Middle East Kearney consultants climb Mount Kilimanjaro

12 December 2023 Consultancy-me.com

As an initiative to foster personal resilience and team spirit, an 18-strong team of Kearney consultants has conquered Mount Kilimanjaro, while participating in a number of social impact activities along the way.

A team of consultants from Kearney’s Middle East and South African offices have ascended to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro as part of a seven-day expedition to promote personal resilience and team-building.

Prior to arriving in Tanzania, the hikers undertook more than 500 hours of specialised training, along with participating in a number of social impact initiatives focused on environmental sustainability and the local community.

Altogether, 18 young consultants from Kearney’s offices in the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and South Africa would brave the extreme weather and gruelling terrain to make the final 12 hour-trek up the mountain and reach the summit of Kilimanjaro, which at almost 5,900 meters is easily the highest peak in Africa.

The triumph required both physical and mental fortitude, along with the support of each other and working as a team.

In addition to the sense of achievement, many spoke of the trek as providing a space for personal reflection away from the office, with some obvious business world parallels coming to the surface; “It taught me to keep things in perspective,” commented Stefan Srnic, a manager in Kearney’s Dubai office. “You’re working towards getting to the top, and it’s really tough, but at times you have to look back and see how much ground you’ve covered.”

The expedition was organised by Kearney’s mental health and well-being team, but with a broader social purpose in mind. Among the community outreach activities, the hikers partnered with environmental NGO Greenmanjaro to help implement practical solutions for improving resilience and sustainability in the local community, with the charity and consulting firm continuing to pursue further collaboration opportunities.

Global strategy consultancy Kearney is also now planning an even larger-scale impact for next year, and aims to organise an annual expedition similar to that of Kilimanjaro to provide wellness enhancement opportunities for the entire firm. To prepare for the most recent trip, participants spent weeks training in a variety of disciplines, including running, swimming, yoga, and weightlifting, and also practiced through long hikes, including on Büyükada in Turkey’s Princes’ Islands.

Reflecting on the experience with expedition travel guides Life Happens Outdoors, Dubai-based Kearney consultant Leen Madanat stated; “Change happens when people innately feel something has created a difference inside them. And that happens when you put people into difficult situations, when you cause them to dig not just to level one or two but to level three … that can only really happen in environments outside the office.”

More on: Kearney
Middle East
Company profile
Kearney is a Middle East partner of Consultancy.org
Partnership information »
Partnership information

Consultancy.org works with three partnership levels: Local, Regional and Global.

Kearney is a Local partner of Consultancy.org in Middle East, South Africa, Netherlands.

Upgrade or more information? Get in touch with our team for details.