Leadership styles in book Into Thin Air
The account of the disaster on Mount Everest in 1996, as presented by Jon Krakauer in his novel Into Thin Air, is a perfect example of the different types of leadership and how even when least expected things can go wrong. This novel discusses the essentials of leadership, the process that was involved in getting clients to the summit, the goals of the leaders (in this case the guides), as well as the role that the external environment plays in trying to summit Everest. What did go wrong on the quest to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1996, and why did it happen? What happened was that none of the climbers believed that anything bad could happen since nothing of huge significance had gone wrong on the mountain in the recent past. The guides also believed that they had climbing Everest down to a formula and that if they stuck to it, nothing could possibly go wrong. If the guides had kept to their standards of turning around at 2 p.m. no matter how close one was to the summit, much of the disaster could have been avoided. However, many factors play into the desire to continue the quest for the summit after 2 that afternoon. The business goals of the guides, the personal triumph of the clients, and the outside factors of
Things such as diverse cultures, organizations, groups and individuals all contributed to varying leading styles. Fischer on the other hand did not set a time and let his clients climb at their own rate to a certain extent. The guides all exhibited qualities that Locke and Kirkpatrick found as important leadership traits including: drive, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, knowledge of the business and cognitive ability (Wren 135). The climbers were unable to make decisions as quickly and thoroughly as if they were at base camp. It utilizes the relationships between leaders and followers, displays different leading styles, the elements that make up leadership, the processes involved in leadership, the goals of leadership as well as the role that externalities play. Hersey and Blanchard describe it as "a way of adapting leadership behaviors to features of the situation and the followers" (Wren 210). This common goal is part of the outcome in the process of leadership. Of the many organizations that were trying to summit Everest one event that stood out as being different was how Hall and Fischer's team worked together and came together as one team. Once disaster struck, however, the groups collapsed and everyone was one for all. The adverse environment of Mount Everest had an enormous impact on the situation that arrived. Eventually, as some climbers reached safety, the community reformed and climbers began assisting others at personal risk. Many different types of leadership were demonstrated on the Everest expedition. The role of national culture comes into play in the many different countries that were leading expeditions up Everest. Also groups were unwilling to work together and chaos was created.
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