The CBC Shows Some Love For Fidel

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the CBC has announced that they are going to delay showing the documentary "The Climb". The documentary tells the story of the first successful Canadian assault on Mount Everest.

Now what earth shaking event could cause the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, a broadcaster financed by Canadian tax dollars, to postpone the showing of a major Canadian success story? Hockey Night in Canada? The Canadian Ladies Curling finals? Jaime Sale beating up the French judge from the Salt Lake City Olympics?

No, I could understand any of those. I could even understand if they chose to run some show about the road conditions in Nunavut. But the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has decided to preempt a Canadian story in favor of... get this.. a documentary about Fidel Castro.

You know the Cuban guy that just won't die? A Canadian story about a Canadian expedition scheduled to be shown on a Canadian taxpayer funded TV network has been bounced in favor of a story about Dictator For Life Fidel Castro, from the world power Cuba. You know, there's a reason why Canadians say the "C" in "CBC" stands for "Communist". I'm sure the CBC will be gushing over the success of Dear Leader and the wonders he has done with the quality of life in Cuba. That's a little sarcasm on my part. The International Living Quality of Life Index puts Cuba on par with Madagascar and Zambia, 108th put of 195 countries.

Anyway, the comrades at CBC have rescheduled The Climb for Thursday, March 27th on CBC-TV and Saturday, March 29th on CBC Newsworld. This link will take you to the CBC page. This link takes you to another Everest page that covers the schedule change.

Of course, if the Moose Jaw School Board announces they are going to reduce transfat in school lunches, CBC might choose to cover that instead.

Leadership Under Fire

Reaching the top of Mount Everest starts with a push through the most dangerous part of the mountain, the Khumbu Icefall. The glacier moves an average of 3 or 4 feet per day, but averages are misleading. It can move a few inches one day, and many feet the next. And it can move suddenly without warning, causing towering seracs to collapse and crevasses to gape open. Ladders and ropes placed one day may be found bent or torn the next because of the movement of the icefall.

It’s difficult to determine the total number of deaths on Everest. From 1980 to 2002, the American Alpine Club reports that 129 climbers have died on Everest. The web site mnteverest.net refers to the Khumbu Icefall as the most dangerous area with 19 deaths.

On August 31, 1982, the Canadians rose at 2 AM to continue their push through the Icefall to Camp I. While laboring in the dark, a mile long portion of snow and ice breaks free of the South wall and bears down on the Icefall. A tail of the avalanche strikes the climbers, burying some and knocking others free from their ropes. In the end, 3 Sherpas are dead. Only the body of Sherpa Pasang Soma is found.

Team Leader Bill March, who has a deep love and respect for the Sherpa community, accompanies the body of Pasang Soma back to Lobuche. There, he participates in the mourning as the body is cremated. Then, as he prepares to return to Base Camp, a Sherpa arrives to tell March that another member of his expedition has been killed. The team had decided to repair the route while March was away. Working on a collapsed ladder, the Icefall once again shuddered and shifted. Cameraman Blair Griffiths was pinned by a falling serac and killed instantly.

In five days, four lives are lost. The team is torn apart. It appears that the mountain is going to defeat them before they are even to Camp I. Some think the expedition should be cancelled. Others think there is too much invested to stop and the team should proceed. The possibility of death had been discussed before the team arrived in Kathmandu, and March had said that they would continue even if there was an accident. Now, in the face of actual death, some of the team members were reconsidering the cost. Most had families and responsibility back in Canada. For others, this might be the last opportunity they would have to climb Everest.

March knew that the dissention would be devastating to the team. The constant bickering and in-fighting would destroy the morale of the team, and cast a negative pall on those who wanted to continue. So March made a democratic but masterful leadership decision. Each man was allowed to make the choice for themselves whether they would continue or drop out. But those who chose to drop out must leave Base Camp immediately.

