Adapt To Change On Your Operation With An Explorer's Spirit
Vanessa O’Brien is a record-setting explorer. She is the first woman to reach extremes on land, sea and air.
After two decades in business, and with a little help from the global financial crisis of 2007-9, she turned her sights on exploration, completing this Explorers’ Extreme Trifecta in 3,729 days.
“Farmers don’t farm because it’s easy, just like explorers don’t explore because it’s easy,” O’Brien says.
Her message at the 2024 Top Producer Summit centered on those similar traits employed by both farmers and explorers: courage, endurance, resilience and dedication.
From her expeditions to the summit of Mount Everest, to the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean at 35,872 ft. In the Mariana Trench in a submersible, to passing the Kármán Line, into outer space on Blue Origin’s NS-22 mission, O’Brien sums up three key takeaways:
1. You must lead.
2. Decision making is critical.
3. Underscore teams with a denominator - simple communications and common sense
“There are external challenges and unforeseen events that can take us in a different direction, so one has to be able to be aligned against the team’s goals and objectives,” she says. “The only guarantee is that something will go wrong, but where there is uncertainty there is opportunity.”
She shares an example in the weather. Just like Mother Nature can take control on a mountain and make an expedition return to base camp unexpectedly, farmers can’t force the weather to be in line with their plans and intentions.
“When the pace of change is exponential, we have to be agile and adapt,” she says.
To achieve goals despite challenges, O’Brien says there is a secret sauce: grit.
“Grit is maintaining long-term momentum despite adversity or failure,” she says. “It’s the differentiator. And because explorers and farmers both have grit, they can persevere, despite failure and setbacks, and bad weather is a perfect example.”
5 Components of An Explorer’s Mentality
- Courage: Knowing the risk and still willing to go.
- Resilience: This powerful combination of optimism, confidence and creativity means you have setbacks for breakfast and move on by lunch.
- Endurance: Any clever person can pull something off in the short term. Add an element of time, however, and intensity and direction become necessary which make endurance insurmountable for many people.
- Excellence: Is a continuum, not an endgame. It allows failure and seeks continuous improvement; it’s different than perfection, as it allows for change, striving forward.
- Conscientiousness: Doing what one believes is right or doing something for a higher purpose, gives someone a secret super power.
