My last blog focused on the destructive effects that poor leadership can have on a team. This blog will look at how to achieve success through good leadership.

There is more to team success than leadership ... team members do play a critical role ... however, great leadership can make even a dysfunctional team great. How? Great leaders are very conscious in their approach and use what we at Summit Training call the “Deliberate Success” approach“.

Deliberate Success involves developing yourself into the great leader you want to become, while simultaneously helping those you lead develop into the great team you want them to become. In both cases it consists of three simple (and deliberate) steps: Vision, Action and Reflection.

1. Create your VISION of success. This includes both the results you intend to get, and the values you intend to follow. Create a clear definition of success for your team and for yourself as a leader. It is not good enough to say you will be ‘high performing’ because that really has no meaning … or, rather, it can have any number of meanings. You need to be very specific as to the results and the culture that you want to have. After all, if you cannot define it, you cannot measure it. And, if you cannot measure it, you have no idea whether or not you are doing it. As Stephen Covey writes in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind”.
2. Take ACTION. Make a deliberate, focused plan and implement it. These actions must be directly connected to your vision. Deliberate and specific actions are essential to success. You can just do what you do and hope for the best, or you can do the right thing and get your desired result. Make sure you schedule your actions. State what you will do, when you will do it, who you will do it with, why you are doing it and what you expect as results. Without this level of detail, there is a very high chance you will not follow through.
3. Reflect. Without reflection, it is easy to lose your way, to stray off course toward some “shiny object” that catches your attention. Periodically ask yourself if you are achieving what you set out to do. Is your vision still the right one for you? Are you being who you said you would be? Are your actions getting you the results you had hoped for? If not, why not, and what do you need to change?

Great leaders will take this very deliberate approach to build a high performance team. While there is a great deal more to leadership than this, you can consider this the foundation.

True Patriot Live expedition update: I have so far raised $2000 for True Patriot Love towards my $10,000 goal. Please go to www.expeditionhimalayas.ca to learn more and go to http://www.canadahelps.org/GivingPages/GivingPage.aspx?gpID=19224 to donate to this worthy and patriotic cause.

As a climber and a team and leadership specialist I want to take some time to discuss the recent tragic events on Mount Everest. You may have heard in the news about the deaths on Everest over the last few days. Everest is a dangerous place and deaths are part of every climbing season. However, this year there have been 11 deaths and the season is not even over. This is considerably higher than most years. When I summitted in 2008 there was only one death. So what makes this year different than other years? What is it that causes climbers to die on Everest? There are no simple or complete answers to these questions, but there are several factors that play into them. Over the next few blog postings I will reflect on and explore this tragedy based on my 25 years of climbing experience and, particularly, on my personal experience on Mount Everest.

As with everything in life some of the factors that are leading to climbers' deaths on Everest are outside their circles of influence. But many are not. I will touch on both in my blog.

I see three main factors that lie within our circle of influence that are causing issues on Everest: 

1. overcrowding,
2. inexperienced climbers, and
3. lack of team work.

Outside of our circle of influence is a big one: climate change.

Some of the topics I will discuss include:

• Why is Mount Everest so dangerous?
• Why are so many people going to Everest in spite of this danger?
• Is there an overcrowding issue on Everest?
• How is climate change impacting safety on Everest?
• Is inexperience playing a role in the deaths on the mountain?
• What role does leadership play in success, failure and death on Everest?
• How to be a great leader.
• What role does team work play in success, failure and death on Everest?
• How to build a high performance team.
• How can one prepare for a climb of Everest?
• What is a smart risk?

Back Home
I am back home now after a long series of flights. I want to thank my friend Jim Carroll who upgraded me to business class for my flight from Santiago to Toronto. It was oh so nice and a great restful way to return home. Jim is a great keynote speaker and you can check him out at www.jimcarroll.com.

After returning to Union Glacier base camp we waited for a day for our flight back to Punta Arenas on December 3. Union Glacier base camp is a pretty interesting place to spend some time. Both the staff and the visiting explorers offer a very interesting collection of individuals. This is a place where drive, over achieving, motivation, team work and leadership are the norm. The stories and experiences are fantastic and humbling. There are so many adventurous people out there. 

