SUMMIT AFTER THE STORM

A man who summited Mount Kilimanjaro shares the Christianity-based leadership lessons that he learned along the climb.

Wilbanks, a procurement and packaging executive, guides readers through his arduous journey up the tallest peak in Africa. After his divorce, the author says, he grappled with a midlife crisis. His initial intent in summitting the mountain wasn’t aligned with his faith, he says: “I did not set out to climb Kilimanjaro to find God. I set out to prove something.” Operating “without Him,” Wilbanks faced many rude awakenings on his journey to the summit, including a serious back injury just before his ascent. Choosing pride over wisdom, he pressed on. The author shares transformative lessons on faith and leadership as he relates his journey; he frames an encounter with snakes as a representation of life’s temptations, for instance. Each chapter offers questions for reflection, as well as “key takeaways.” Overall, the author says that he shared his story “not to impress or to preach, but because [he] discovered that faith and leadership are not separate conversations.” He includes verses from the Bible at apt moments: “Jesus promises in Matthew 11:28: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’ Rest, however, was the one thing I never allowed myself.” Wilbanks also uses passages from his journal that effectively ground his story in reality; specifically, this line hauntingly reveals how he was gripped by fear when wind threatened to throw his team off the mountain: “It felt as though death itself had entered our tent.” Throughout, the author’s prose is engaging, as when he tells of an impoverished boy who returned money that the author had dropped at a market. The book has moments of redundancy, though; for example, the author follows a similar pattern when doling out lessons, often stating what something isn’t before stating what it is: “The final ascent was not about conquering Kilimanjaro. It was about being conquered by grace.” This pattern becomes less effective with each use. Still, the author’s main takeaway—“Gratitude became leadership fuel”—effectively reverberates throughout the narrative.

An inspirational story that offers insights from a life-changing feat.