CONCLUSION
THE ULTIMATE SUMMIT: ENGAGEMENT

Being an avid mountaineer, I can’t help but to see the parallels in high-altitude mountaineering and business: success is a constant climb. If you stop trying to move forward, you will fall behind. In both mountaineering and Talent Management, training and preparation are critical to successfully reaching the summit, or peak, of Engagement. Without proper training, there are multitudinous opportunities for Disengagement, despair, and failure in achieving one’s objectives.

From the outset of the climb, or building Engagement, you need to set a clearly defined goal: a Strategy and Mission. That goal is not only measured by how high the summit is, but, most important, the dual objective of getting down and off the mountain safely. This is where the infamous Mount Everest climbers set themselves up for disaster in 1996. If they didn’t reach the peak by a certain time, they agreed that the only safe option was to turn back. When that time came and they weren’t at the summit, some of the climbers turned around, but others did not. They didn’t stick to their plan as a team, and many perished because of it. In business, all managers and employees must agree to follow the Strategy and Mission, the overarching plan.