Ever Since the 1970s, companies have implemented outdoor games and activities for team building and leadership skills. At that time, hikes to high priced crunchy self-improvement centers and self hosted Erhard Seminars were especially popular. Today, though, they focus much more on advanced problem-solving routines, usually in the middle of the woods or a whitewater rapid.
Currently, to many people, even the notion of sending a group of businessmen into the woods on a three-day kayaking or rock-climbing trip sounds like a variation of the classic corporate golf clustermess, but it's not a walk in the park. For one thing, such trips are typically cold and wet, or scorching and dry, and often physically stressful. For another, there's commonly a bigger rationale for enrolling than letting the boss triumph over you.
While there usually is an component of fun involved, these methods are intended to have bona fide long-term benefits. Whether a organization is enrolling only its top execs or the entire company, these exercises work because people are out of their habitual work environment, and thus more comfortable and much more open to different ideas. "It doesn't matter if you're the CEO or the latest hire," says Mr Bob Gordon of Outwardbound.com. "If your job is to navigate the rapids as a team, you want to listen to everybody."
JMPerry Learning Technologies Incorporated
Want to give your executive management team a reality check? If so, send them to JMPerry in Ventura, Calif. "We take executives and put them in a perceived environment of threat," says Alice Cutter, products director. "We put them in sink-or-swim situations to see how they react." Dr JM Perry has a variety of team building and leadership programs that would get even the most seasoned CEO salivating.
Organizations can choose from programs such as The Executive Cup, where groups can set sail on high-tech boats in the Bay in San Francisco or the Caribbean and work on introductory sailing and a sailing slalom course. JM Perry also conducts The cross-county Skiing Challenge and The White Water Challenge. Before teams get active and adventurous, there is always an educational classroom component where team building skills are discussed before they are practiced in the environment. After the outdoor adventure, there is always a "de-brief" and executives receive a written evaluation of the complete experience. Dr Perry will design custom courses depending on geographic local and number of people; if you want to be blessed with Dr. Perry himself, it will cost you an additional fee. Charles Schwab and Accenture are only a few companies that have participated in some of Dr Perrys Executive Adventure Retreats.
The Outward Bound Adventure Training
The Outward Bound company is one of the oldest and most highly regarded outdoor adventure schools in the United States, but just because it's old, doesn't mean it's boring. The organization has over Forty individual locations all over the world, and its Outward Bound Professional Program is tailored specifically with corporate executives in mind. "We use Outward Bound as a laboratory to take ideas and concepts about leadership and make them real," says Bob Gordon, the director of Outward Bound Professional on Hurricane Island. "It's one thing to hear about leadership skills in the boardroom and another to use them in the wilderness."
JMPerry's Client list is lengthy.
Below are just a few:
EMI Music
Merrill Lynch
VISA
Bank of America
Securities Industry Assn.
Charles Schwab
About Jmperry.com
JMPerry.com is a recognized expert in the field of human performance. JMPerry Learning provides live presentations, training courses, executive retreats, and a wide array of other team-building activities and online media titles to help customers worldwide leverage their strategic advantages and human performance.
JM Perry Learning's mission is simply to leverage human performance. Their programs have been presented in over 30 countries and over 11 languages with outstanding results. Dr. JM Perry's clients have realized many millions of dollars in increased revenues and enhanced efficiency by incorporating his teachings and adopting these highly effective interpersonal modifications and performance skills.
