Jenark - Building Everest Cultures
Mark Jones (FAIPF) (MAITD) - "The Mentors Mentor"
Leadership and Business Strategist | Award Winning Business Coach | Mentor and Facilitator.
A Case Study ??
Understanding the work, we do at Jenark.
BEST YEAR YET ON EVEREST
In the early days of my introduction to peak performance and strategic planning consultation I was introduced in 2003 to Jinny and Tim Ditzler, the then owners of a global USA based consulting and coaching organisation known as Best Year Yet. (BYY)
In diving deeper into the learning philosophies and tools provided by Best Year Yet and given my background in Peak Performance Sports Coaching, the following case study really resonated with me. In fact it became catalytic in transforming my thinking and started my journey into executive coaching and organisational transformation that has now endured more than 20 years.
Today, many of the tools and philosophies I have embedded into my tool kit have morphed or evolved from those formative years with Best Year Yet. For Jinny and Tim’s coaching and mentoring, I am extremely grateful.
Many of the strategic frameworks I use today, and the way we integrate them within a complementary approach to Strategy Execution, is through using the intuitive Mission Met Centre online platform which has become pivotal in our own business success.
Everest Case Study Context: The Situation
In 2001, an accomplished mountain climber (Eric Weihenmayer) set out to achieve his life-long dream of conquering the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest. In addition to the treacherous terrain and unforgiving climate, this climber also faced a unique challenge: he was completely blind.
He organised a team of nineteen world-class climbers to help him achieve this unthinkable objective. Along with all of their expertise, however, each individual brought into the expedition his own strong will and "big ego". Transforming this disparate group of highly skilled individuals into a cohesive, functional team seemed nearly as challenging as reaching the 29,035 ft. summit of the mountain.
Eric chose to work with our Best Year Yet team to support his team in clarifying goals, roles, and objectives to ensure that this attempted summit was groundbreaking in terms of delivering on the projects success. Further, Eric’s band of adventurers also included the oldest person at that time 69 years of age to ever attempt to summit Everest. Indeed,?the odds were stacked against them.
Finally, after 3 plus months of planning, the climb was happening in an era in which many teams had attempted and failed to reach the summit, due to the fact that they didn't have a concrete plan and when situational circumstances forced change, many weren’t prepared, and by default went their own ways once the going got tough. Recently many climbers have died in the process of going it alone and unfortunately the challenge of Everest sees a continuing increase in fatalities.
The process and benefits of effective strategy execution!
One of the technical climbing experts in Eric's team was also a Best Year Yet Program Leader, so whilst at base-camp the group participated in an extensive project review process, and series of daily planning and execution workshop. This process provided them with a clearly defined strategy for the journey ahead and they formulated three basic guidelines which underpinned the execution of their plan, these were:
领英推荐
Furthermore, using our Mission Met jargon, they determined their major focus for this expedition would be "teammate", and they decided that their top goal in addition to reaching the top and coming back alive, would include supporting one another both physically and emotionally. Before they set out from base camp, the group had a clearly defined objective and a concise execution strategy in place to ensure they achieved these outcomes.
The Results
After three months of extreme conditions and arduous physical exertion, the group achieved the culmination of all their goals and made history in the process. This expedition not only included the first blind climber, but also a climber, who at 69 years was at that time the oldest man to ever reach the summit of Everest. Incredibly, all nineteen members of the team made it to the top and back to base camp unscathed, also making this expedition the most successful trek of Everest yet.
Perhaps the most remarkable accomplishment however, was the culture of partnership and teamwork, a powerful collaboration that was forged at base camp and carried with them throughout the mission. Members reported that they built an inspiring level of trust and confidence in one another despite not knowing each other well before they started. They also attributed the team’s success to the intensive planning work done at Base Camp and creating a strong team culture before they took one step in summiting one of nature's greatest challenges. Although they faced life-and-death situations nearly every step of the way, and were often under the most stressful conditions imaginable, they maintained a superior level of trust, cooperation and communication, without even a single argument among members of the team!
Today, when I work with clients, I often refer to the above story, these same foundational principles apply in developing a strategic and goal focused workplace culture. A culture that has alignment of vision, purpose, clear metrics, and an executable strategy that delivers results year on year. When working with clients, I always emphasise the importance of creating time to build such a culture, the creation of an invisible innate energy built upon a shared vision, great teamwork, and trust!
Often asked, what it is we do at Jenark, we have narrowed our focus to the following six distinctive consultative service offerings which are offered across the “For Purpose – NFP,” corporate, industry association, and small business sectors. Our facilitated services include;
1.??Strategy development and execution
2.??Executive coaching and mentoring to support teams and individuals.
3.??Keynote presentations and workshop facilitation
4.??Development of positive cultures and goal focused teams
5.??Building of collaborative and trust-based business ecosystems
6.??Authoring and delivery of powerful principle-based online webinars and e-books
If you would like to have a deeper dive and explore a 45-minute complimentary conversation around your organisations Strategy Development and Execution processes, email me direct @ [email protected] or tap into my Calendly diary here to lock in a time.?Mark Jones Calendar?