Into the Teeth of Navarino

I recently completed an extraordinary venture with a group of Wharton MBAs and world-class guides from the Vertical guide agency (based in Santiago, Chile). The backcountry trek, designed to build real-life leadership skills, took place on Isla Navarino, a rarely visited island at the tip of South America that lies just south of Tierra del Fuego. It’s the land closest to the Antarctic continent.

Traveling through some really tough terrain that included long and difficult scree slopes, and frequently ascending and descending narrow rocky steps and cliffs (often with icy water running down them), I was amazed at the ability of the group to keep their high spirits intact despite the challenges we faced. Rain, hail, snow, sunshine, cold, and howling wind — all were mixed together at any moment. Well, as they say, it’s Patagonia.

The MBAs were responsible for route-finding for their own small teams, and, as an observer on the trip, I watched and waited as they made their measurements and planned routes through the wilderness. Learning to work together as a team in an ambiguous and uncertain environment is a hallmark of Wharton’s experiential leadership development program — and a specialty of the Vertical guides.

I think that the willingness of team members to participate in such an experience requires perseverance (the days are long and challenging), a measure of courage (the rigorous traverses across shifting rocks can test the strongest will), and faith. Faith that, as trust builds over the experience, eventually becomes confidence. Several other participants noted two other important qualities of team members in such challenging situations — humor (to dispel gloom or fear), and humility (one quickly realizes how small and insignificant one is in such a wild landscape) .

Expeditions are indeed a rare opportunity to step back from external pressures and to experience life and nature in all its majesty. In the wild there is no path other than the one you and your fellow travelers agree to take. Working together to find that path is a skill that will serve these travelers well in the years to come.

Learn more about my thoughts on guides and leadership here.

(British sociologist Anthony Giddens gets credit for the faith-trust-confidence concept.)

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