Once back in Punta Arenas I set about the daunting task of changing my scheduled flight so that I could get home early. Unfortunately most air carriers do not make this an easy task. After many phone calls and hours spent on the web it was determined that the easiest and cheapest thing for me to do was just to abandon my already paid for flights and book new tickets. The change fees and price adjustment made it impossible to use my originally booked ticked. However, this is a pretty normal part of these expeditions and one must accept the fact that additional money must often be spent to get back home. Maybe I should learn and just book a one-way ticket next time. 

The flights home went smoothly and I arrived at the Toronto airport at 6:10am to be greeted by my family. It is always great to be back in Canada and traveling around the world has taught me how fortunate we are to be Canadian. It is also always amazing to see my family again. Even thought this was not one of my longer trips, I always miss them. 

Integrating back into “normal” life is usually pretty easy; mostly because there is no real transition period at all. Life picks up right where it left off, but with a big pile of “to do’s” that have accumulated over the last month. As the saying goes “out of the frying pan and into the fire”. 

I will, over the next week or so, fill in the gaps of my blog. I was not able to blog every day as you know and some crucial times, such as the summit of Vinson, were missed. 

I am now the 15^th Canadian to have climbed the 7 summits; the highest peak on each of the seven continents. This all started in 1999 with my ascent of Aconcagua in Argentina. At this point I did not really have a plan to climb the seven summits, but was more focused on Everest. As I continued to climb to get experience for Everest I climbed several more of the seven summits and once I made it to the top of Everest it seemed kind of silly not to keep going and finish them off. 

While I would not put myself in the Olympic athlete category, climbing the seven summits is, if I may say so, a pretty fantastic achievement. Less than 300 people worldwide have stood on the top of these same mountains. Obviously fitness is a huge part of success in this endeavour, but once this “entry ticked” has been paid there are other factors that will ultimately determine one's success. 

Without goal setting, personal drive, sacrifice, emotional intelligence, teamwork and leadership none of this would be possible. I was speaking with one of the owners of ALE (the company that provides the logistics for Vinson climbs and South Pole expeditions) and he was talking about the countless people who have failed to achieve their Antarctic goals. Sometimes it is lack of fitness or injury that stops an individual, but more often than not it is a breakdown of leadership, teamwork or personal drive. 

The hardships endured on these extended expeditions are tremendous and it is difficult for most people to handle the pressure. This is where teamwork, leadership and personal strength come into play. Without these factors, success will not be possible.

I will need to think about what climbing the seven summits has meant to me and what I have taken from this experience, but my initial thoughts fall to how rich this experience has been for me in so many ways. I have traveled to far-flung and amazing places; parts of the planet that most people will never see. I have met great friends and untold numbers of extremely interesting people. I have pushed myself, mentally and physically, to the breaking point and returned unscathed. I have learned so much about myself and human dynamics that I could write a book (I am actually writing a book that is 80% complete and should be out soon I hope). The expedition world is such a rich environment to learn about group dynamics, team development, team work, change management, conflict management, goal setting, leadership, motivation and so many other things that play an immensely important part in our personal and professional lives. 

As most of you know I am a corporate leadership and team trainer by profession and these experiences have allowed me and my team to create very successful training programs for large and small, public and private corporations. I believe our programs are much richer from my experiences. My EMBA students have told me how much this approach to training has helped them to become better leaders and team members. 

As a keynote speaker I am blessed to be able to tell my stories to others and to share my learnings and insights with them. I was in Vancouver just before I departed to for Antarctica giving a keynote and leading a workshop to a financial organization and received a great compliment from the President. She told me that my combination of storytelling (making it interesting) and workshop application (making it real) was by far the best that they had ever experienced. They had recently brought in an Olympic athlete as a motivational speaker and I was told that while this person was extremely nice and had an interesting story, it did not have the real world application and depth that I was able to provide. 

Now I am not usually much of a self-promoter as that is not really my style, I do truly believe that what we have to offer as a company and what I offer as a speaker can provide great value to individuals and organizations alike. I feel blessed to have found this niche within which to live and I look forward to working with and helping others for a long time to come. 

Adult Gummie Vitamins, Sherpa Adventure Gear and Ostrom Outdoors, I have mentioned them before, but will do so once again because these are companies and products that I truly believe in and people who have always been there for me. 

Fitness and nutrition are a big part of my life and I know I am not always the best eater. Adult Essentials Gummy Vitamins www.adultgummies.com help me to stay healthy and to get the vitamins my body requires to perform at my best. Beyond their nutritional value, they provide a valuable mental boost every morning on an expedition with their burst of yummy flavour and they do not freeze solid like so much of our food at 30 below. Give them a try if you have not already. 

