In
this question and answer session mountain climber JOHN AMATT shows how the 'spirit of adventure' can motivate anyone to reach for
heights unimagined and achieve goals unattained
Q. - Who or
what inspired your spirit of adventure?
J.A.
- My parents had visited Grindlewald in Switzerland on their
honeymoon and climbed with local mountain guides. They were also
holidaying in Grindlewald in 1938 when the North Face of the Eiger
was climbed for the first time. As a result, my father collected
the newspaper clippings of this climb and bought Heinrich
Harrer’s book, The White
Spider (the history of climbing the Eiger North Face). I read
these as a young boy and was inspired. I also joined a very active
scout troop and went to a school in England with a very active
outdoor program.
Q. - As an
inspirational speaker for big business, what analogies do you draw
between leadership/management/business issues and the life of an
adventurer?
J.A.
- To succeed in life, whether personally and professionally, we
have to take risks. We cannot live in the comfortable world of the
status quo of the past.
The world is changing so fast that yesterday’s way is not suited
to the future. We must always be questioning – asking the
question why! If we fail
to adapt to changing circumstances, we fall into the trap
of complacency, which I believe is the biggest danger in life.
When we are complacent, we fail to pay attention to the world
around us and that’s when mistakes can occur.
Q. - What
qualities or characteristics have helped you succeed in life?
J.A.
- As a child, I was very
insecure and shy. I wanted to be successful but lacked the
confidence to do so. When I discovered climbing, I found something
I was good at. I began to be recognized by my peers and this gave
me the ambition to climb harder and higher routes. I discovered
that nothing is impossible if I could find the courage to try, to
begin the effort. This led to more success and more recognition.
In short, I began to pursue a life of positive
dissatisfaction, being dissatisfied with my achievements but
in a positive way, always looking for improvement.
Q. - Have
you ever found yourself in a dangerous or life-threatening
situation – how did you cope under pressure and what skills
helped you to survive?
J.A.
- In extreme mountaineering,
you are always in a dangerous situation, as there are plenty of
objective dangers (rockfall, avalanches, crevasses) over which you
have no direct control. It is important to be constantly aware of
these dangers and not to become emotional or to panic. In
climbing, mental control is just as important as physical prowess.
I have found that staying calm and evaluating the situation leads
to better decision-making.
Q. - What is
more important during a climb – teamwork or individual
determination?
J.A.
- Both are critical to
success! You need to rely on the support of your team and share
together in the achievement. But at the same time, personal focus
and determination to keep going despite any adversity is an
important contribution to team success.
Q. - What
has been your greatest achievement?
J.A.
- In climbing, it would be
the first ever climb of the 5,000 foot Troll Wall in Norway. This
rock face is the highest and most vertical face in Europe – in
effect a “Vertical Mile”. A stone dropped from the summit will
touch nothing until it lands in the valley floor one mile below!
At the time, I was 20 years old and still learning about what I
was capable of achieving. Prior to our climb, the expert climbers
in Europe had said it was impossible to climb the Troll Wall –
had turned their backs and walked away. But with 3 companions, I
decided to try. The night before we were to begin, I was
terrified, my mind a turmoil of fear and anxiety, worrying about
everything that could go wrong up on that desolate rock face. But
at the same time, I knew that if I didn’t try, didn’t begin
the climb the next day, I would never know if I was up to the
challenge. It took 10 days to make the climb and we slept on
ledges no more than a foot wide. Afterwards, I said to myself … If
I can do that, there is nothing in the world that I cannot do.
Q. - What
has been your greatest test of your endurance?
J.A.
- Everest! It took 5 years to
organize, 3 weeks to walk the 150 miles from Kathmandu to Base
Camp at 18,000 feet, and 6 weeks to climb the final 11,000 feet to
the top of the world – the highest point on earth at 29,035
feet. Then you have to spend 2 weeks removing all the equipment
from the mountain and walk back.
Q. - What
will be your next adventure?
J.A.
- Adventure to me is not
hanging on a rope of the side of a mountain. That is just one
arena where adventurous people can challenge themselves. If we
look at every day as an adventure, if we shake off the complacency
of the comfortable world of our previous existence, we can
challenge ourselves against new possibilities and continue to grow
throughout our lives. That is the adventure that we should always
be seeking.
Q. - Why did
you decide to share your experiences with the corporate world?
J.A.
- I am the person I am today
because of the learning that took place in the mountains, so I
wanted to motivate others to climb the mountains of their own
lives. Before I left England to immigrate to Canada, I trained as
a teacher, but I only taught kids for 6 years before being
recruited to head up a management-training program in Banff in the
Canadian Rockies. From there, it was a natural evolution into
motivational speaking to corporate groups around the world. In a
23-year career as a professional speaker, I have now addressed
more than 1,800 audiences in 44 countries on every continent
except Antarctica.
Q. - What is
the greatest lesson that businesses can learn from your
experiences?
J.A.
- Stay focused! Never give
up! Always question the status quo! Nothing is impossible
if you can assemble the team and the resources needed to make the
climb!
Q. - Do you
think people these days are too scared of taking risks?
J.A.
- Many people today are
unwilling to take personal responsibility for the results of their
own actions. Our society breeds a culture where we always look for
blame in adverse situations. Our governments surround is with
safety nets, we have insurance policies for every eventuality, and
the legal profession encourages us to sue for compensation when
something goes wrong. This is not the way that society evolved in
the past! Our civilization was built by adventurous people who had
the courage to try new things, who endured through adversity and
learned the lessons, who worked together as teams to achieve
difficult goals, and who adapted to the new world of opportunity
everyday. We must learn the lessons from the past and apply them
to the present if we are to succeed in this millennium.
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