A B-School Prof Climbs Mount Everest

Michigan Professor Scott DeRue on Mount Everest

He also found that the resiliency it took for him to push through on days when his body was numb and exhausted is a crucial quality he wants to instill in his MBA students.

“Facing those unknowns, those risks, and the change that’s required for organizations to thrive today requires a great deal of resiliency on the part of the people trying to lead their organizations through change or risky environments,” he says. “And it requires a great deal of focus and mental toughness. So we need to be able to equip our students with those same character traits.”

But no matter what DeRue’s students walk away with after the Everest simulation, he hopes that the course inspires them to set their own personal “Everest goals.”

“In order for business to be that positive force for good and positive change, it requires that our leaders set inspirational goals and not allow mediocrity or average to be good enough,” DeRue says. “We need excellence. And the only way to get there is to set Everest goals and commit to them and push ourselves to reach them. Otherwise we’re just going to continue the status quo, which just isn’t good enough.”

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