Writing Assignment on the Teamwork During the Challenging Mt. Everest Climbing

This writeup focuses on the Everest simulation game which presents a challenge to five team members climbing the mount Everest with different roles, independent goals but a common ultimate goal of reaching the summit of the mountain and staying alive.

However, culturally, the four team members differs in terms of geographical location as it were, four was from China and one from Ghana. This presented it self a challenge from the onset as the majority of the Chinese could not understand the instructions but were willing to accomplish their tasks which boosted in-group collectivism. As posited by Northouse (2018), uncertainty avoidance is mainly as a result of how various societies utilize rules, structures and laws to form more unsurprising and less certain events as a dimension of culture which the group experienced first.

Notwithstanding the cultural differences, the team remained largely united exhibiting strong unity among team member which is a key leadership skill. Again, the team exhibited strong common goal which was to reach the summit with respect for culture and trust towards each other as well as team members being participants and adapted despite the various challenges. Diversity was seen but a common attribute of the group was enthusiasm.

As well as cultural challenges, there were other weaknesses that manifested itself throughout the challenge including but not limited to language barrier which lead to the death of the environmentalist at camp 4, unclear position resulted in the early death of the physician at camp2, lack of preparation which made it difficult for decision making by the leader, ineffective time management affected the photographer and lack of understanding on the part of the marathoner he died at camp4. All these resulted mainly from common effect.

Furthermore, value-based leadership as described by the GLOBE (Northouse, 2018), was seen in the behaviour of the leader as she inspired, motived, and expected high performance from the team. Situational leadership exhibited by the leader where at camp1 she disclosed the inability of the marathoner to accurately predict the weather will lead to the death of the physician thereby encouraged open communication for early assistance.

Following the conclusion of the simulation, the team achieved 24% of its overall target had 3 rescues, missed bonus points on weather, health and oxygen. In addition, respect for culture which prevented any unforeseen conflict became personal trait of each member which was seen in further meetings. Another lesson learnt from the simulation is how effective team building and spirit is instrumental in achieving set targets. Finally, acknowledging mistakes, sharing opinion, efficient use of individual skills and taking corrective actions can also lead the team to success.

In conclusion, the leader was the only one to reach the summit though faced with many challenges. Now, the team acknowledged all mistakes with the willingness to do better next time which brought to a clear view that failure doesn’t mean it is over but the beginning of new opportunities where all best tips will apply intensively.