Conquering the North Face, by Hap Klopp and Brian Tarcy

I recently read about someone who is an executive at The North Face, and thought what an awesome job that must be, traveling and mountaineering and skiing and rafting and going on other adventures to sell your wares.  So when I saw this book by Hap Klopp and Brian Tarcy, I decided to get a first-hand account of the man who started it all.  The North Face has long been known for making high-quality outdoor gear.  Long before everybody and their mother had the ubiquitous TNF logo on their shoulders, they were outfitting world-class adventurers and bringing innovation to outdoor recreation.

The man behind The North Face, Hap Klopp, does, in fact, have a really cool job!  In Conquering the North Face: An Adventure in Leadership, Klopp intersperses stories of his own adventures, both the outdoor-in-the-mountains-and-on-the-rivers kind, and the in-the-boardroom-and-on-the-production-floor kind.  Rejecting the rigidity and traditionalism of corporate structures, he built The North Face into a company that values creativity, culture, and relationships, while upholding the highest standards of value and integrity.

You may see people TNF gear at the mall, but this kind of extreme adventure is what the company's reputation was built on.

The primary audience of Conquering the North Face is managers, company owners, and entrepreneurs, but there are lessons for the corporate cog like myself.  I'm a little guy in a big company, but from my perspective low on the ladder, I appreciate viewing company life from the perspective of a guy at the top who values the contributions of everyone at every level.

Conquering the North Face, which is an updating of Klopp and Tarcy's 1991 book The Adventure of Leadership, does sometimes feel a little dated, but for the most part the inspiring stories from Klopp's experiences, as well as those of many other leaders in business and adventure sports, will motivate you to step out and face the challenges of the mountain and the marketplace.




Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary digital review copy!

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