WHARTON LEADERSHIP DIGEST 

August, 2003, Volume 7, Number 11

CONTENTS   

Learning to Lead:  Hiking the Great Outdoors
Lance's Leadership Moment:  Adversity Fuels Armstrong's Drive For Five
Learning Leadership in the Himalayas:   Wharton Leadership Trek to Mt.  Everest
Changing Leadership at the Top:  Updates on Corporate Governance
Leadership Development Programs:  Why Some Fail


Learning to Lead:  Hiking the Great Outdoors  

By Laura Sullivan, Editor in Chief, Risk Management Magazine 

Mention "outdoor executive education" and you are bound to raise a few eyebrows. But why would it not work? Risk Management Magazine went on the road to answer the more precise question:  Can such programs really offer a different kind of education, namely, a more effective one? 

The Participants 

Twenty-four business people -- nineteen men and four women -- signed up for three days of hiking, skills tests and classroom introspection. Most participants ranged in age from their mid-thirties to mid-forties. They came from the communications, pharmaceuticals, financial services, public services and a variety of other sectors from around the world.  

Each person had a slightly different purpose for being there. There were some who had never hiked a mountain and thought the stretch would be good. Others had ended up in the outdoor-themed session only after they had been bumped from the more standard, four-walls-and-a-door education. Many had received recommendations from their human resource departments and liked the idea. And others signed up because of the prestige of the host school, as well as their respect for the program's creator. 

Continuing executive education was the common point. Some attended programs twice a year, others once every two years. Some had completed MBAs; others were considering different programs like the intensive executive MBA. While these were not the people who run companies today, it would not be surprising to find some of them at that level at some point in time. Regardless of whether this was their goal, each of them recognized the importance of getting away from the job for a spell in order to focus on the essence of how they do their jobs. They were learning something new, reinforcing old lessons or simply comparing notes with individuals with whom they might have nothing in common but the goal of self-improvement. 

The Program 

From early morning into the night, the three days of activities were set up to include both the outdoor hikes and classroom exercises. The group was divided into three teams, each of which would have to work together to accomplish certain missions that were set out for each of the daily hikes. Within the team, each person was responsible for being the leader for a certain period of time, and during the hikes had to walk at the front, middle and end of the group, to get a feel for leading from all positions.  

The hiking assignments seemed simple enough -- choose and follow a trail; create a team name and logo -- yet, along the way, the leadership lessons did develop. Team unity was forged, and sometimes disbanded, throughout the three days. 

For the classroom discussions, case studies -- some specifically of business disasters and success stories, others drawn from mountaineering attempts in leadership -- were read and discussed. Following the outdoor theme, the groups also explored the symbolic metaphor of the mountain -- both its physical presence as well as the lessons of ascending and, especially, descending the world's most perilous heights.  

What They Really Learned 

In a room full of leaders, there were those who could not give up their top spot, there were those who gave leeway and others who abandoned the struggle with twenty-three other overachievers. Each individual was different, though, and needed a specific environment in which to work best, whether it was the type of information, the type of project or the type of people he or she would be assigned to work with.  

This vastly different pool of people could be either superiors or subordinates. Either way, the same rule applies -- if you want to get the best work out of them, you have to know how people work best. It is about understanding people -- part observation and part communication. This was the basis for all lessons to be gained from the experience. 

At the end of the three days, the group filled out those forms common to all executive training programs where participants write down the three things that they would like to "take home." Six months later, all participants were sent reminders from themselves, most of which fell into three broad categories, according to the program organizers -- strategy, communication and taking action. 

But what was still with each team member at the end of six months? "I can barely remember the details of the material that we read or saw in the sessions," says one participant. "What I remember is a different experience of learning through the outdoors." 

This sentiment was reiterated by many of the hikers and leaders. Each person can recite an example from the trail. The phenomenon of the outdoors provided a graphic example of a lesson. The foreign environment, task or situation emphasized its remarkability. 

"I tend to learn by doing, so the typical classroom leadership programs have less impact on me," says one participant. "For me, overcoming anxieties stimulated by the outdoor setting (i.e., crawling through small dark spaces in the rocks), feeling the success of "getting through it" and noticing that I got through certain moments because I had a caring, supportive team did make a difference for me in terms of what I took home and back to my work setting." 

