Leadership lessons from Everest

David Breashears described his experiences on Mount Everest:

‘It’s a tough world - low temperature, high winds, no oxygen. You learn a lot about leadership under such great stress.’

David's experiences have given him insights into the failures and strengths of leadership.

A core factor for good leaders is compassion - which is not weakness or restraint - a sign of deep strength and confidence with generosity of spirit. Consistency of communication is also essential. The leadership message should be founded on the ‘tone’ and ‘values’ set. ‘We take care of each other’ is the vital element in both.

David felt that peer review under great stress is vital and self-review a real gift - one essential for success. He advocated that leaders should ‘surround themselves with a team who are at least as good as they are’.

Filming Everest required a huge camera and battery. Getting this in place was a colossal feat - in a place where people cut their toothbrushes in half to save weight! Filming this mountain gave a huge goal that focused the team:

‘Imagine a mountain that shrugs its shoulder and 10,000 pieces of ice fall, regardless of whether you are there or not.'

David described how planning should give you options and that good leaders are always watching for what might go wrong. He gave many riveting examples of epic leadership, bravery and loss.

'Leaders must know their world; ambition must be matched by experience. It can take a long time!'