OUTWARD BOUND PROGRAMMES AND THEIR IMPACT ON LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS
Expeditions by land, sea, or river, activities including trekking, bush walking, caving, rock climbing, rappelling, orienteering, canoeing, rafting, cascading, completing ropes confidence courses, horse riding, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, and sailing form a part of what has been termed as “Outward Bound”, “Outdoor Education”, “Adventure Education” programs. ... The establishment and fulfillment of personal and group goals in outdoor physical activities, the group experience, and the opportunity to experience and master stressful situations are all important components of adventure programs in general and the Outward Bound program in particular. These programs are now popular as effective methods of training people, especially in team building and leadership. ... Another main theory is that of "training the mind through the body emphasized by Kurt Hahn who suggested that Outward Bound was training through the body, not for the body. ... In 1980, Thomas James in his article “Can the Mountains Speak for Themselves” pointed out a competing tension amongst Outward Bound instructors -- some preferred to take participants through adventurous experiences, letting the experience speak for itself, whilst other, more touchy-feely instructors, felt it was important to help participants process, analyze, and discuss their experiences. ... The therapist (in Outward Bound cases, the instructor or facilitator or anyone who takes charge as a leader) in mutual agreement with the participant sets a goal. ... Luckner and Nadler have proposed Equality, Developing relationships quickly, Disequilibrium, Projective technique, Decreased time cycle, Meta learning, Chaos and crisis in a safe environment, Kinaesthetic imprint, Common language / common mythology, Encourage risk taking, Diversity of strengths and Fun as the 12 reasons for the effectiveness of experiential learning. The most cited outdoor education theory is the "Outward Bound Process Model", also sometimes referred to as the "Walsh and Golins Model" (Walsh & Golins, 1976). This model proposes a series of seven processes to explain the apparent power of Outward Bound programs: 1. ... Keeping this generic description in mind, the Outward Bound process functions as characteristic problem-solving tasks set in a prescribed physical and social environment which impel the participant to mastery of these tasks and which in turn serves to reorganize the meaning and direction of his life experience. ... The Outward Bound practice-theory of facilitating experiential learning can be understood as a theory about ‘relational learning’, which assumes that there is no distinction between experiential learning and group development. ... The practice of facilitating Outward Bound-programs can be understood as an “enactment” (Weick, 1979) of this theory of relational learning. ... The first process is a matter of ‘selection’, in the sense that the trainers select a reference frame of relational learning to view Outward Bound programs, rather than any of a number of reference frames which they adopt in other contexts. ... Aspects of I can be operationalized, such as self-concept or personal effectiveness. ... DIMENSIONS OF SYSTEMS FRAMEWORK In view of the systems framework domains, leadership in the context of various dimensions can be elaborated upon as follows: Participant Most outbound programs, unless sponsored by a Corporate for a pre-existing team, bring unique participants. ... This gives ample opportunity for the exhibition of characteristics typical to transformational leadership. Each participant makes a unique impact on the other domains and the interactive relationships unfold. ... This kind of time spent together provides an opportunity to establish trust through the display of task as well as nurturant leadership style. ... Martin, Lieberman, and Neill (2002) have described "wave theory" as used by Outward Bound in the Czech Republic, which involves intentionally sequencing separate, but interacting waves of physical, emotional, social, and intellectual activities. ... A program can explicitly state its purpose as being a leadership development program or it can be a program without a clearly defined purpose, to begin with. ... Instructor An instructor in a leadership development outbound program might prove to be an obstacle. ... Hendy (1975) found that the more highly rated Outward Bound instructors were typically reserved, bright, dominant, tender-minded, imaginative, forthright, experimenting, and creative. ... Culture also influences important program elements such as program length, location, program difficulty, and the degree to which various program modalities are emphasized (physical, emotional, social, intellectual, or spiritual) IMPACT ON LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS The practice-theory presents a reference frame about group development that is further elaborated than the models available in the literature. In the Outward Bound practice-theory, learning is intertwined with the development of the learning group. ... The Outward Bound trainers assess the relational safety in the group in terms of three closely related development tracks, i. ... Leadership Stoltz (1992) reviewed promotional materials for Outward Bound courses and found that each program explicitly claimed to improve the teamwork, communication, and leadership skills of its participants (see also Miner, 1991). Richards (1975) noted that the public perception of Outward Bound was about leadership, usually in Spartan conditions, involving hard physical work, team spirit, and unsophisticated food. Although these aspects can be present, Richards argued that leadership needs to be viewed as the performance of those acts that help the group achieve its goals. ... During the Outward Bound programs there are many challenges presented which require a coordinated effort and cohesive group spirit to overcome. ... 10) Hence, it is argued, Outward Bound stimulates the development of interpersonal competence, which may be seen as a very fundamental aspect of leadership. Over most leadership dimensions there were high effects in our meta-analysis, and it can be concluded that most adventure programs impact leadership competencies. Given that many programs aiming to enhance leadership skills involve participants already nominated because they appear to have leadership potential, then these effects are most impressive. ... Outward Programs are demanding experiences full of opportunities and problems and these challenges are part of the reason why people choose to face unfamiliar situations such as difficult weather or terrain, changes in travel plans or using new equipment, adventurous pursuit, scientific study or community project in a strange place, the problems to be faced can never be fully predicted. ... Leadership is about working with people, to ensure the maximum opportunity from the experience for everyone; to resolve problems that arise with the task or between the group; and to achieve the desired outcomes of the trip i. ... Leaders are people who take on a particular role in relation to other people and leadership is the set of behaviours they use. The qualities approach to leadership suggests that leaders possess certain attributes or qualities that make them suitable for leadership. ... When they emerge their effectiveness will depend on the confidence, experience and maturity of the person. ... It is important to add that there are also many examples of effective leadership Situational leadership - a dynamic approach The Hersey and Blanchard model, called Situational Leadership (1969), is a way to look at leadership style in relation to the development of a group.