Sherpa Adventure Gear www.sherpaadventuregear.com is a great outdoor and lifestyle clothing company. Not only do they have great products, but they come from real Sherpa roots and support the Sherpa people of Nepal. I have worn Sherpa clothing for the last few years on all my expeditions and I have always been warm and dry. I have never suffered a clothing failure and would recommend Sherpa Adventure Gear for wearing around town and outdoor adventure alike. 

Bill Ostrom from Ostrom Outdoors has designed and built me fantastic backpacks over the years. An Ostrom pack has been with me on every one of my seven summits and countless other climbs and adventures as well. Check out www.ostromoutdoors.com if you are looking for a reliable pack for your next adventure. 

So what is my next challenge you may ask? I am not totally sure at this point. The North and South Poles have always been of interest to me and to complete the Adventure Grand Slam (the seven summits plus the North and South Pole) would be an amazing feat. I have also recently had a calling to kite ski across Greenland, so maybe I will learn to kite this winter. There are countless Himalayan peaks I would love to climb and other mountains and adventures all around the world. Sailing around the world has always excited me and terrified me at the same time and good friend, who is a sailor, has often suggested we give that a try. For the next few months however, I think I will just enjoy being home with my family and soaking up the Ontario alpine ski season.

I am truly thankful for all that I have.

Summit Life! Scott.

Puntas Arenas -November 14
At 6am I was just starting to stir from a pretty good night’s sleep when I heard the jiggling of a key in a door. At first I thought it was in a dream, then I realized it was not a dream. I thought it must be coming from one of the other rooms, but then realized it was too loud and it must be my room. I was about to get an unexpected visitor. Suddenly the door swung open and in walked Ron. I was not expecting him until 8:30 or later, but I guess his flights had gone smoothly and he got into Punta Arenas earlier than expected.

I have not seen Ron since Everest in 2008 and it was good to see him. We chatted for about an hour catching up until the people in the next room started to pound on the wall. Apparently the walls are paper thin and they were not real excited to listen to us chat at 6am. I suggested to Ron that perhaps he should lie down and get some rest and he responded that he was too wound up to sleep. Five minutes later he was out like a light.

I however, could not fall back asleep and read for a while and wrote my blog. I then made my way downstairs for breakfast. Our hotel is $87 a night and includes breakfast. It is not the fanciest or cleanest of places, but it does the job.

Breakfast was a selection of eggs, toast, cereal, yogurt, fruit, and crepes. Just as I sat down Ryan walked in and joined me. We ate and chatted for a while and then Ron came down to join us after a 2 hour nap.

We walked over to Ryan’s hotel to look at the maps and to discuss packing logistics and safety protocol on the mountain. At 11:00 Ryan went to a meeting at ALE (Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions). They will provide out flight and all the logistics for our trip.

We met Ryan for lunch at Lomito’s and reviewed the locations of the safety stashes of equipment at the various camps. We also went through the Antarctica environmental police.

Antarctica is a very clean place and the managing countries have imposed strict policies to keep it that way. Everything that goes in also comes out. All trash must be removed and severe fines are handed out if anyone is caught ditching garbage. Each person is supplied with three waste bags for solid human waste. All urine and grey water is contained to specific deposit locations at the various camps. This is the only place it is allowed. If you have to go pee as you are climbing the route you are required to use your pee bottle and dump it at the specified location at the camp. Ryan said that at the South Pole even urine is removed once it is frozen.

After lunch, Ron and I spent some time packing and then Ryan came over with the ski skins which we fitted to our skis. These will be used to give us traction as we pull our sleds and for skiing up hill. As I was putting the skins on my skis I realized that I had not removed the coating of wax I had put on before I left home. I tuned and waxed 10 pair of skis before I left and in all the business I obviously missed this final important stage with my expedition skis. So I took out my Air Canada member card and proceeded to scrape all the wax off. Although this was not the perfect tool for the job it worked just fine.

After some packing time Ron and I wandered around town for a while checking out the tourist shops and looking for post cards. Punta Arenas has many of the old world Spanish features like the ornate Spanish colonial buildings and the large park areas and the main square in the middle of town. The town seems to be fairly prosperous, but there is a big gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. There are a few obviously poor street people, but most seem to be doing ok. There are, however, quite a few very large homes and many BMW’s and Mercedes Benz’s driving the streets.

