LEADERSHIP WISDOM
Some of the best leadership lessons I’ve ever learned didn’t come from a
boardroom, but from the side of a mountain.
As a young Army officer with the Scots Guards, I found myself leading a
team in the Cyprus Double Mountain Marathon – a gruelling global com-
petition famed for testing the limits of endurance and strategy. We trained
hard for three months but what set us apart wasn’t just our fitness – it was
our deliberate planning and preparation.
The maps were years out of date. Every day, we scouted the terrain, mark-
ing new tracks, roads and villages that no one else saw because they
weren’t on the map. We refused to rely solely on what we had been handed.
Instead, we made the ground our own – studying every inch, updating our
plans, owning the challenge.
On race day, our edge showed. We knew the landscape better than anyone
else.
Leadership in business is no different. Hard work gets you to the starting
line, but it is preparation, adaptability, and taking ownership of your path
that makes the difference. You win by seeking what others overlook, and
by adjusting your course when the ground changes below your feet.
After two years of relentless training and competition, our efforts paid off.
Five of my teams finished in the top ten – and my own three-man team set
a new world record.
T.S. Eliot once wrote:
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our
exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for
the first time.”
Leadership is a journey of continual discovery. The edge is earned through
relentless curiosity, purposeful preparation and the courage to make the
map your own. In the Cyprus Double Mountain Marathon, I learned a
lesson every leader should remember:
Maps change, but a good compass never fails you.
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