A LETTER FROM CHRIS SUAREZ
THE SUMMIT IS SWEET
2023 has been the deadliest year on Everest with the mountain claiming the lives of 17 climbers or Sherpas. This year more than 1,200 people attempted to climb to the top, with about half of them being successful. The success is impossible without an accompanying Sherpa. Amidst the tragedy and success on the moutain, there was a record set in May of this year when Kami Rita Sherpa summited Everest for his 28th time.
Sherpas are a group of mostly Nepalese climbing guides and porters that navigate some of the most treacherous mountains and lead people to to achieve life-long accomplishments - most popularly summiting Everest. Sherpas are much more than guides though. They are relied on to carry packs and equipment. They set up camp. They map out climbing routes. They coordinate supplies. They make life and death decisions almost daily while leading an individual climber or groups of climbers up the mountain.
Since 1922, over 125 Sherpas have died on both sides of Everest. A third of all deaths on the mountain have been Sherpas. Leading others is not about self-preservation. Sherpas take their role of leadership seriously, often bearing the brunt and wrath of the mountain and weather, out ahead of those that are following in their footsteps.
Most Sherpas will earn around $5,000 during the climbing season in Nepal, roughly over two months. Although more than the average worker in the country, the reward pales in comparison to the $30-100K a person usually pays to go on the expedition - including another $25,000 for the country permit needed for a single climber.
But a leadership lesson emerges when we look at these Sherpas. They don’t just point their climbers in the right direction and warn them of the hard work ahead. They start walking, hiking, climbing, and leading in the right direction. They carry their weight, and much of the weight from their expedition or team. They climb up ahead to check on conditions, pivot and reroute the group when necessary, and make the difficult decisions for those that they lead. They risk their lives - and often give their lives - to complete the mission and bring people up the path to their preferred future of summiting Everest.
Leaders in business right now need to be willing to do the same thing. They pick up their packs, they grab some weight off the shoulders of some of their people and put it on their own back, and they start putting one foot in front of another into both the known and unknown.
Right now your people need you to be a Sherpa. Your clients need you to be a Sherpa. Your company needs you to be a Sherpa.
A lesson in humility and partnership emerges when we look at these Sherpas as well. Right behind the Sherpa are the climbers that decided they needed one, or in many cases are required to have one. Either way, if there is someone that has been there before, why not set ego aside and be wiling to follow some directions. If it increases the rate of success or survival, it couldn’t possibly be a bad idea. Once we decide who our Sherpa will be, are we ready and willing to follow directions? Are we willing to be led, even if we think we just found another path that looks wider, safer, faster, maybe easier? Following directions isn’t easy for anyone.
The climb ahead is not an easy one. If it were, most of us wouldn’t be on the mountain. We are looking for the peak, the view, the challenge. At times we need to be the Sherpa. At times we need to follow our Sherpa.
The risks are great. But the summit is sweet.
Chris Suarez