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Great thinkers

By Michael Holliday (June 2008 Issue)
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BACKGROUND: Shy, socially inept, awkward, ungainly and inferior at sport are hardly the words that spring to mind to describe the man who conquered Mount Everest. Yet Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to admit that he was all of these things as a boy.

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, he spent his early school days at Tuakau Primary School before moving on to Auckland Grammar School. Younger and smaller than his fellow class mates, he was often dogged by a deep sense of inferiority, taking refuge in reading books and dreaming of a life filled with adventure.

At the age of 16, he took part in a school trip to Mount Ruapehu. Seeing snow for the first time fired his imagination but, more significantly, he discovered that, while he was not naturally athletic, his lanky frame made him physically stronger and more resilient than his peers. It marked a turning point and a lifelong passion for mountaineering began.

EVEREST: On leaving school, Hillary took up beekeeping, following in his father’s footsteps. Later, during World War II, he served as a navigator in the Royal New Zealand Air Force but was discharged after two years following an accident. By then, however, his persistent and undaunted enthusiasm for climbing had pushed him to scale Mount Tapuaenuku on New Zealand’s south island. He had done it solo over three days, having become a committed and steadfast mountaineer. Just before the war he had told a friend: “Some day I’m going to climb Everest.”

On 29 May 1953, Hillary made good on his promise, when he and his Sherpa companion, Tenzing Norgay, stepped on to the summit of the world’s highest mountain. Four days later, on the eve of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, news reached the outside world that Everest had been conquered. To great acclaim Hillary was knighted, while Tenzing received the George Medal, Britain’s highest civilian award.

“IT IS NOT THE MOUNTAIN WE CONQUER BUT OURSELVES”: Sir Edmund Hillary had achieved what many had thought impossible, but instead of basking in global admiration, dedicated his life to helping others.

It has been said that the real story of Hillary and the meaning of Everest is in the life, not the moment. For the beekeeper from New Zealand, leaving a footprint in the snow atop Mount Everest marked the beginning of a lifetime of service to others. He was defined not by the mountain but by his ideals and, for that reason, the world should remember the conquest of Everest not as a feat but as an example.

In 1962, Hillary established the Himalayan Trust to fund and build much-needed schools, hospitals, health clinics and airfields for the people of Nepal. He raised money so that Sherpa families could benefit from higher education and, as the first living New Zealander to be featured on a banknote, he helped raise nearly NZ$530,000 for the Himalayan Trust by signing 1,000 of the bills prior to auction in 1982.

Hillary was also a diligent conservationist, tirelessly campaigning for Everest to be kept free of climbing debris. He helped to set up reforestation programmes in Nepal and in 1987 was honoured by the United Nations as one of its Global 500 conservationists.

The people of Nepal called Hillary ‘Burra-sahib’, meaning ‘big in stature, big in heart’. On the slopes of Everest, he had shown that great leadership begins with the heart and not the head. It was a belief that allowed him to transcend the accolades of Everest to become a humanitarian, an ambassador and a statesman.

His leadership was rooted in the ability to first lead himself; it flourished because of his ability to form meaningful relationships with the people around him. He had once remarked: “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”

Notably, in 1998, he received the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal, an award that recognised his achievements not only for monumental explorations, but also humanitarian achievements.

His legacy is perhaps best rendered by Don George when he writes: “Because of this man, countless lives have been bettered, and an entire culture has been preserved.”

This month’s Great Thinkers was written by Michael Anthony Holliday, principal training facilitator at Summit Consultancy International. If you would like to nominate,
or contribute, a Great Thinker, please contact TJ Online editor Sue Mennell at sue@trainingjournal.com

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