Always remember: nobody gets to the top of Mount Everest by themselves. Nobody.

Because climbing mountains isn’t about standing on the top of a pile of rock and ice for a few minutes—it’s about the lessons you learn along the way and how you are going to use that knowledge and experience to better yourself going forward.

We must always own our failures. Whether or not those failures were due to factors outside of our control isn’t relevant. The important thing is to learn from them. That’s what really makes us grow as leaders.

have to admit that I’m a bit disappointed that I did not reach the summit on this expedition. The takeaway point from this trip is that the only thing you can hope to control in this life is your mind. I am proud of my effort and the ability to return from this expedition healthy and happy. There will be other climbs and trips to be made because I

I reflected on the combination of problems at hand: wind, snow, traffic, and fatigue. The ascent had a combination of issues that I could only learn from for the next ascent. The focus of the climb had not just been to get to the summit. If that were the case I would have just strapped on a bottle of oxygen and gone to the top. This climb was about

We often look at things through a harsh black-and-white lens—either someone made it to the summit of a mountain or they didn’t. They hit their quarterly sales numbers or they didn’t. They launched the product on time or they didn’t. But before you define success or failure in such concrete terms, you should know that the people who reach the top

People who have never climbed a big mountain don’t realize that summits are overrated. The cliché about the journey being more important than the destination is right. It’s the climb that matters, not the summit.

There is a saying that no one conquers Everest—the mountain merely allows you to climb it. I wondered if I would be allowed to this time.

People can tell what’s important to you by your actions. Live by your mantra. Demonstrate your leadership philosophy on a daily basis. Treat every opportunity as if it is your one chance to have some impact and to leave people with an accurate impression of who you are. It may very well be the only shot you ever get. So… what’s your mantra?