Unveiling the 3 Key Traits of Highly Successful Leaders. Part 2 of 3.
In the second part of the three-part article on Inspired Leadership, we will build on the understanding presented in the previous section, which told us that outstanding leadership requires clarity of vision. In addition, defining and clarifying our vision comes from our insight or inner sight. Readers were encouraged to seek insight and develop their compelling vision.
The next step for a leader with a clear vision is to begin making the vision real. That is a journey of implementation needs to occur.
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”
- Warren Bennis
An overused but nonetheless apt metaphor for leadership comes from the world of mountaineering. Imagine a team climbing a mountain, each reliant and dependent on the other, each entrusting their literal lives with the other, knowing that the failure of one could lead to the death of all. Then, there is dissent within the team; disagreements form, and the team is divided and cannot agree on the best way to proceed. They begin pulling in different directions. The entire climb is now in jeopardy, the stakes have risen, and every life is more exposed to risk.
“Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain.”
- Edmund Hillary
When a leader forms a vision and builds a team to actualize that vision, another capability decides whether the team is successful or not. This indispensable leadership capability is the ability to inspire and influence a team. Without this ability, the vision remains a dream, not a realizable and achievable objective.
In 1953, British Colonel John Hunt led an expedition to climb and summit Mount Everest. The majestic mountain peak was a long-coveted prize that the British wanted to conquer and display as one of their prestigious national treasures during the colonial era. The empire was in decline, and an urgency to achieve the vision accelerated through news of attempts being planned by French and Swiss climbers.
An experienced man of the mountains, the colonel knew that he needed an elite team of climbers for any chance of success in this hazardous mission. He selected the very best climbers from the colonies, and the team consisted of approximately 400 individuals. Needless to say, the expedition required extensive planning and funding and a final team of multidisciplinary experts, including climbers, support and logistical staff, indispensable sherpa guides, and high-altitude scientific researchers.
This was a complex and mammoth effort.
Interestingly, the Colonel was not the first choice to lead this remarkable adventure. He replaced the much-loved leader of previous expeditions to Everest, Eric Shipton. Shipton had the respect and backing of much of the team, but he was against the philosophy of this particular expedition due to its enormity and complexity, as well as the competitive edge that it brought to the purism of climbing mountains.
Knowing he would not be popular, John Hunt traveled extensively leading up to the expedition and met as many team members as possible. He personally connected with each of them and spoke to them about the importance of their mission and that he required and valued their position on the team. One by one, Hunt won them over with his charm and sensibility, ensuring their commitment and dedication to the challenge and, more importantly, his leadership. He aligned them with the vision and outcome and built connection and loyalty.
“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
- the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Among his recruits were Edmund Hillary, a beekeeping New Zealander and avid mountaineer, and Tenzin Norgay, a highly respected sherpa. Both men had been part of failed attempts to summit Everest, the sherpa most recently with the Swiss effort less than a year earlier.
Tenzin, a venerated “sirdar” amongst sherpas, often found himself in the unenviable position between Western employers and the hired laborer sherpas who did much of the heavy lifting to support any climb. Recovering from the previous attempt at his home in Darjeeling, Norgay received word that the British were preparing to climb Everest. It is said that his dismayed wife tried to dissuade him, and he hesitantly joined the team even though this would mean another grueling and possibly life-threatening climb.
In the colonial era, natives of their lands were treated as second-rate, not equals. The colonists ill-treated them, and the British expedition was no exception. At one point, at the British embassy in Kathmandu, the sherpas were made to sleep in a shed without a toilet and then severely admonished when they urinated on the embassy walls.
The British treated the sherpas like porters and did not respect their unique climbing abilities. When Hillary and Norgay successfully summited Everest on 29 May 1953, the New Zealander received the title of being the first to conquer the mountain and plant the British flag on the summit.
The history books hailed him as a hero, and the Queen bestowed a knighthood upon him shortly afterwards. Hillary’s historical achievement needs to be celebrated and respected, yet there is a little-known story about how this man reached the top of the mountain.
As the climbing procession proceeded towards the summit in late May 1953, dissent rose within the sherpas. Dissatisfied with the conditions and their treatment by the British, they became reluctant to continue upwards. The threat of mutiny was in the air.
Recognizing the potential risk to the expedition, Norgay used his unique position and intervened. He reassured and convinced the sherpas to continue, rallied them for the expedition’s significance, and reminded each of them of their indispensable roles.
With his guidance and encouragement, the team of sherpas continued once more up the mountain, doing all the hard work required to ensure the climbers could journey onward. They once again carried the heavy loads, set up equipment for crossing dangerous chasms, and supplied the oxygen tanks needed for the higher altitude climb.
Norgay united the sherpas, and the sherpas carried the team to the summit. His leadership and influence played a crucial role in the British conquest of Everest ahead of the others with the same ambition.
“Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”
- John C. Maxwell
When we take a look at how this story unfolded, with the selection of John Hunt, who strategically built loyalty with his team and then the inclusion of Tenzin Norgay as sirdar, who played a crucial role in keeping the indispensable sherpas aligned with the mission, we can view history in a new light. Hillary, often hailed as the ultimate hero, is much like the team member who got to score the goal in a World Cup final. It was only possible for him to be in that fortunate position, placed at the goal mouth and given the ball at his feet, due to the immense and invisible leadership abilities of his two supporting teammates — Hunt and Norgay.
Without the contribution of these two great leaders, it is doubtful that Hillary would have won the accolades. Hillary may have deserved the knighthood, but much of the honor belongs to these unsung leaders.
As is often the case in the world, the glory goes one way, but the onus of the hard work has fallen on others who are not visible to the naked eye. One must wear the lens of discernment and look between the lines. And always, it is leadership that shines.
“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.”
- Andrew Carnegie
In this and the previous article, we looked at the role of insight and influence in leadership. In the third and final part of this series of articles, we will examine how leaders create the change they wish to see in the world.
