Feeling Fatigued? Real Entrepreneurs Keep Walking

Sometimes slogging through the muck is the most powerful example a leader can set. Just ask Alan Chambers, the British corporal who walked unassisted for 67 days from Resolute Bay, Canada to the North Pole last May.

Keep walking -- it's a simple concept that held extraordinary challenges for Chambers and his men: windchills of 70 degrees below zero, chronic fatigue and frostbite that forced two of his three teammates to abandon the mission, and thin ice that nearly claimed the life of partner Charlie Paton.

"We walked three miles during the day, and while we slept, the Arctic Ocean current carried the ice pack we were on back one mile toward the Canadian land mass," says Chambers, leader of the first all-British team to reach the North Pole. "To reach my goal, I literally had to keep walking -- and inspire my teammates to do the same."

Today, Chambers is bringing that message of resilience to the masses through the Keep Walking Fund. Launched by Johnnie Walker Blended Scotch Whisky last month, Keep Walking is a contest of sorts that encourages people around the world to submit, develop, and realize "idea plans" for personal and professional ventures. Chambers -- along with eight other leaders and innovators -- sits on the board of directors that will ultimately award between 5 and 12 grants, totaling $500,000, to people with great ideas.

Keep Walking is Johnnie Walker's answer to "Just Do It," "Think Different," and "Drivers Wanted" -- marketing slogans that have struck a chord with twentysomething and thirtysomething consumers. Although Scotch whisky is hardly synonymous with entrepreneurialism, this idea-driven promotion seems to be a natural fit for the 181-year-old company that emerged from rural Scotland to define an entire industry, says Michael Stoner, senior vice president product group director.

"'Johnnie Walker' stands for pioneering progress, and 'Scotch' stands for success," Stoner says. "Young people define success in very different terms than their parents or grandparents. Keep Walking recognizes that success means persisting toward an idea or a dream with conviction and vision."

Fastcompany.com met with the Keep Walking board last month to celebrate the fund's launch and to discuss its philosophy. In addition to Chambers, Fast Company spoke with the following board members about the importance of back-to-basics business, the necessity of failure, and current economic cloud's silver lining.

Camilo Cruz emigrated to the United States from Colombia as a 20-year-old with a high-school diploma and wild ambitions. Twenty-one years later, the author, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker holds an MS in analytical chemistry and a PhD in analytical spectroscopy. He has also founded several companies, including Yupi Internet, one of the most popular Spanish networks of Internet sites.

John Esposito began his career in the wine-and-spirits industry when he took over his family's retail shop in New York more than 25 years ago. Today, he serves as president and CEO of Schieffelin & Somerset Co., a leading U.S. importer of wine and spirits.

Doug Hall may quote Jack Kerouac instead of Jack Welch, but he's no business lightweight. A veteran of Procter & Gamble's brand-management division, Hall now leads Eureka! Ranch, a corporate innovation company with clients including Walt Disney, Nike, and Ford.

Reggie Wilkes is a team player -- literally. A former member of the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons, this professional football veteran is now managing director and partner of GS Capital LP, a venture-capital firm that invests in minority- and women-owned businesses.

What lessons did entrepreneurs learn in the first five years of the new economy?

Hall: In the late 1990s, companies tried to succeed by becoming a first mover and by scoring unlimited funds. Now we know that's not enough. Entrepreneurs need to master the fundamentals of an idea before building a site or pitching a venture capitalist. They need to demonstrate how, when, and why they can make a dramatic difference through proprietary innovation. They must substitute courage for greed and take dramatic steps into the unknown.