Stray, but friendly, dogs roam the streets in small packs and play in the parks. The temperature was 11c most of the day and we had off and on rain. The wind seems to be pretty constant with the only real change being how strong it is blowing.

Dinner at 7:30 was at La Luna and it was quite good. La Luna is a step up from Lomito’s in quality and price. Every patron was a tourist and most seemed to be of the wealthier kind. There is quite a mix of people in town from climbers, and skiers, and hikers, and bird watchers and cruise liners. Ryan and I had steak and fries and Ron had seafood pasta. It was all quite good, but not in our price bracket for every meal. We will hunt for a pizza joint for tomorrow’s dinner I think.

I am back in the hotel now and about to go off to bed. Tomorrow morning we go to a meeting at ALE. Everyone who is waiting to fly out is required to go to this meeting to review baggage logistics, flight logistics, safety regulations, and environmental regulations.

Several groups have been waiting for 10-14 days to fly out as all flights have been cancelled due to bad weather in Antarctica. There appears to be a clear spell moving in and we hope to fly out Thursday or Friday of this week. That will put us 1-2 days behind, but at least we are not 2 weeks behind like some of the south pole people currently are.

Summit Life! Scott out.

Expedition members Ryan Waters, Ron Senga, Scott Kress

Punta Arenas
I am now in Punta Arenas; the bottom of South America and the jumping off point for Antarctica. I am tired and somewhat dazed after a long journey here.

Leaving home was emotional as always. Going away for a month is hard on everyone. Amy and Colin were sad at the airport, but were strong. Saying good bye to Amy, Colin and Susan is always difficult, but as a family this is not the first time so that makes it a little easier I guess. Knowing that this is a significant trip, the last of my 7 summits, also makes it exciting and perhaps a little easier on the kids. For Susan my trips always add much to her plate, but she is very supportive and encouraging.

My flight from Toronto to Santiago left one hour late. I have no idea why, and no one seemed too concerned about it. The flight was uneventful and the movie/tv selections were exactly the same as what I had the previous week on my flight to and from Vancouver. The selection was poor then and did not seem any better now. As I rarely see movies I tend not to sleep on planes as this is my opportunity to catch up on pop culture. However, on this flight, thanks to the poor selection, I actually slept quite a bit.

I arrived in Santiago and the chaos began. Finding my way through the airport was not too bad but I got into a huge line at immigration and everything was moving slowly. There were only two agents on duty and hundreds of passengers. As I was nearing the front of the line I heard some people talking about an entry fee and asked what this was about. So, I got into a different huge line to pay $132 before I could get back into the first line. I was not the only person to make this error as it was not very clear. It appeared that I had 50 minutes until my flight to Punta Arenas and at least three hours of lines. My stress level went up a notch. I am not usually one to cut lines, but this day would be different. I begged my way to the front of the entry fee line and most people were accommodating. I got a few dirty looks, but nothing too serious. Then I had to do the same in the immigration line.

Watching the immigration agent check his email on his iPhone between every person was stressful and a little infuriating, but I learned a long time ago not to pressure immigration. They can, and have, made my life miserable in the past and I had no time for an extended conversation with the authorities at this point.

Getting into the country had been stressful, but not difficult. Now I raced to retrieve my bags. Even though the Air Canada agent in Toronto had assured me my bags would go direct to Punta Arenas I had been told by others that this never happens. Sure enough, my bags were waiting for me on the carousel (having rotate several hundred times, I’m sure).

Throwing my bags onto a luggage cart I rushed to the elevator to get to the third floor departure level. After finding my way to the right line, I had to once again get out of the line and go to the self-serve ticket machine to get my boarding pass.

Back in line now with my boarding pass I had 20 minutes until take-off. I thought I was in the clear and then I was informed that because my bag was 5kg overweight I had to go and get in a different line to pay 18,0000 pesos for the extra weight. I argued that I was going to miss my flight, but they were unconcerned.

Sprinting across the terminal I ground to a halt in the next line. Nobody here seems to have any sense of urgency and the process of paying for my extra weight was deadly slow and extremely stressful. I had no idea how much 18,000 pesos was, but thrust my Visa at the woman behind the counter. She spoke no English and I speak virtually no Spanish so there was little talking. Apparently I showed no stress on my face, or perhaps she just did not care to notice, as she went tediously about her job.

