Enhancing Leadership Training with Outdoor Adventures

To help organizations transform managers into leaders who take their teams to the next level of performance, Alpine Link Corporation, a leadership development company, and Colorado Bike and Ski Tours, an outdoor experiential leadership company, joined forces to form the Alpine Initiative. This joint venture combines inventive group activities and stimulating outdoor adventure with new insights in lifting business performance. The result is a high return-on-investment management development experience. To learn more about these partners, visit their individual websites by clicking on the icons below…

About the leaders of AI…

Mike Hawkins, a co-partner in the Alpine Initiative, has been a leader, consultant, executive coach and trainer for over 23 years. Having worked for IBM, Scient, LogicaCMG and Alpine Link, he has greatly benefited from training and ongoing development, but has also experienced the limitations of conventional classroom training.

“Conventional instructor led classroom training just isn’t very effective. Studies show that within a matter of weeks, the participants forget most of what was taught. Alternatively, when the learning approach emphasizes hands-on application and real time feedback, retention goes way up. Now, with the programs we are providing in the Alpine Initiative, we take hands-on application to another level by merging it with experiential adventure. With this combination, the retention goes up even higher because when people are fully engaged and having fun, their minds at their peak,”

Byron Swezy, co-partner in the Alpine Initiative, has been involved in outdoor education as well as international logistics for almost 20 years. Having traveled in over 100 countries, Swezy has gained enormous experience in the field of domestic and international adventure travel. He has organized outdoor-based initiatives for hundreds of clients.

“True learning necessitates that you put yourself into an environment outside of both your comfort zone and outside the boundaries of familiarity. This is the zone where the right balance of cerebral, physical and creative processes lead to high retention,” said Swezy.

“Leadership and Ownership”

Organizations today contend with a variety of issues. Whether internal or external, many are symptoms of a common root problem - leaders aren't leading and employees aren't following. For example, many organizational change initiatives fail because employees aren't adequately bought-in and don't feel ownership for the results. Imparting ownership to employees is a critical leadership competency that when developed gets at the root of many organizational issues. The Alpine Initiative covers a variety of topics that enable leaders to better lead and followers to better follow. Through a combination of classroom instruction and adventure based field exercises, people at all levels learn how to lead, follow and reach their peak potential - both personally and professionally.