Sandstone Communications News

The mission is to climb the highest peak in each of Scotland, England and Wales in under 24 hours. 

The reality is to take a group hugely diverse group of 55 people with relatively limited hill experience and facilitate them working together with very little sleep in an alien and potentially hostile environment. 

The corporate is striving to develop and train resilience in its organisations. It has been identified as one of the key factors in long term success and is rated over talent in terms of developing a high performance team and therefore results. Nobody is born resilient. You become resilient over time and through developing coping strategies and collaborating with those around you. 

One of the primary roles of a leader must be to foster a positive culture and set the conditions that enable a team to become resilient and adapt to an ever changing environment. 

We currently find ourselves in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) world. Think Brexit, Pandemic, Ukraine War, Prime Minister resigns followed by a recession. One of the best ways to develop culture and learn coping strategies is in a controlled experiential environment. Few settings provide this opportunity better than the mountains. 

"I have to admit that I approached the 3 peaks challenge in an under 24 hours or bust sort of mentality but once on the minibus and especially on the hill I realised it was about much mire than that. I wouldn't have changed the team around me for anything and got a lot more from the event and a fresh perspective as a result". Participant from Gardner Aerospace.  

This challenge is about a journey of discovery on both a personal and an organisational level. The Sandstone team provide a safe yet challenging situation with a very real goal and allow the participants to work it out for themselves. It becomes a microcosm of all the struggles we face on a daily basis. 

Self doubt, Imposter Syndrome, goal setting, fatigue, strained relationships, differences in performance, diverse communication and leadership styles, fatigue, loss of morale and motivation, questioning motivation, dealing with failure and success.

Over an intense 24 hour period this group of individuals from Gardner Aerospace, SARAID, The ambulance service and Sandstone Communications became a cohesive team. 

When a group of people work together to overcome adversity, solve challenges and share an experience that takes them outside of their comfort zone there is a level of adaptation and change that takes place which can not be replicated in a conventional class room or corporate environment. This type of challenge is not about trekking or fitness but about accelerating and facilitating the development of culture and mindset. 

"It's not the mountains we conquer but ourselves" Edmund Hillary.