Upward Bound: Nine Original Accounts of How Business Leaders Reached Their Summits

"Climbing teaches us that the biggest barriers are not on the rock, but in our minds," goes one line in Upward Bound. Hmm, Mount Everest is a pretty big rock...but the point is well taken. In the pile of books that uses climbing (or sports, or war) as a metaphor for business, Upward Bound is one that should go to the top of the stack. Author Michael Useem is a Wharton professor, Jerry Useem is a Fortune senior writer, and Paul Asel is an adviser to start-ups. The "9 original accounts" mentioned in the title are by prominent people who are not necessarily household names. (Jim Collins of Built to Last is one.) Stories of nail-biting journeys are liberally seasoned with lessons learned about teamwork, sacrifice, failure, responsibility, risk, and personal satisfaction. As Michael Useem writes in the conclusion, "When it comes to climbing as a classroom, I've learned perhaps this lesson above all: It is not how well you do your work relative to others that matters, but how well you do your work relative to yourself, and your own potential."