"Any learning experience designed to take you out of your comfort zone will have a bigger impact and longer lasting effect than straight classroom learning," says Joseph Daquino, vice president and group publisher at Affinity Group Inc. in Ventura, California. "The outdoor experience took me sufficiently out of my zone so that I remember vividly most of our time there." 

Whether it was hanging onto a log perch in a boot-camp-like obstacle course, shimmying down a deep rock crevice or writing and performing a mockumentary of the program's proceedings, the memories of the events were certainly lasting. But what lasting business applications do they inspire? 

"Some people believe that those kinds of bonding, ritualistic learning experiences only foster a false sense of learning," says Daquino, "However, the experience helped me learn to work better in a team environment (something I am often loathe to do)."  

One participant has used the program as a model for his own team-building efforts in the office to "foster relationships outside the normal reporting alliances." Others have adopted catch phrases that embody what quality leadership means to them: silence does not mean agreement; build trust; challenge yourself and others to move into uncomfortable zones; greater risk taking does yield greater rewards; failure is an experience; prepare for the descent -- it can be as dangerous as the ascent. 

The observations on humanity and the casual networking were also useful. "I found nearly all the people I spoke with to be dealing with the same leadership issues as I was," says Steven Henderson, business director at Dow Automotive in Auburn Hills, Michigan. "There is a comfort in knowing you are not the only one with challenges, especially coming from people who appear to have it all together externally." He also noticed that these same people, with so much in common, also had many different points of view. "I was taken by how teams were unable to overcome dissension." 

One participant was also struck by the lessons he learned from the front, middle and back leadership positions on the trail. "From the back the leader must bring up the spirit of the last person," he says. "But that same leader must be able to go to the front and tell them to slow down on the trail to keep the team together, because at the end of the day it has to be a collective achievement." 

The outdoors and the pressures it places on the body also translated into business lessons. "In the outdoors, there is a natural pressure that mirrors the real-life physical requirements of the job," says one participant. "You are tired and hungry and under pressure to make decisions. In an organization you are under the same pressure when you need to make decisions." He suggests that being physically fit allows leaders to absorb more pressure, keeping them mentally better off for decision making. 

Another fellow hiker concurs. "Any physical challenge highlights very quickly the varying degrees of people's capacity to think, react, adapt, execute," he says. "It would not take long to figure out that I cannot be a basketball player. My height, not to mention my weight and advancing age make it self-evident. Such is not the case in the business world. 

"It takes much longer to establish the baseline performance of people in the office (classroom) environment. In the short time that we had together, physical challenges allowed you to assess those qualities you value in your peers very early on, and get on with the business of learning how to deal with the situation at hand." 

Can Leadership Be Learned? 

Leadership is a learned capacity. It is also a calling. Whether you wish to become a better leader or you wish to demonstrate this natural talent, each leader will achieve success that is measured by his or her own ambitions and scale of achievement. Not everyone will lead a multinational organization and not everyone wishes to do so. To successfully lead a department of twenty people is no less an achievement if you are simply very good at doing that. An organization cannot thrive with an internal structure of twenty people who are competing for that one leadership position at the very top.  

Even natural leaders, however, need education. For the veterans, perhaps it is reflection. For those with quick minds but few years, it is experience. But it cannot be done in isolation because an education in leadership is not so much about learning how you learn, but understanding how others learn. 

Being a leader is about understanding how individuals work differently from one another, and how they can all work together with the most efficiency. At its highest point, leadership is understanding how you can teach another to see the same.  

Do the hikes and trail blazing and mountain scenery really make a difference in leadership education? Though the group was not navigating the dangers of an Everest ascent with the lives of the team in peril, they were put into the real world -- the one outside the cement walls and glass windows of the office. It may have been an inspiration for some, a challenge for others, but it was real either way. Instead of so-called tabletop exercises, they were navigating dirt paths and mountaintops and horizons. The difference is there was no escape. As useful as a simulation is, it is always possible to imagine all the solutions. You never have the chance to manage disappointment. And you never get to feel the relief -- perhaps jubilation -- in overcoming that significant, and real, obstacle for the real-life leader. 

Note:  Laura Sullivan can be reached at lsullivan@rims.org.  This article is reprinted from Risk Management Magazine, June, 2003.  Copyright Risk Management Society Publishing, Inc.  Information on the program can be found at here. 


