As a leader, you have to be willing to make decisions faster and make bigger bets than ever.
That means that the lessons Stephen Koch learned in the mountains are needed more than ever before.
A sampling of insights gleaned from the mountains that have powerful implications for the business world:
Conditions on a mountain can change so fast. That’s why I prefer a style of climbing called single push. Move fast, travel light, and don’t let anything slow you down.
When you’re the leader of a team that’s attempting something really challenging, you have a special responsibility. But that doesn’t mean you have to do all the work and hold all the ropes yourself. A leader has to lead. The opposite is called micromanaging and it’s death to teamwork.
You do, of course, have to have the passion. Everyone knows that, right? That’s what gets you there, to the mountain, in the first place. But two very destructive forces can come with passion – ego, and fear – from pushing too hard to win at any cost. So you have to learn to let go of the ego and the fear and learn to see the mountain for what it is. You learn just to take the next step, the one in front of you, without all your personal baggage.
In his keynotes, Stephen focuses on decision-making and creative problem solving in the midst of extreme uncertainty — pretty much what executives are facing everyday. He offers the audience some compelling takeaways in how to think effectively about their options when the pace is fast, the dangers extreme, and need to decide imminent. He weaves in his own personal story of leading teams into danger in the mountains — and bringing them back safely — over twenty years of adventure and exploration.