I thought this was a stroke of genius and masterful leadership on March’s part. He didn’t demand anyone stay. He didn’t even beg some to stay. Every man could make up his own mind. And when the decision was made, those who were going to go had to leave immediately. No hanging around to chat with other team members and try to talk others out of it. No sitting around casting negative vibes over the rest of the team. And on the other hand, no hard feelings toward those who were leaving. But the decision was made, so carry it out right now.

In the final count, eight stay and six leave. All the Sherpas stay with the climbing team. I won’t dwell on the details of the climb. Laurie Skreslit would go on to become the first Canadian to reach the summit of Everest. The example I wanted to share with you here was March’s leadership under such stress. The death of four people. The bad press resulting from those deaths. The change of attitude of some of the team. These are extreme examples of situations managers face regularly. Perhaps not death, but think of situation where the corporate earth trembles and shifts under your feet. In the current economy, layoffs and plant shutdowns are an everyday reality. The stress of dealing with life altering situations is as great as the stress Bill March faced. What lessons does March teach us?

First, I believe that one of the greatest attribute of a leader is compassion. Perhaps you call it something else – empathy, charity, even love. Whatever you call it, it is the trait that allows you to feel the emotions of another, and to enter into their joy and their sorrow. March had a deep love for the Sherpas, and he felt the pain of the loss of the three Sherpas as much as their family. And he recognized the emotions of those who wanted to leave the expedition. It wasn’t what he was going to do, but he didn’t criticize those how had a different perception of risk than he had.

Second, March showed the ability to make hard decisions. It would have been easy to have those who didn’t want to continue just hang around Base Camp. Maybe they could help with communications or something. But I’ve seen what happens in cases like this. Those that don’t agree with the rest of the group spend their time undermining the efforts of the rest of the team. They are like a cancer. They start small, almost unnoticeable, but soon they grow and suck the life out of the rest of the group. The best way to deal with cancer like this is to cut it out. When March cleared the camp of those who didn’t want to proceed, he was left with a unified group who were prepared to attack a common goal.

And finally, leaders are able to separate emotions from the mission at hand. It would have been understandable if March allowed the deaths of his climbing companions to cancel the climb. But he recognized the greater goal. He recognized his responsibilities to others on the team. Separating emotions from action is perhaps the most difficult thing to do. But emotions can cloud thinking to a point where our actions become a threat to others. March made his decisions based on facts, and the end result was a successful summit.

You can read a full account of the adventure on John Amatt’s home page. Amatt, an experienced climber in his own right, was the business manager for the expedition. He had the unenviable task of dealing with media and sponsors following the tragedy on the Icefall. He now shares his experiences by consulting with businesses on topics of change management, motivation and teamwork. He is also one of the founders of the Banff Mountain Film Festival held in the beautiful Canadian Rocky Mountains at the Banff Center.

And the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has completed a documentary of the expedition. Laurie Skreslit and Pat Morrow return to Everest to revisit the events that led to Skreslit being the first Canadian to summit Everest. Morrow survived the first avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall. From a promo for the documentary:

The Climb traces the build-up to the 1982 Canadian climb of Everest, tracks the drama of the journey up the mountain, and follows Skreslet and Morrow as they piece together their recollections during an emotional trip back to Nepal and Everest's storied base camp.

The film delivers the immediacy of the events as they unfolded on the mountain through the use of unique archival footage shot in 1982, while gripping the audiences with a present-day narrative of those still haunted by those tragic and triumphant days as they re-visit Base Camp together for the first time since The Climb.

The documentary is scheduled to be shown on CBC Newsworld on February 28^th. I doubt that’s a very popular channel in the US, but as they say, check local listings. Canadians, get out the popcorn and gather around the telly for a great story.

Having The Right Leader at the Right Time

The task of putting together a successful team of high ego athletes is one of the great leadership challenges there is. Mountain climbing is no different. The egos of climbers are huge, and the opportunities for failure great. At least with a baseball or football team, someone else is responsible for the recruiting and cash management. In mountain climbing, the team leader usually has the responsibility for all those things. A misstep in football might mean a lost game, or even a championship. A misstep in climbing can mean death.

