Would I climb a mountain with this person?

The Internet needs another management “think piece” like it needs another cat picture(….or maybe there is space for infinite cat pictures). I get that. That’s why I am writing this from the perspective of a person on a team, rather than a person leading one.

I was having a bit of a rough year in 2014, and a few weeks before landing my current role, I booked a trip. With a hazardously tiny amount of thought, I decided that I would climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Yes, the one with peak that is the highest point in Africa.

The Prep

I decided on the Machame Route because it wasn’t the easiest, and it was supposedly the most scenic. I had no idea who I would be climbing with, but I knew I would be sharing a rather small tent with one of them.

I heard all sorts of advice in the weeks leading up to the climb…

“It’s a lot harder than you think.”

“You should really be training for this. The climb to the peak was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I crawled to the peak and cried.”

“No, really, you should probably hit the gym for a few weeks, at least, before you go. I could barely breathe on summit day.”

Alas, it was Tuesday before the Thursday I was scheduled to leave and I left the doctor’s office with a prescription for meds to treat a sinus infection. My confidence was waning and my physical fitness was subpar generally, but my spirits still high and they remained lofty as I boarded the plane on Thursday.

The Trip

The next time I would take a shower, I was back in a hotel room in Moshi. I made it up the mountain to Uhuru Peak and back down with just a few bruises (Mainly due to my careless jumping around on the rocks at basecamp.)

After tucking in to a great dinner and some beers at the hotel bar with my trek mates, I went to bed entirely exhausted. Mentally, physically, and spiritually challenged in ways I hadn’t been before.

The next day I got a cab to Kilimanjaro International Airport (much less glamorous than it sounds, trust me). On the dusty roads, clearly speeding, moving past the tiny shack-like storefronts in a vintage mini-van, I looked at the mountain and thought to myself…

Having a beer with someone is easy, the real question people should ask themselves is would I climb a mountain with this person? All of the shit we went through this past week — Scaling a rocky mountainside in a torrential downpour; waking at 2am, 4am and 6am to take a leak because of all of the water we had to drink to stay hydrated; sharing our bowel movement frequency every night with the crew. These are the kind of people I want to work with.

The Conclusion

Going into the trip, I expected to learn about myself and leadership. What sort of challenge would bring out some deep learning that I couldn’t discover in any other way? Will this trek reveal me as a leader, or just a follower? (Some scary shit for someone hoping to go far in his career.)

What I came out of the trip with was just more questions for myself. The trip challenged me think deeply about my relationships with others. Here’s where I’ve landed on some of those questions…

Leaders emerge in different ways.

In the earlier stages, some of the more physically fit among our trek team tracked behind a bit in case one of us slipped on the rocks so we didn’t tumble down the mountain like a falling boulder. In the middle stages, the funnier folks told hilarious stories as we trod across various terrain and everyone laughed. On the final summit day, those of us with higher blood oxygen content spared a few breaths to encourage the others.

The point is that everyone was counted on to lead at some point, in some way. It’s not about being a leader generally, it’s about being a leader when you see a need, even if you weren’t a leader yesterday and might not be one tomorrow.

Backgrounds go out the window very fast.

We had older and younger folks, cross-fitters and those just mildly athletic enough (myself) to think they could take on such a challenge. Some had climbed to Everest basecamp, others hadn’t climbed as much as a tall hill (also myself). It didn’t matter. By the end of the trek, we all wanted each other to make it up the mountain and we all did whatever it took to give each other the best shot at doing so. It didn’t matter where we came from, if we had prepared properly or hadn’t, we all wanted to see the peak…together.

Most of the time, you don’t know what you need until it is too late to turnaround. Be prepared to fill the void.

Of course there was always a way down the mountain if needed, but what’s the fun in that. We all started this, we all want to finish and finish successfully. No matter what you are doing in life, you rarely know what you need until you get there. Sometimes there are ways to adjust upon arrival or as you advance, but not always. In those cases, you need a diverse, passionate group of committed people to step in and fill a void. Everyone had to do things they didn’t like at some point in the trip, but we all did them to see the team succeed.

Some packed heavily and brought snacks. Others packed lightly and were at the front of the pack in the torretntial rain helping others up the rocks. When someone needed a band aid, someone else had one.

I was incredibly lucky with the trek group I had. They were awesome.

What I am asking you to consider is how you can be the person who is not just good to have a beer with, but someone who people want to climb a mountain with. Think about this when you are constructing a team, or welcoming a new teammate, or even dealing with family and friends.

Can people count on you to be there when the chips are down?

Will you stand up and fill a void?

Will you do all you can so that everyone can see the top of the mountain?

From my experience, I can tell you that being that person and being around people like that results in some of the best beers I’ve ever had.