The Hindu Business Line : Who says there are no elevators in the mountains?

TOP slots in companies are ideally for those who can see afar. As if to help them in that task, their offices are also usually located in the topmost floors.

Again, as if that were not enough, some of them go to climb mountains and return to tell us the story. Michael Useem's Upward Bound, from Crown Business www.crownbusiness.com, is a bunch of "nine original accounts of how business leaders reached their summits."

If you are wondering `why we climb', the intro has the answer. Mountains have a singular power to inspire, and they hold a surprising power to instruct, states the author. "Placing someone atop a summit is, above all, a triumph of organisation — which is why mountaineering is no mere metaphor for management. It is management itself."

Climbing has the risk of falling. One caution is to be mindful, no matter how low the odds of falling, when there are high consequences to falling.

A useful insight is that every climber is accompanied by another partner, silent and invisible: It's called luck. "There is no pact to be made with this partner — which is why, if you rely too heavily on it, you just might end up dead." You can read that again.

Leadership is essential for the success of companies and climbs. "Every team — corporate, professional, athletic — needs someone ultimately responsible for creating direction and purpose."

Contrary to popular myth, even when individual members are experienced and talented at what they do, a leader is required for focussing the group's effort, defining roles, and setting expectations.

If your leader is whimsical there could be a problem. "A team that is always trying to guess where the boss is going next is going to exhaust its energies internally and sideways, at the cost of achieving external goals and forward movement."

Rocks are rough and weather unpredictable. Won't it be a better idea to be safe inside air-conditioned offices? No, says Royal Robbins in his piece.

"The paradox is that humans naturally seek comfort and peace, yet we are at our creative best when we are in a state of what psychologists call `cognitive dissonance' — when things aren't the same as the way we think they should be."

A chapter titled `Killer applications' by Chris Warner notes that he learned his business lessons on the cutting-edge Himalayan expeditions: passion, vision, perseverance and partnership. "Beyond these four things, you also need the courage to apply them. Lack of courage in business will cause your company to fail."

Mountaineers and managers are often tempted to put their personal summits first, observes Useem.

Like most cricketers, they may "let their egos cloud their thinking." But the strength of an organisation depends upon leaders who are concerned with doing what is best for their team.

How to manage downtime is what Edwin Bernbaum offers as insight from his experience with peaks.

"Mountain climbing involves dreary days of building supply lines and maddening waits for the weather to break, punctuated by brief but glorious moments when everything is in place and the terrain just seems to glide by. So it is in the lives of individuals and corporations. The critical test of leadership is how one deals with the long downtimes between the high moments of achievement." Elevating thoughts, indeed.

So, what are you waiting for? Get your backpack and trekking gear ready.

ManageMentor@hotmail.com

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