I (Theresa) just finished reading High Altitude Leadership by Chris Warner and Don Schmincke. What an adventure that was! Chris Warner is the founder of EarthTreks, a Maryland-based rock climbing gym and mountaineering company and Don Schmincke is founder of SAGA Leadership.
Readers are held breathless in Chapter 1, titled, Fear of Death, by the very first story told by Warner about an expedition he led to K2, the world’s second-tallest and arguably most dangerous mountain located in Pakistan. Readers experience the expeditions and then Schmincke relates the incredible stories to what it takes to be, in their words, a High Altitude Leader. The book highlights eight dangers that prevent people from reaching the highest levels of performance.
I am not a mountain climber and venture to say I never will, but the courage, guts, humility and perseverance displayed in these stories on the highest mountaintops in the world speak of the incredible possibility of the human spirit. Whether on the mountaintop or in the meeting room, the qualities that it takes to be a great leader are quite similar.
The authors say that what gets in our way are “fear, selfishness, tool seduction (have to read the book to understand that one), arrogance, lone heroism, cowardice, comfort and gravity.” What helps us overcome them is a compelling saga, a “story or drama that inspires passion for a strategic result, a passion that overwhelms the selfishness common in humans.”
We all have a story to tell. We all have something we are trying to achieve but this books urges you and your organizations to think bigger, riskier, and most of all, more compelling… reach for something bigger than you, better than everyone else and then go for it!
Do something “to die for” this week!
Mary Anne and Theresa
