On Sunday, I reluctantly returned from the Horizons leadership program for college sophomores at which I was facilitating. Coming back down the mountain from Snowbird was a difficult journey for all of us; there is a certain type of utopia that can be created in a pure environment like that. However, as one undergraduate put it: "Sometimes we have to go to the top of the mountain to derive the perspective we need when we return to its base." I thought that analogy was especially fitting for this particular experience.

On the mountain, we taught each attendee the differences between effective/situational leadership and enduring values-based leadership. Then, we helped them identify their own core values and we challenged those values through experiential and interactive exercises. Of course, in order to be a great leader, one must truly understand and embrace the differences between diverse people. Thus, we spent a lot of time delving into each person's fundamental biases and perspectives when it comes to social style, values and personality. Lastly, each man established a two-year vision in accordance with his values as well as some goals, actions, development areas and mentors that will help him move in that direction. As facilitators, we get to spend the next two years mentoring the attendees as they achieve their goals.

The top of the mountain is the perfect place to find enough solace for the introspection it takes to uncover one's own latent values, vision, goals and plans. (I'll be honest...it was also a great place for a snowball fight.)  It's amazing how much we miss while amidst the daily grind of our sea level lives. The perspective that we gain by stepping away from a moment to evaluate is priceless. As Socrates stated: "The unexamined life is not worth living." How often do we take the time to analyze the trajectory of our lives?

I'm really looking forward to the next two years of partaking in the examination and coaching of eight exceptional lives. Alex, Ben, Casey, CJ, David, Glenn, Kevin and Pat are each rock stars in their own right, and I have grown to admire their individual talents, temperaments and convictions. Of course, mentorship is a reciprocal interaction and there is a lot of inspiration and perspective that can be gained from each mentee, regardless of his age. It is for that reason that we all were willing to return from the mountain; for the excitement of employing our newfound perspective and accountability network in our daily lives.