Leadership Lessons From The Wild

LEADING IN LEADERSHIP

Wharton also boasts a decade-long partnership with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) which has led to regular and expanded trips. Kat Smithhammer, an account manager for the NOLS Professional Training program says the wilderness experience is what reveals who the MBA students are as people.

“In an office or classroom, you can get away from the group and recharge,” Smithhammer says. “On these trips you are spending the entire week with each other. When you are tired, wet, and hungry, you learn quickly who you are and how you are going to treat others in pressure situations.”

The NOLS instructors teach the decision-making process based on a sliding scale from, on one extreme, being highly directive to, on the other, embrace complete consensus. The natural reaction is to direct. But there is also a time and place for consultation and consensus. According to Smithhammer, consensus is often a natural outcome of these types of trips.

“One of the biggest lessons for students to learn is the difference between pushing an agenda or making an informed decision based on data gathered by polling fellow students,” says Smithhammer.

OTHERS GETTING IN THE GAME

A couple of other schools wanting to join the alternative leadership party are the Pennsylvania State University’S Smeal College of Business and NYU’s Stern School of Business.

At Stern, mindfulness is the buzzword. The school is teaming up with NYU’s Center for Global and Spiritual Life to incorporate mindfulness in business leadership. Caitlin Weaver, Stern’s director of Leadership Development, says the shift to incorporate mindfulness training in the leadership program is two-fold—to increase decision making ability and to improve the the health of students.

“The idea is to maintain a focus on passion, self-awareness, and courage,” says Weaver. “The program is pretty data driven and has shown an impact of better decision making with more empathy that leads to more ethical decisions.”

Stern has implemented the initiative by bringing in speakers, including ABC anchor and mindfulness proponent, Dan Harris. Additionally, Stern will be hosting an introductory workshop and a mini-course in the spring in collaboration with the Institute for Mindful Leadership.

“We had to get another room for our workshop because we had over 100 students show interest,” Weaver says. “There is a perfect storm of students wanting additional tools to process information in a focused way and make better decisions from that. Mindfulness is that tool.”

BATTLE-TESTED

In stark contrast from focusing on self-awareness from deep silence and reflection, Stern and Smeal have centered on another form of leadership training—the battlefield. Both schools have recently participated in military leadership programming.

If anyone knows the benefits of military leadership training or how to implement it, it is Erik Orient, the student services director at Smeal. Orient came to Smeal after a 22-year career with the United States Marine Corps and was inspired by a leadership conference at Wharton. Since the conference, Orient has made it a priority to continue to develop alternative leadership programs at Smeal.

He has already taken students on leadership trips to Quantico and the New York Fire Department. Orient sees it as especially valuable to MBA students because of the value from learning how to perform in high stress, uncertain, and uncomfortable environments.

“The true colors really come out,” says Orient. “It gives you another perspective of yourself, lets you know what you are good at and where you can also develop as a decision maker and leader.”

Orient hopes to eventually be able to take the same types of trips Wharton takes.

“These aren’t field trips,” Orient says. “We have to do it right with good facilitators and quick and helpful feedback.”

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