumstances but I believe the story is
a cautionary tale for leaders. Here are some of the learning points from the tragic
events depicted by the film that we should all take to heart.
- Rely On Your Experience – you have more life and leadership experience than you think. You have been a witness to your and the action of others that have taught you many lessons.
- Trust Your Judgement – I believe most people have pretty sound judgement and plenty of common sense. Don’t let others sway you when the best decision is clearly before you.
- Tune In To Your Instincts – your intuition is a product of both your conscious and subconscious thoughts working in tandem. Clearly if you gut is telling you something, listen closely. Your subconscious is constantly processing information that you are not even aware of. The more your exercise your intuition, the stronger it becomes.
- Believe In Yourself – finally, have faith in yourself. Make the best decisions you can based upon your best information and most important priorities. History is full of examples of leaders who made the courageous or unpopular decision even when others close to them urged them not to.
As a side note, whereas
some of the surviving members of the 1996 expedition will argue some of the events
as depicted, Everest as film has a solid cast and is beautifully filmed in a
variety of locations.
As always if I can help you and the
people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would invite
you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the training or
coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact! Also, as a bonus, if you go
to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will
send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your
organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to
your organization!
Yours in Leadership,
Bill Faulkner
Principal Consultant –
Out Loud Strategies
Independent Coach,
Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM
Email = bill@outloudinc.com
Visit our website
at: www.outloudinc.com
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