Leadership: From the Trail to the Boardroom

As a lifelong adventurer who has had the unique opportunity to blend people leadership, business management, and operations of adventure travel for over 20 years, I have experienced situations where changing my perspective from a traditional business approach to one more aligned to how an adventurer or guide would tackle an opportunity or challenge not only allowed me to consider other options, but also refocused my efforts to address the situation with a more human centric focus. In this and subsequent articles, I hope to share with you ways that I was able to take this “adventure based” model to increase productivity, employee engagement and satisfaction, career development, and business results.

As I think about this work, I have to reflect on my personal leadership journey, thinking back to what made me want to lead and the “why” behind what I aspired to be and do. Without this understanding of my journey, it may be difficult to fully understand why this approach has worked for me, and I believe will work for others.

Before I headed off to college, not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up, I had the incredible opportunity to spend the summer living out of a canoe, guiding wilderness canoe trips in Ontario, Canada. Back in the late 80’s this was a time of exploration and the external guidelines for risk management and training were much different than they are now. I LOVED IT! The granite escarpments, the luscious forests, and the cool flowing waters of the French River were an incredible place to be thrust into leadership as a wilderness guide. Just imagine being a 17-year-old “kid” entrusted with up to 16 souls on weeklong trips, where without much substantive leadership training (none really, other than canoe skills and map reading) I was asked to lead adults and youth that at times were older than I was! I did actually have an entire crew that first year that were older than me, and they did not find that out until they were on the boat heading back to their transport home – the shock on their faces when they found out was funny at the time and over time, it has become an illustration of the fact that leadership is not based on some age-based or hierarchical construct. Anyone can lead and should be given the opportunity to do so.

I continued to return to the French River for three summers as I continued my college pursuits. The leadership lessons learned on the fly, and the impact my self and other guides were able to support by teaching others inspired me to pursue becoming a teacher. Much has happened since those days, but they were formative for me. Little did I know at the time that I would be able to fully embrace education, the outdoors, and business operational leadership as a profession for the next 30+ years at the local, regional, and national level.

Now let’s dive into what I believe an “adventure model” of leadership is and means.

Let's start with some definitions: See the sidebar (thank you Mirriam-Webster)

As you read these terms and definitions, you probably noticed there are clearly ones that are used regularly in business parlance: Leadership and Manage / Management. And one that is not typically included: Guide.

It is my belief that this omission is at the root of why many organizations and leaders are less connected with their teams and employee satisfaction is negatively impacted.

I ask you to think of a time when you were out on a trip and you joined a facilitated program. It could have been to your local park for a hike, a cruise where there was an excursion with a local expert, a class where you learned how to kayak, or a multiday trip to some iconic national parks. In those instances, you most likely had a “Guide” to support you and share incredible insights, information, and make your time together exceptional. To the point that you may have given them a tip as a thank you for the time together.

Now think to your experience in your day to day work. How are you, or your leaders, working to achieve the desired outcomes? Is the environment one of empowerment and support? Are you or your leaders “leading the way” or “directing” and “influencing” efforts to reach the goals?

Very often, due to the pace of work, how we lead is through “management” of tasks where there is someone sharing what, when, and how to do the work, and team members then are cogs in the machine that simply do as they are told (managed) to execute the operations.

When thinking about this from an adventure model perspective, Leaders who embrace and act as Guides share the “what” and “why” of the work to engage the team. This shifts the focus from simply the end or outcome of the work to a shared vision and understanding of why this work is important, not just to the organization, but to the people doing the work!

Half Dome Day Hike - nps.gov

If you were a guide and a trip leader on a hike to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite, it would be your responsibility to ensure that the team on the hike is prepared, inspired, and understands that the hike will pose some challenges to each individual but the group, including you, is there to support. If risks become too great, it is your job as the guide (leader) to be able to step in to make decisions that could impact the “success” of the hike. It is not uncommon for people hiking Half Dome to turn around because it just isn’t going to be possible, for many different factors. It is the guide who is ultimately accountable for the group and making hard decisions like this – but the decision can be made and shared understanding of why the decision was made is critical. Without understanding, the successes that were achieved become lost. Failure to summit should not be seen as a tragedy, many things did go right, it was just external factors that stopped this attempt. The summit is still there and now it is time to regroup, reassess, and make a new plan to go for it.

This shift is aligned with a project management approach where you go a step or two beyond identifying the problem statement and expand what is being shared to include the problem statement, the impact the issue is having on the organization AND specifically the individuals involved. This creates better alignment and buy-in to develop and action on the work to be done. The team becomes responsible for all aspects of the project, from day-to-day deliverables to identifying and mitigate risks, and also gives them the voice to pause to gain clarification if an issue arises.

Taking this approach does require a little more effort by the leader since guiding is an approach where team members are empowered to take on the identified tasks and chart their own path to successful completion. Less dictated management of the process creates empowerment, engagement in the work, and satisfaction when a job is complete. Leaders become influencers, resources, and partners in the work – not just task masters looking to hit the deadlines.

I’m not going to lie and say this is easy. When I started sharing and applying the practices with my teams, it took time to get everyone on the same page to understand accountability, ways of working, and relationship evolution. BUT in a short period of time, as we worked on projects and day-to-day operations the successes were readily seen. Employee engagement scores increased, there was clear personal and career development progression (both in role and for future opportunities), and most importantly the alignment and buy-in for our mission and goals were being demonstrated internally and externally.

As a Leader, be the most inspiring Guide possible for your team.

Share with them the itinerary and details of the amazing journey you will be taking on the next project or business quarter.

Give them the map, take them on the journey, stop at a vista along the way to share insights, celebrate accomplishments / acknowledge challenges, and give them a chance to bask in the glory of where they are.

You may find that the hike you are on is taking longer than anticipated. That is ok, because as the guide, you have planned for this! You built in extra time to complete the trip (do you build in a buffer when creating your project deliverable timelines? Of course you do!). Someone may be having more difficulty on the steep parts of the hike, but you and the rest of the group are ready – taking some of the load from their pack or resting when needed.

When your team knows you are there FOR them and aren’t seen as the harbinger of bad news, the time on the trail becomes a shared adventure that is remembered for the accomplishment of each person and the group and is the most rewarding for everyone.