Lesson Learned in Himalayas
By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
What are the similarities between a mountaineer heading to a peak in the Himalayas and a CEO sitting in a big swivel chair? For LIG Insurance CEO Koo Cha-joon, they share a lot in common. He says management is like an expedition, venturing into the unknown with courage.
Koo is known as a lover of marathons and mountaineering. But he's more than just an amateur ― he joined an expedition team to Mt. Everest.
He started explorations and marathon running in 1999, when he joined LIG after leaving the manufacturing industry, where he had worked for 26 years. He had the chance to meet s two of the country's famous mountaineers ― Park Young-seok and Oh Eun-sun ― and was impressed by their spirit of challenge, passion and courage, which are required of not only mountaineers but also entrepreneurs.
Koo adapted some of the principles he learned from climbers and marathoners to management.
First of all, both mountain climbers and managers require basic strength. The Asian financial crisis that the country went through over a decade ago and more re
Mar 17, 2010
