How do you behave as a leader in a stressful situation?
A cliff, a fall and a challenging exercise in leadership.
I went off the grid for three weeks in the Spanish Pyrenees for a training from the European Wilderness Education School. In this blog I shared my first three insights. On day 11, a big challenge awaited me.
Most mornings of the three-week training are devoted to theory. We learn skills such as navigation, bushcrafting, knot tying and first aid for emergencies in the wilderness. After the theory it is time for practice. And it is often impactful, sometimes even downright challenging.
Panic brakes out
It is about six o'clock in the evening, we have just learned how to make our own harness and use it to abseil. “Lars, we have a problem!” the supervisor shouts, while a walkie-talkie is pressed into my hand. 'Help me! Please help me! My wife has fallen off a cliff!' All eyes are now on me and I feel the tension rising. To increase the pressure even more, I am told: 'Come on Lars, they need help, you have to act now!' I send two people ahead and encourage the rest of the group to get ready . After half an hour of walking I arrive at the crime scene. To my surprise, the doctor we have been teaching by for two days actually lies at the bottom of an abyss, which is overgrown and strewn with trees and stones. She screams for help; her leg is broken and there is a risk of hypothermia. It takes me and my team at least an hour to find a way down. In the meantime, I appoint an assistant leader to help me keep an overview.
Cross the river
The first ten minutes I feel a lot of pressure. I start talking faster, sometimes almost shouting and work chaotically. Calm down Lars, that's what I get back from my team member. Breathe, take a five-minute break to calm down, and think about what you're going to do. I manage to find peace. After three hours we all climbed down and abseiled, where I and one team member guided another team member in a panicked state step by step down. A stretcher has now been made from ropes and we are splinting the broken leg. And now? How do we get out of here? It is pitch dark and it is raining. We can't go back up. The only option is to cross the river next to us. We manage to stretch ropes across the river with which we take the woman, wrapped like a burrito, to the other side. We make our way through the water ourselves. The simulation ends at 3:00 am. In circumstances far removed from my daily practice, in the wilderness of Northern Spain. Bizarre. We reflect on the entire process with the supervisors and the team and provide each other with valuable feedback.
Time for reflection
The next day I reflect again on the way in which I have fulfilled my leadership. What are my patterns and my impulses under pressure? I jump into action mode without thinking, I realize. I also put extra pressure on myself because I want to do well. What helped me was asking for a great assistant who could monitor the structure, so I could choose and have room to zoom out, manage my team members and step into action mode where necessary. When I was a manager at Johnson & Johnson fifteen years ago, I was too proud to ask for help or acknowledge my shortcomings. My life would have been easier and my impact greater if I had known this then.
Purposeful motion
After many walks in the woods and snowy mountains, lessons about navigation, team challenges, simulations, breathing exercises and a lot of silence, it is becoming increasingly clear to me: nature is a purifier and a teacher. I am more aware of my inner world, my thoughts are clearer and my emotions rawer. When I stand in front of a roaring river in which I can fill my water bottle, I realize that the path I am walking is the right one. The slogan 'Purposeful motion' of my company Raak Expeditions has never been so tangible.
Do you also want to become more aware of your leadership style, your Achilles heel in leadership and curious about how nature can help you with this? Take a look at our expedition offering or coaching programs.
