Business lessons from climbing mountains

Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains. — Jeffrey Rasley

There is no such sense of solitude as that which we experience upon the silent and vast elevations of great mountains. — Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

TAIAN CITY, Shandong province, East China — A few days before the reunion of international alumni among young ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs from 85 countries who studied at Peking University in Beijing, I traveled for two hours via high-speed train to TaiAn City in Shandong province to climb China’s most famous mountain, Taishan, or Mount Tai. One of my secret hobbies during my foreign travels is climbing interesting and historic mountains.

I stayed at the Ramada Plaza Hotel TaiAn at the foot of Mount Tai (it’s reputedly the city’s best five-star international hotel; the facilities are good but the architectural design wasn’t that impressive). A talented young Filipino couple from Laguna — Jackie Ann Cueto and John Gutierrez — sing in the hotel’s Romance Lounge every night from Tuesday to Sunday, and they were pleasantly surprised to hear me speak to them in Tagalog because they had never met any Filipino tourist visiting there during their several months’ work at the hotel.

After a night’s good rest, I went out very early on July 31 to climb the 6,666 steps up Mount Tai. I didn’t count the steps; the athletic and young lady tour guide I hired explained to me that there are 6,666 steps up, and in the upper sections of the mountain considered “divine” by Taoists (also spelled Daoists), there are over 1,000 more steps up the stone stairway, but people stop counting in such heavenly areas.

Taishan isn’t only famous as the mountain climbed by 72 emperors such as Great Wall builder and China unifier Qin Shih Huangdi, the Han Dynasty founder, the Ming Dynasty founder, Tang Dynasty’s famed Emperor Li Shimin or various other Song and Qing emperors; Confucius, the drunken poet Li Po and revolutionary leader Mao Zedong also climbed it.

By the way, my late grandfather Lee Tay, a sawmill entrepreneur of the pre-war era, and close friend of his second cousin Dee C. Chuan, was named after historic Mount Tai.

Sources told me that in 2012, Lopez conglomerate boss Oscar Lopez plans to climb with his family and friend Raffy Alunan up to the base camp of the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest. Though I’m half the age of Oscar Lopez, I’m not ready (yet) to venture into those high altitudes.  

Here are a few business lessons we can take away from climbing mountains:

1. Say no to shortcuts. The fast way to business success seems good, but hiking up one step at a time is an incomparable thrill, like earning one’s money one peso at a time or one deal at a time until it snowballs. To win the lotto, earn windfalls or get an inheritance may seem fun, but nothing truly beats the satisfaction of a hard-fought or self-made success. Most local and foreign tourists take the bus halfway up the 5,070-foot summit of Taishan and then take a nice cable car almost to the summit. I think in ancient times, emperors and aristocrats called Mandarins were carried up Mount Tai in sedan chairs. However, the shortcut way to the top will cause people to miss the fantastic open-air museum that is Mount Tai — so many historic and splendid temples, shrines, pavilions, stone stele, inscriptions, waterfalls and other nature sights.

2. The world is so small. When the ancient philosopher Confucius over 2,000 years ago climbed up Mount Tai (which is near his hometown of Qufu in the same Shandong province), he made the famous remark: “The world is so small.” From that perspective up there, whatever material possessions we think we own, our egos, our temporal power, even our problems, all seem so small in the vast landscape of nature. For business people and professionals, we should be reminded that the world is so huge, the whole world should be our market and we should keep on working harder. We should never delude ourselves that we’re big shots. John Gokongwei, Jr. once humbly told me a few years ago that compared to Hong Kong’s Li Ka Shing or to Malaysia’s late taipan Lim Goh Tong, his fortune and those of the Zobel Ayala clan, Henry Sy and Lucio Tan combined are still smaller.

3. The best challenge is self-conquest. The arduous yet exciting sport of climbing mountains is not so much different from the efforts of a pianist, an Olympic swimmer or a painter trying their best continuously. I think Steve Jobs’ Apple company isn’t great just because it has surpassed other brands, but because their newest products are always better than their previous products. When entrepreneurs, business executives or professionals strive to succeed, winning or surpassing rivals isn’t the main challenge; it is conquering one’s own fears, weaknesses and past climbs that is the most interesting challenge. Each mountain is like one business deal: different from all others in the past, whatever the size, and each new conquest is a great challenge.

4. No limits to what we can do. We should take out the word “impossible” from our vocabulary, whether in attempting to climb mountains, run a business or engaging in various professions or vocations. I am not an athlete, and definitely not a tri-athlete like the billionaires Fernando Zobel de Ayala of Ayala Land or Fred Uytengsu of Alaska Milk or marathon runner Lance Gokongwei of JG Summit Holdings, Inc. But with proper preparation and healthy lifelong habits, any normal human being of any age, whether young or whether in their 80s like the health buff tycoon Oscar Lopez can climb mountains. The only real limit to what we can do is often in our own minds!

5. Conquer fear and doubts with dreams and passion. Are you bedeviled by doubts or worries about high mountains or steep obstacles, or financial, emotional or professional or business obstacles seemingly so insurmountable? Demolish those fears, worries and problems with your indomitable dreams, with passion, with your faith in God and in yourself. A lot of the challenges in sports aren’t so much really physical, but often psychological and spiritual. Many of the best athletes who overcome and endure are those intellectually, psychologically and spiritually determined to win.

6. Perseverance is more important than talent. To have a high I.Q. or natural talent or even so-called luck is okay, but I really believe perseverance will bring us all the way up to the mountains we want to climb. Whether in a sport or passion like climbing mountains or working in any profession, the persevering person who won’t give up but keeps trudging along forward: he or she will reach the top.

7. Good health is true wealth. More than just amassing wealth, fame or power, let us not forget the priceless true wealth and importance of having good health. When I climb mountains once in a while, in leisurely hikes as a tourist and not so much as a mountaineer, I still realize that it is a great blessing to be healthy and to be able to walk so far up. 

8. Warm-ups are essential. If one wants to climb any mountain or even a hill, it is important to do some warm-up exercises first before going up. After the climb or at the top, do some cool-down exercises, too. For warm-ups and cool-downs, learn and do stretching exercises. In business or work, we ideally progress also in gradual acceleration and not by rushing or jumping all the way up to our maximum efforts or endeavors.

9. Daily exercises are important. Take care of your health every day with regular sports or exercise at least three times a week. Do not just cram for a few days or weeks before a mountain climb. In the case of Oscar Lopez, I heard that, unlike his younger executives or employees, he walks daily to his office in the Benpres Building in Ortigas Center, Pasig City as part of his regular exercise. In business, it is also ideal to build your fortune one brick at a time to create a huge edifice. GMA-7 part owner and now Cocobank chairman Mernardo “Nards” Jimenez once told me that taking care of every centavo and every peso will lead to wealth accumulation. A good name in business or the professions is also built up through the years, not overnight.

10.  God exists. When we human beings manage to climb up the magnificent and unique mountains in nature, we are naturally overwhelmed with feelings of awe upon viewing the earth, which only a rational God could have designed so beautifully and so logically. We also feel humble at the vast expanse of creation, and we realize that there is a true ultimate Big Boss of the universe, bigger than any tycoons, any politicos, any presidents, any emperors, any kings. This reminder on top of a mountain can hopefully remind us that our business or professional endeavors and our very lives should not only be geared towards earning money, honors or power, but be used to carry out God’s will and help make this earth a better place. These are the ultimate “bottom lines” when you are trying to reach the top.

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