Training at Elevation

My family recently took a long hike in the Colorado mountains, and despite the crisp 70 degrees and low humidity, it was one of the toughest hikes I remember! At 10,000+ feet in elevation, the oxygen was so thin that we were out of breath within minutes, and we often wondered whether we'd make it to the summit.

This hike reminded me why elite athletes often train at high elevations to expand their red blood cell production and increase their lung capacity, making competing at lower elevations much more effective.

The hike also had me reflecting on how we think about "training" for our organizations. Do we give our teams enough real training and exposure to new and challenging environment and ideas, so that when they are delivering on our missions, they are doing so with excellence?

Professional development, training, and conference budgets are often among the first line items cut from a budget when times get tough. While making such cuts may solve a short-term problem, doing so can create more and bigger long-term problems with staff development, retention, culture, and performance.

We encourage you to prioritize investing in yourselves as leaders and in your teams and boards with high-quality training and development, and we are always happy to provide recommendations and ideas should that be of value.