Walking in a place of ancient wisdom
Less reflective and thematic than recent blogs, this one is a simply a short collection of some memories from my recent Himalayan trek. They may inspire you to trek there too!

Our Sherpa guides! Simply wonderful. Unassuming, polite, endlessly willing and always smiling. Knowledgeable and so skilful. And full of stories of personal ascents of Everest and other major peaks.

And our porters! Amazing too. Hard working and always smiling. Carrying big weights, and magically always at our destination before us! How humbling to have these people in our service.

Laughter and stories

So much laughter! On the trail, and in the evening in the dimly lit tea-lodges. The laughing banter of new friendships and the mortal belly-aching combat of “shit-head” – a card game known to trekkers across the world.

Island Peak base camp. “The temperature inside the tents is a balmy -18 Celsius. The less good news is that the temperature outside the tent is -28 Celsius!” Top tip – if the joining pack advises you to get a sleeping bag rated at such-and-such a temperature, then do as suggested. You won’t be sorry!

Our 360 Expeditions (www.360-expeditions.com) leader Rolfe Oostra and his climbing Sherpas – Boleh, Phurba, and Mingma. These people are incredibly accomplished in their fields. They have serious big mountain experience and, in Rolfe’s case, global expedition experience. Their capacity to lead our trek was unquestionable. Moreover they had really big adventure stories to share with us all. I would have paid the money just to sit on a grassy bank and listen to these. The trek was a bonus! The whole experience was a huge privilege.

Surprises

A few surprises: the home-counties housewife who found her forte at altitude, and the experienced climber who slowed right down. Food surprises: menus at every overnight stop, and always the availability – at an increasing price – of beer, mineral water, choccy bars, Pringles and bog roll!  And electric surprises, too. Recharging facilities using UK 3-pin plugs all the way up. Mobile telephone coverage just about everywhere, and wi-fi too! Good thing or a bad thing?

Ancient wisdom

And then there were the quiet times, really quiet times, when people had to dig really deep. Steep slopes, thin air – four little words, but a world of personal challenge. But not private challenge as everyone was incredibly supportive and understanding.

And a final riff repeated from a recent blog:

Nepal. Big-mountain views and river-roaring gorges; empty blue, cloud-less, vapour trail-less skies; silent glaciers, distantly rumbling avalanches, soft melodic yak bells, and laughing evening card-playing trekkers; “ting”ing prayer wheels, smiling “Namastes” from trackside-playing children; cold dry air reaching down backs of throats; warm, aromatic, tangy, restoring lemon tea; new friendships and a deep sense of being in a place of ancient wisdom.

Dave

Dave Stewart
Director
The Fresh Air Learning Company Ltd

Where to spend your leadership development money

Spending three weeks in the Himalayas recently, I got to know a group of leaders really quite well. Expedition leaders, company directors, charity volunteers. All fantastic people achieving lots with their lives – for themselves and many others.

Sharing miles on foot, meals on seats, and too many beers gets you close. Being in the spiritual presence of majestic mountains, suffering altitude together, and sharing a pee-spot over a 2000ft gorge gets you even closer.

All of them were “imperfect”. Blind spots, prejudices, intolerances, and more.

I wonder, counter intuitively, if this might explain, in part, their growth and effectiveness as leaders.

Happy skins

Not for them some ten-point model of good leadership, or a Covey’esque list of effective habits. Not for them a set of aspirational standards against which – if so minded – they could spend time, money and energy to meet.

My trekking mates were successful people because they had discovered what they were really good at, what others really valued, what really worked. They knew who they were. They were happy in their leadership skins.

The HvL (Holes versus Length) Scale of Leadership Effectiveness

As one of them put it, “I am not spending time and money to fill in potholes. There will always be potholes. Lots of them. Bigger than my budget.”

“I want to build a longer road so I can enjoy the journey, get to places and do stuff! I will build on what I know I am great at.”

So, using the HvL model where is your current balance of leadership investment? Is it working for you? Does it feel right?

What might happen if you slid the cursor away from hole-filling and edged it, maybe even recklessly zipped it towards road lengthening? How does that feel, and does it get you to where you feel more like you want to feel? Where is the real leader-you on this scale? What are you doing to find your place and be the best you can be?

Dave

Dave Stewart
Director
The Fresh Air Learning Company Ltd

Why 17kgs and a rubbish sleeping bag are just plain wrong!

It was awesome in a hundred different ways. My senses were kicked awake from the off. I could not help but feel fully alive.

Nepal. Big-mountain views and river-roaring gorges; empty blue, cloud-less, vapour trail-less skies; silent glaciers, distantly rumbling avalanches, soft melodic yak bells, and laughing evening card-playing trekkers; “ting”ing prayer wheels, smiling “Namastes” from trackside-playing children; cold dry air reaching down backs of throats; warm, aromatic, tangy, restoring lemon tea; new friendships and a deep sense of being in a place of ancient wisdom.

Would I have had the same wonder-full experience if I had just turned up? No preparation? No acclimatisation? The wrong kit? Unsuitable clothing? Unfit?

Shaping the conditions for success

Do you know people who can just turn up and “play live”? They seem blessed with improvisational skills. They work in-the-moment, pulling insights and knowledge from nowhere. Or people who plan to the “Nth” degree?  All options are considered, planned for, and then stacked and packed. And checked again.

Well, where I was in the Himalayas, no amount of just “turning up and playing live” would have kept you warm during the night when it was -28 degrees Celsius. A fellow trekker had a rubbish sleeping bag and had a lot of very cold, sleepless nights. I had a great bag and slept brilliantly.

In other respects my packing was rubbish though. I packed too much. Some poor porter had to carry stuff I never used. I wasted time faffing around in the mornings and evenings looking for the stuff that I did need. “Must do better.”

Choiceful balance

So, maybe the learning here is around reflecting on what needs to be done to create the conditions for success. Malcolm Gladwell notes in his book “Tipping Point” that most gifted people have spent up to 10,000 hours becoming gifted!

We all need some preparation it seems.

I know that I am going to spend more time at the front end of the big steps and journeys I take in the future.

What do you need to be at your best – as an individual, a team, an organisation? How do you balance planning, preparation and execution? How might we help shape your success?

Dave

Dave Stewart
Director
The Fresh Air Learning Company Ltd