Taking Leadership to the Extreme

In December 2002 the Managing Director of Kennards Self Storage, Sam Kennard, stood proudly on the summit of Mt Aylmer at the head of the Tasman glacier on the Mt Cook range, in South Island New Zealand.

After a 4am start and a tough three-hour trek to the mountain's base, he and his fellow climbers were prepared to take on the challenge. Reaching the peak provided opportunity for each to reflect on what they had achieved and what this meant for them both personally and professionally.

At this point Mr Kennard held up his company's culture (OCI) results, indicating the gap between where they stand and where they would like to be.

This poignant moment came about at an outdoor self-development programme run by Human Synergistics Accredited Consultant Stephen Klemich. Klemich's philosophy is a commitment to an individual, case-by-case approach in leadership, team and culture development in order to meet particular business needs.

As a trained mountaineer, Klemich launched a programme last year that takes high achieving executives to the extreme in self-discovery. The aim was to develop a course that takes them into an extraordinary situation that is character building and promotes personal growth.

The building of character, Klemich suggests, is the key to behaving constructively and being effective in work and relationships.

He argues that the 'jargon' and politics of corporate life fosters a corporate "personality" - one that enables executives to survive although they may be governed by fear and uncertainty.

Fear produces defensive, ineffective behaviours, which ultimately hold back personal and organisational success.

The Alpine programme is carefully designed to couple structured feedback with goal setting and team activities. Prior to departure, participants assess their own behaviour and ask for feedback from others with the Life Styles Inventory (LSI) self-development tool.

On day one, the group of 3 executives, aided by Klemich and a mountain guide, fly in to Mount Cook village where they receive their feedback and set goals for the days ahead. After a day of mountaineering skills training, the group set out to an arctic hut at the head of the Tasman glacier, where they will reside for five days of team-decided pursuits.

The team activities are challenging both in terms of the dangerous environment and the level of communication and quick thinking required. The participants are out of their comfort zone, in an unfamiliar team, and have to problem-solve and make decisions in a very real situation.

Klemich says, instinctively, when faced with such circumstances, executives are forced to reflect on the effectiveness of their behaviour.

For Kennard, it "enabled me to consciously observe my natural reactions and deal with them".

"The uncertainty of the environment highlighted a need to be more supportive of others and deal more constructively with conflict, so that the team could achieve the goals we had set," said Kennard.

The parallels to the business world are clear: you can have goals and strategic plans set in stone, but the environment is ever-changing and you have to adjust and be prepared to take perceived risks.

The debrief at the end of the trek revealed the true implications of the experience for the group, with a full day reflecting on what went well and where each would like to improve.

Kennard has taken these learnings and applied them to both his personal and professional life. He has a keen sense of accomplishment at climbing the peak and the messages about effective behaviours are clearer than ever before.

With a firm management philosophy that his people are the critical factor in their success, he can now focus on developing himself to lead them in effectiveness.

Stephen Klemich is a Human Synergistics' Accredited Consultant with Achievement Concepts. He runs regular five-day indoor/outdoor leadership programmes, in the Blue Mountains. For more information contact Stephen on (02) 9552 1480.