LANCE'S LEADERSHIP MOMENT: Adversity Fuels Armstrong's Drive For Five 

By Matt May 

The centennial 2003 Tour de France bore testament to the old maxim that "adversity does not create leaders, it reveals them."  It is one thing to overcome adversity, and quite another to capitalize on it.  The former requires courage and perseverance -- qualities held by every cyclist brave enough to complete a Tour.  The latter requires leadership. 

In realizing his record-tying fifth consecutive Tour victory, Lance Armstrong literally had to pull himself up from the street and leverage a potentially disastrous event in order to clinch the Yellow Jersey. 

This year's Tour de France was destined to be a crucible for Lance.  As if it wasn't enough that he was suffering intestinal ailments and nursing a serious scrape from a pre-Tour race going into the Prologue, Stage 1 found Lance in a massive pileup requiring him to borrow a teammate's bike to cross the finish line.  It wasn't enough that he had to cycle across an open field in Stage 9 just to avoid crashing into another racer, Joseba Beloki, who went down on a switchback descent right in front of Lance.  It wasn't enough that Lance misjudged his hydration on a day of searing heat in the critical individual time trial, ran out of water midway, and lost a dozen pounds and over 90 seconds advantage against his nearest competitor.  Armstrong said afterward, "That's as close as I've come to just getting off the bike and quitting." 

None of that was enough to deter Lance.  But his real test came on the final mountain stage in the Pyrenees and the climb of the Luz-Ardiden.  With a slim 15-second overall lead, Lance would have to attack and gain back some time in order to secure the title.  With six miles to go, he did. No sooner did he than his handlebar caught in a spectator's bag.  Lance went down -- hard.  He saw victory retreating.  Scrambling to regain his composure, he remounted, but as he did, he fell yet again -- this time onto to a bike crossbar as his foot slipped out of the pedal.  Panic set in. 

Armstrong said of that moment:  "It was one of the most intense feelings I've had in my life. Your back is against the ropes.  They're coming at you, and you've been losing it all week, and now you're about to lose it all.  What's your answer? What are you gonna do?" 

When you're Lance Armstrong you leverage the fear to fuel your performance.  For the first time in the Tour, the old Lance was back.  Out of his seat in his hallmark high cadence, he quickly rejoined the pack, which had respectfully waited for him to recover.  Then he sprinted ahead, and he delivered a stunning win of the stage and increased his lead to over a minute -- enough to clinch his fifth Tour. 

Armstrong's sponsor, Subaru, may be on to something.  It's not about the bike, or the other guy, or the mountain, or the trophies.  It's about what's inside. 

Note:  Matt May can be reached at matt@aevitas.com.


Learning Leadership in the Himalayas:  Wharton Leadership Trek to Mt. Everest 

The seventh annual Wharton Leadership Trek intends to the slopes of Mt. Everest is scheduled for April 26-May 12, 2004.  It draws upon both the experience of expeditions on Mt. Everest and the group's own experiences on the trail -- reaching an altitude of more than 18,000 feet -- to learn more making decisions and leading teams in demanding environments.  The program is open to the students and alumni of Wharton's MBA and Executive MBA programs, and to those who have completed a Wharton Executive Education program.   

The tentative itinerary for 2004 is available here.    

Information on pricing and enrollment can be found here.  


Changing Leadership at the Top:  Updates on Corporate Governance  

John M. Nash and Eleanor Bloxham have initiated publication of a free online bulletin on corporate governance, The Corporate Governance Alliance Digest.  John Nash is the founder and president emeritus of the National Association of Corporate Directors; Eleanor Bloxham is the author of Economic Value Management   


Leadership Development Programs:  Why Some Fail 

Douglas A. Ready and Jay A. Conger have built, advised, and studied numerous leadership development programs, and they suggest that three factors account for why some of those programs do not succeed: 

1. "The 'Ownership is Power' Mind-Set":   When executives look at a leadership program as something they should control, it will be less effective than if they if they ensure that their line managers own and shape the program -- along with the program participants themselves. 

2. "The Productization of Leadership Development":  When executives latch onto a pre-existing model for leadership development, it may not address the underlying leadership problems at the company.  Effectiveness comes when executives align their program content and method around the specific needs of the company. 

3. "Make Believe Metrics":   Program managers may be tempted to employ success measures that are poor proxies for actual leadership development.  Effective programs, by contrast, assess impact by asking directly if those trained are better able to execute strategy, satisfy customers, and exercise responsibility.  

Copyright 1996-2003, Wharton Center for Leadership and Change Management
 University of Pennsylvania.