The Canadian Expedition started, as many great ventures, on the back of a napkin in a bar. Canmore-based climber Roger Marshall was sitting around a table with a few of his climbing buddies when the topic of climbing Everest came up. A few beverages and a couple of cocktail napkins later, a plan was in motion to have the first Canadian team climb Everest.

Marshall’s plan was simple, as napkin-based planning systems often are. A small team of climbers would use the South Col route for a fast ascent of Everest. The South Col was the best choice because it was the most common route and had the best chance for success. A small team would keep costs low.

Just a few months after the initial tavern planning meeting, “Project Creep” had taken hold. Others in the climbing community wanted to be part of this adventure. The team had grown, and some wanted to try a more challenging route. Roger Marshall had lost control of the original small scale assault team, and was replaced as leader by Greg Kinnear.

Kinnear brought organization to the group. He hired a skilled climber, John Amatt, as business manager. Amatt was able to secure a major sponsorship from Air Canada, and organized the logistical and fund raising challenges that a large scale project required. The team worked on designing and stockpiling specialized equipment. Training climbs were scheduled for various other mountain peaks around the world.

But relations were being strained in the group. Marshall’s friends and Kinnear’s friends were frequently at odds. A third group tried to remain neutral, but was affected by the hubris of the other groups. Kinnear was diagnosed with an eye ailment that would be dangerous for him at high altitude. It became apparent that Kinnear could not lead the group on its mission. The group took a vote, and Bill March was elected group leader. March immediately appointed Lloyd Gallagher as his second. A quiet but firm man, the group had recognized that March had the abilities to lead the team to success.

So before getting to the mountain, the team is already on its third leader. What lesson does that have for us? First, we should always remember that the leader that got us started may not be the leader that helps us finish. Unlike your high school prom, organizations shouldn’t concentrate on making sure that they go home with the one that brought them.

Different leaders bring different skills to the table. Marshall brought an enthusiasm and zeal to the goal of climbing Everest, but wasn’t the best organizer. Kinnear was an organizational guru. But when it became apparent he wouldn’t be able to physically make the climb, another leader needed to be chosen. Bill March was an experienced climber who had the respect of his teammates. Different leaders who brought different skills at different times to the mission. And each was needed in their time and place, but there was no fear to replace the leader when new leadership was needed.

Second, this has implications for our own careers. Not only should organizations be prepared to replace leadership when needed, but individuals need to be prepared to move on when their time is up. This is perhaps the greatest challenge – recognizing that our time has passed and we need to toss the torch to new hands. It shouldn’t be viewed as failure. As this team recognized, there are different skills required for different parts of any venture. To keep an individual in a leadership position when they lack the necessary skills places the entire team at risk.

Next week – death on the mountain threatens to tear the team apart, and Bill March shows amazing leadership skills dealing with the events.

Even Tom Peters Agrees With Me!

A while back, I mentioned that I thought that Rosabeth Moss Kanter's book, America the Principled: 6 Opportunities for Becoming a Can-Do Nation Once Again was the political read of the year. Business uber-guru Tom Peters agrees with me. That's pretty good company! Read his "Cool Friends" interview with Professor Kanter here.

How about downloading it on your Kindle? What a great gift idea this is. The Amazon e-book reader is compact, portable, and books purchased for it are cheaper than their paper or hard cover editions. You can search for books, magazines, newspapers and more and download them without needing to find a Wi-fi hotspot. Be your own Valentine and pick one up here.