Fees paid, I began to run for gate 32. At least it was not too far. Out of breath and with sweat on my forehead, I was the last person to board the bus that would take us to the plane.

I was not even 100% sure I was on the right plane as no one checked my ticket upon boarding, but when I saw Ryan seated a few rows back I was greatly relieved. I sank down into my seat and took in a deep breath. I had made it through Santiago.

Seeing Santiago from the air as we departed presents an interesting mix of farms, industrial buildings, and residential neighbourhoods all clustered together. There seemed to be no real pattern to it and no separation in land use. Splintering all of this up were dozens of long fingers of mountain that jutted into the land and broke up the settlement patterns.

The in-flight movie on the 2:50 minute flight to Punta Arenas was Captain America. Not really my cup of tea, but I watched it anyway. Looking out the window as we flew over the mountains was a beautiful site. I began to relax and enjoy the experience.

As we began our descent into Punta Arenas the landscape became lunar in appearance. The ground is windswept and barren with very little evidence of human habitation except for the cluster of development around the water’s edge that is Punta Arenas.

Navigating the Punta Arenas airport was relatively easy as it is quite small. Ryan and I found a small taxi van and tossed in all our bags. The ride to town was about 25 minutes and Ryan and I spent some time catching up as we had not seen one another since our climb in Russia in the summer of 2010.

Ron was not yet with us as his flight out of Dallas had been cancelled when a bird went through the engine of the plane.

We arrived at our hotel, the Condor de Plata, and unloaded our bags from the taxi. Ryan speaks Spanish and began the check in process. As we were being escorted up the stair to our rooms, I had the feeling that we were one room short and mentioned this to Ryan. When he asked for clarification this was confirmed. Apparently the reservations had been messed up and there was only one room for the three of us (Ron and I were going to share one room and Ryan would be in the other).

This reminded me of an old Seinfeld episode when Jerry and Elaine arrive at the car rental desk to learn that that there were no cars. Yes, he had a reservation, but that did not mean that there would necessarily be a car.

We too had reservations and the emails to prove it, but that did not mean there was a room. As the Spanish became more heated it was clear the hotel was taking no responsibility and there were no rooms.

Ryan and I headed out to book him into another hotel. Ron (when he arrived) and I would stay in the Condor and Ryan would stay in a different hotel about a five minute walk down the street. Not ideal, but it is rare on these trips that everything goes as planned and you must learn to roll with it.

Once settled into our separate hotels we went out for dinner at Lomitos which is a very popular hamburger restaurant. The cheese burgers were excellent and the beer was cold and thus ended a long day-and-a-half of travel.

At 10:00 I made my way to my room and quickly fell asleep to the sound of dogs barking and road traffic.

It is good to be on expedition once again.

Scott.

Journey of a Lifetime!

"Men Wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success”

As the story is told, this was a employment advertisement put into the London newspaper looking for members for Ernest Shackelton’s Nimrod expedition to Antarctica. Apparently thousands of applications were received for what in print seems to be a rather bleak job. However, the enormous enthusiasm surrounding this ad reflected the human desire to explore, to adventure, and to push personal boundaries.

People often ask me why I climb. Why I spend my free time in cold and inhospitable locations. Why I put my life at risk. This is a difficult question to answer, but the basic response is because I love it. It makes me feel alive.

In mid November of this year I will join two friends in an attempt to climb Mt. Vinson, the tallest mountain in Antarctica. To date I have successfully summited the tallest mountain in 6 of our 7 continents. Climbing Mt. Vinson, providing that I make it to the top, will be my final summit of the “7 Summits.”

Before my departure, my blog’s will focus on my daily preparations, my gear, my thoughts, my family’s thoughts, my drivers, and much more. Once on the expedition I will do my best to send back daily blogs reporting on our progress and my personal thoughts and insights.

As a leadership and high performance team specialist I will also share my insights into this world and how some of my personal experiences can be used to better understand how to lead and build high performance teams.

My good friends at Adult Essentials (www.adultgummies.com) will be supporting me on this journey. Daily exercise and nutrition are a critical factor in success. The stronger I am, the greater my chance of success and the more I will enjoy the experience. My challenge however, is that like many of you, I Iead a very busy life. Between business and family commitments it is difficult to find time to train and I do not always eat as well as I should. This is where nutritional supplements come into play: to help me balance my dietary needs while finding time to train physically for this trip