Experimental Training Program: Wilderness/Adventure Learning
...of a corporations success. A
company succeeds only as well as the people running it can perform. This
training process can cover many skills and go into many areas of expertise. One
key element that has only recently come into action is an outdoor- based
experiential training program.
Commonly called "ropes courses," wilderness courses or adventure
learning programs have been in use in the USA since the early 1980's, and by
organizations in the UK since the early 1970's. Outdoor programs have been most
beneficial when used to promote effective work teams and used to enhance
leadership and management skills in the participants. Outdoor- based training
programs seem to accomplish these objectives by allowing participants to develop
a high level of trust in their peers, improve their problem-solving ability, and
generally improve the level of interpersonal communications between group
members.
Companies are looking for leaders that can launch them into a new era.
Constant improvement is necessary to meet the growth of challenging competition.
So who defines leadership? What is a leader and how would you raise these skills
that may be laying dormant in your subordinates?
Organizations need great leaders to help them successfully survive the
many difficulties of this decade. Yet, the very notion of leadership has rapidly
degenerated into a cliché, a buzz word. In many people's minds, leadership has
become identified with an overly simplistic conception of vision and empowerment.
Although these concepts do play an important role in the leadership process,
they only scratch the surface of what an exceptional leader actually does on a
day-to-day basis.
What do leaders really do to make an organization work well? In my research
I found that great leaders exhibit nine different kinds of behaviors that enable
them to bring out the best in the people around...
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