Man and Mountains - A Lesson in Leadership

What prompts a person to look up at the imposing face of a mountain and say “I can climb that.”? What motivates someone to put their life at risk just to say “I climbed that mountain.”? Canadian history tells of a group of men building the Canadian Pacific Railroad through the Rockies daring the Chinese cook, Ha Ling, to climb a certain mountain outside their Canmore location and be back in town in less than ten hours. He made the trip in five and a half hours, and the peak was then known for many years as Chinaman’s Peak. In the 1990’s a group suggested the term “Chinaman” was derogatory, and in 1997, it was renamed “Ha Ling Peak.” The mountain is shown here to the left. No one has suggested “Scotsman’s Hill” should be renamed, but I digress.

Sir Edmund Hillary, the man credited with the first successful climb of Mount Everest, said “You don’t climb a mountain for science. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.” British mountaineer George Leigh Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, and replied, 'Because it's there'. The answer became famous, partly because Mallory and his climbing companion would become lost on Everest the next year, and their bodies would rest in Everest’s arms for 75 years. The poet Robert W. Service wrote:

Why seek to scale Mount Everest, Queen of the Air, Why strive to crown that cruel crest And deathward dare? Said Mallory of dauntless quest `Because it's there.'

Man has always fought to conquer his surroundings. Whether it’s climbing a mountain just to prove you can, or to build commercial links of highways and railroads through the rock, man has always strived to get the better of physical barricades. For that reason, we often attach two images to mountains: One, they are obstacles meant to be climbed. Our victory over them is a victory over self. And two, they represent the top, the peak, the apex of accomplishment. If you have been to the top of the mountain, then you have reached the highest level possible.

Let’s look at that from a corporate viewpoint. There are many who want to reach the top of their corporation or their industry. Some complain of a “glass ceiling”, an unseen barricade to breaking through to the top because of gender, race or some other distinguishing feature. And in any industry, there are those who don’t want to reach the top, but are content to get to a certain level and say “That’s enough”. Unfortunately, there are also those that want to join the team but don’t want to make much or any effort to climb any higher than they started. The climb to the corporate mountaintop can be fraught with perils, slips and falls, and even corporate death. Just ask Carly Fiorina.

At 29,028 feet above sea level, Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. That makes it the greatest challenge for mountain climbers. I’m told it isn’t the most difficult climb, technically. But Everest is guarded by a fortress of nature’s defenses. Temperatures that reach between -40 and -90 degrees F. with winds reaching 140 MPH. Base Camp at 18,000 feet is higher than any civilized settlement in the world. Above 20,000 feet, the body begins to deteriorate and feed upon itself, making it a challenge just to support life.

And if that isn’t enough, the entrance to the mountain is guarded by a sea of seracs and crevasses known as the Khumbu Icefall, 1800 vertical feet of constantly shifting ice blocks the size of houses – or as Canadian Dave Read said, as he saw one of those blocks crashing toward him, “…the size of rail cars.”

I have a fascination with mountains. I’m certainly not a mountain climber. I am fascinated with their beauty, their majesty, and their power. It’s the one thing I miss in Florida. The highest point in Florida is a mere 345 feet above sea level. There are building higher than that. Once I was specing new trucks for an employer in Ohio, and one of the drivers told me he felt we should have more power so he could handle the “mountains” of Ohio. I laughed. “Mountains? You don’t have mountains in Ohio” I said. He was a bit offended. Ohio born and raised, he felt the hills of Holmes County were mountains to him. His viewpoint was the 1,549 foot Campbell Hill (see, it’s called a hill). My viewpoint was the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, where Mount Columbia rises 12,293 feet. That’s a mountain.

Let me summarize my ramblings on this first mountain post. First, we have different perceptions of what our mountains are, or what is challenging to us. What is a mountain to me might only be a hill to you. We also have differing goals – some want to climb every mountain, while some want to sit and watch the world go by. Some want to climb themselves, and some are willing to help other make the climb.

I don’t think there’s any venture that is more descriptive of leadership than that of putting together a successful assault on a major mountain. Next week, I’m going to take a look at the 1982 Canadian Everest Team and the leadership issues they faced in their successful Everest climb. The guy that started the team didn’t make the trip. But different leaders were needed for different times.