In the current issue of Connections (the digital magazine of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce) page 18 has an article about leadership development through wilderness training with Outward Bound.

Outward Bound courses use the wilderness as the classroom for building technical outdoor skills, inspiring personal growth, developing leadership and teamwork.  Expeditions run year-round in North Carolina, Florida, Bahamas, and internationally.  Outward Bound provides a powerful backdrop for people of all ages to develop their inner strengths, potential and leadership skills.  I must confess to being somewhat biased toward Outward Bound.  My son, Ryan, has been an instructor for the last four or five years, leading excursions in NC, FL and NY.   (This picture was taken when he was “at work.”) 

There are probably as many types of leadership trainings as there are types of leaders.   synergize! approaches leadership training within the context of real work: what challenges are you struggling with right now?  What is your overriding goal for the next quarter?  What objectives do you need to accomplish to get there?  What are you willing to commit to doing?  How will your personality, behavior and values impact accomplishing these commitments?

Outward Bound approaches leadership training by taking people out of their comfort zone and stretching them to their limit.  But it’s still done in the context of real work.  It’s one thing to be blindfolded and have to find your way across a field.  It’s an entirely other thing when you draw the parallel that we all jump blindly into activities at times, and wouldn’t-it-work-a-lot-better-if-we-held-hands in the process?  It’s one thing to wear a climbing harness and helmet and learn how to use a zipline to scale a mountain.  But it’s a lot more meaningful when you realize that we all face mountains that can be overwhelming – whether they contain one HUGE issue or a pile of little issues – and when we work together, relying on each other and sharing strengths and perspectives, we get over them a lot faster.

In contrast to an experiential approach the one thing that synergize! (or any other traditional approach) provides is the opportunity for follow-up and ongoing support.  But whether you choose to participate in a traditional leadership training or a wilderness experience it should provide you with opportunities to stretch yourself by going beyond what you thought possible, to challenge and re-frame your thinking and to develop your interpersonal and communication skills.

And then you’ll be ready for Leadership 201.