LESSONS FROM ROCK CLIMBING: PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

  

Close your eyes and imagine yourself standing in front of a towering wall with small, colourful pegs scattered along the structure. Around your waist is a snug harness, and you begin to scale the wall, one step at a time, climbing higher and higher. Every move you make is methodical, forcing you to think with your body as much as your brain. There are mental health benefits of rock climbing that exceed the physical ones, and we don’t necessarily have to be a master of the sport to reap them.

Leadership can be learned anywhere. Reflecting back on rock-climbing sessions, we realized how much this experience can be a metaphor for leadership experiences. Rock climbing offers many opportunities for personal and professional development. 

1. Collaboration and Differing Perspectives: . . . ->

Climbing is solitary, yet highly collaborative in nature. To climb safely, you must have someone to belay and/or spot you, meaning you are always part of a team. Active encouragement and coaching are common when someone is stuck on a route. This is often quite helpful, as people on the ground have a different vantage point, and can see the route in a way the climber cannot. Often we are able move past a problem as a result of these different perspectives. We are able to get farther faster when we are open and willing to work collaboratively with others.

2. Failure is a Moment, Not an End Result: . . . ->

Climbers face failure often, and with gusto. When working on a route beyond current ability — referred to as a project — it is common to fall. Repeatedly. Failure is often celebrated. This is possible because failure is seen as a moment, rather than an end result. Failure, then, is an opportunity to collect information to apply to the next attempt. This information allows climbers to identify their strengths, where they need to grow, and what they need to do differently to successfully complete the project. 

3. The Power of Resilience: . . . ->

Given the nature of repeated failure, climbers must be physically and mentally resilient. The strongest climbers learn not to take momentary failure personally. A fall teaches us that we have what it takes to get back up and try again. It shows us where we can improve, what we need to focus on, what our strengths are, how to play to them, and, perhaps most importantly, how to persevere when things get tough.

4. Resourcefulness: How to Leverage Strengths: . . . ->

Every climbing route has beta — information about how to complete a route. However, beta is not created equally. What works for one climber will not work for another, and every climber will have advantages in one area, and disadvantages in another. Climbers must learn how to be resourceful when faced with a disadvantage; know how to apply their strengths, and how to maximize their leverage within a move.

5. Creative Problem Solving: . . . ->

Problem solving is an inherent aspect of climbing. Every route has a ‘crux’ — the most difficult part of the climb — and it is often as much a mind-bender as it is a physical challenge. To get past the crux, climbers have to determine where they are, where they want to be, and how they are going to get there. Problem solving happens continuously within climbing. Too much time spent thinking will lead to fatigue. Climbers assess the issue, solve for the problem, commit to the move, execute, regroup, and assess the next problem, at lightning speed. 

6. Trust: . . . ->

Climbing is all about trust. When on the wall (or a rock), we have to trust that our belay partner has our back, that the holds we are using are solid, that our gear is sound. The biggest exercise in trust, however, occurs with self. We have to trust ourselves through our movements, even when we are not comfortable, or entirely sure what to do next. We are strongest when we trust ourselves, and know that we have everything we need within ourselves to get through the moment.

7. Clear Communication is Key: . . . ->

Clear communication without room for misinterpretations is crucial for success in relationships and performance. We must established clear communication without doubt about what our communication meant. In climbing, for instance, we established the same meaning for the command: “Belay is on” (which means that each of us is ready to start the climbing). 

8. Move Beyond Fear: . . . ->

Fear is an unavoidable emotion, and climbing is no exception. There are moments on the wall where a hold feels sketchy, or like we are about to fall. And sometimes, we do fall. However, more often than not, fear is simply an indication that we are about to move beyond our comfort zone. In climbing, and in life, it is imperative to step beyond that fear in order to grow.

9. Climbing as Meditation: . . . ->

Climbing requires focus, concentration, confidence, immediacy, presence, and expanding beyond what you think is possible. We can think of it as a form of physical meditation. It is common for climbers to begin a climbing session ruminating over something, and end the session with an answer. Following a climbing session, we may experience increased feelings of wellbeing, a serene sense of calm, and spikes in productivity and creativity. There is always benefit in movement through mindfulness. 

10. Climb to Fallure, not Failure: . . . ->

Failure and fallure are defined not by the outcomes, but rather, the mental processes behind it. In fallure, we are committed to tap our full mental and physical abilities, even if the odds of success are against us. In failure, those same odds and ambiguity causes us to mentally fail and quit (cut our losses). In rock climbing parlance, fallure is falling and failure is letting go. Put it another way, fallure is about finding and reaching our true limits, which in some instances can trump odds and bring us success.

11. Separate Probability from Consequence: . . . ->

Does this mean we should always shoot for fallure and not failure? The short answer is NO. We may weigh the cost of fallure against the probability of success.

In other words, it is best not to make decisions, purely based on odds of success, but to also include the consequences of failure. If we cannot afford the consequences of fallure, then it is better to cut our losses and live to fight another day. The wisdom lies in knowing, which option to choose.

12. Climb in the future, today: . . . ->

This connects to a powerful psychological mind trick employed by successful and visionary entrepreneurs. That trick is to imagine and believe that the future has already happened and act accordingly. This cool technique enables us to unshackle ourselves from today’s limitations and expand our creative abilities. 

13. Improvement comes with practice: . . . ->

Rock climbing may be a completely new skill for us. But after a few hours of practice we will know we have made improvements, from first being apprehensive to climb higher than 4 feet to comfortably climbing almost 60 feet at the end of the session and wanting to do more. Any improvement comes after we have practiced new skills. The key is just to do it.

Climbers are fortunate to travel and experience beautiful places to practice their skill; it enriches lives and gives purpose. But, instead of just being grateful, we can take what we’ve gained from climbing—the physical outlet, the practice of a skill, the lessons in problem-solving and patience and community—and bring them into other aspects of our lives. 

Climbing involves concentration and thought as well as physical exercise which helps keep us focused, clears our mind of outside worries and also builds our confidence and self-esteem, alleviating the symptoms of some mental health problems.

Content Curated By: Dr Shoury Kuttappa.