a) A cohesive team can work out wonders while a group of brilliant individuals may fail- My trekking leader always used to reminisce about his vast trekking experiences. Whenever we had doubts regarding our capabilities on any particular trek, he used to say, ’Help each other out and you will succeed’. He used to cite various expeditions having seasoned mountaineers which failed due to lack of cohesion among the team members and the absence of a good leader. Similarly in life and in business, having a good team is of paramount importance for any success driven venture.
b) Success rarely comes without repeated failure-It was August of 2012 and we had to return unsuccessfully from Vasuki Tal trek due to poor visibility and incessant rains. It would obviously have been foolish and perhaps fatal to push forward in such inclement weather conditions. Back home, we tried to understand the reasons why we failed and realised we had taken a series of wrong decisions like choosing the wrong window for attempting the trek, making wrong strategic decisions about the route we took, the formation in which we progressed and the lack of acclimatization which posed serious issues . Taking cue from our mistakes, we successfully completed the trek in the very next window. Similarly, majority of successful businesses have learnt from their mistakes. It’s human to err but it’s foolish to be ignorant and repeat those mistakes again.
c) Fear is natural while complacency can cause issues- Statistics show that majority of accidents in trekking and mountaineering take place on easy trials where people become too casual and forget to observe the basic safety guidelines. While fear is natural when climbing or trekking, I feel it actually enhances our sense of taking the right path or getting the right foothold and acts as a signal to possible danger. Complacency actually makes us shut our eyes to impending danger and has serious consequences. Kodak is a live example of a business failing due to complacency.
d) Networking and Networking – It happens again and again that we fall prey to inclement weather conditions, run short of medical supplies, someone in team falls really ill, we have to spend the night in some ad-hoc Sheppard’s cave. Having interactions with the local people can really work wonders in those conditions. Similarly in business, having networks is the key to success. Knowing the right person at the right place and of course at the right time can work wonders
e) The ultimate feeling is sublime and is difficult to express unless one experiences it :) - The feeling of being at the summit or the destination is a mixture of various feelings shooting back and forth and most of them are difficult to comprehend. What I have felt is that most of the barriers in our life are self made and society stereotypes us in such a way that we are unable to take the risks which will propel us to the next rung of the ladder. All those barriers which used to scare us seem so miniscule when seen from the top. Yet it is not the feeling of arrogance but humility and acceptance which suffuses our entirety. The focused pursuit of the summit makes us realise the need for a proper direction in our life, the need to align one’s interest and passions with the efforts made. Finally the euphoria of achieving the goal with a team to revel in the same success story is something incomparable.
Saikat is a first year student at IIM TRICHY and loves to dream about mountain trials .His dream is to summit Mount Everest and to take a parachute on his way down.. :P
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