Mingma: I’m Mingma David Sherpa. I was born in eastern part of Nepal. It’s in front of Kanchenjunga, the 3^rd tallest mountain in the world.

I came to this city 17 years before and now I’m the mountaineer, rescuer and business owner. Until now I summited 34 times thousand-metre peaks and I’m involved in hundreds of rescues and also hold five different Guinness records.

Danny: We talked earlier about similarities between coaching people, the mountain of leadership, and being a sherpa and a guide to lead people up mountains. Are there similarities?

Mingma: I always say that climbing a mountain is progress in altitude and then in leadership, in success. It’s a simple word, it’s a climb up.

And also, that growth in skill, growth in leadership, growth in business, that also is compared to climbing the mountain. People can succeed and there is no need to climb a real mountain. Anything in life and with people, growth is compared to the mountain, climbing altitude, it’s similar.

Danny: And when you’re a Sherpa and you’re leading people up a mountain, what are the most difficult challenges? What skills do you need when you’re leading them up the mountain?

Mingma: The first thing as a guide we need to understand our limit. Then the second thing we need to understand what type of people we need to guide. Every time it’s different type of people and different thinking. But every time the mountain itself is same. 

With people they have different concepts, thinking and physical level. Finding what type of people in this season we need to guide up to the mountain, that is very important as a guide.

Danny: And what happens when you’re working with a client who’s finding it difficult to do what they’re told?

Mingma: Some people are good to be working as a team, with a military background, and they are working with a big team. And with the mountain, we need to understand what they are doing in their normal life and that helps a lot. Some people are business owners, their whole life they are ordering other people, but with the mountain it’s completely different.

We need to understand mountain culture and nature and then also we understand leadership and teamwork. And then the balance that understanding into that teamwork, working together can very difficult. As a guide we need to understand what they are doing in their normal life, and then it’s easier to organise the team and then on to success. 

Danny: Of all the things that you’ve learned as a guide as a sherpa on the mountains, what have you learned that’s most interesting that’s most powerful?

Mingma: In my whole life until now I learned from nature. Sometimes a human being is thinking, “I’m the professional and I have enough knowledge about that thing”. But as a mountain guide, nature is always bigger than a human being. We need to understand the mountain and nature.

Danny: And somewhere in there, for me, with my experience, is the importance of humility. Is that something that you recognise in what we’ve just described, respecting nature, that we have to be humble?

Mingma: Yeah, definitely. Until now I summitted Everest eight times and 34 times a thousand-metre peaks. But still I’m learning from nature. Nature is not the same every year. Every time it’s different. We need to respect and understand nature. If nature allows us to climb the mountain then it can be fun and easy but sometimes we say it’s very bad weather coming and then if mountain god is angry then it’s impossible to succeed. Then we need to turn around.

It doesn’t matter how strong you are and how many times you summit Mount Everest or any mountain. Sometimes the actual condition on the mountain will be changed, sometimes your own body will be changed, sometime your mind was not as strong.

We are not changing the mountain, we need to change our mind, sometime we need to wait next hour, day, week, month or even a year. That’s very important to succeed in climbing a mountain, persevering that you keep going and that you keep learning.

Danny: Last question. If you were to offer some advice, based on your Sherpa experience, to someone who’s thinking of climbing the leadership ladder, what’s the best advice you would give them?

Mingma: For the best advice for climbing, first thing, you need to train by yourself. First thing. And we need to research why people are failing, why they are not succeeding in their mountain. And then also we need to adapt to young people, young knowledge. Youth are emerging minds, we need to adapt, we need to help them and we need to grow them. We need to love them and then we need to support them.

Also technology is very important. It’s nowadays all over, not even just mountaineering, any sport, they are adapting technology. A long time back, in the early morning people got up and zip up the tent and then look at the weather, and then they saw a sunny day so they start climbing.

Nowadays we can have a ten days weather report which helps a lot. That means we need to adapt to use the best technology as well to support us.

Danny: Thank you very much for all your wise words. What will you remember after this interesting discussion this morning? What will you remember more than anything else?

Mingma: As a climber, even I learn from you a lot. Yesterday, I watched lots of videos and then you teach how to make good leadership. That’s very important for even mountaineers because I take the large groups.

Sometimes, my biggest group I’m leading is around 50 people, and every day I’m tracking 135 different people, all those people who think differently. But as leadership, bringing people together, it’s very difficult and very interesting. We need to have a clear vision of how to make people work together.

In that way, I learned from you how to make people, as you said before, love and understand each other. That’s the very important thing. I learned many things from your video and your leadership coaching.

Danny: Thank you very much. And we wish you every success in all your future endeavours and may you always be safe.

Mingma: That we say always as a guide. Mountain is secondary, safety is first. That means we get back to home.