Sunday, February 24, 2008
Abu Dhabi Bound
I shopped for desert gaiters today. Didn't know I would ever need such a thing until my friend, Linwood Paul, invited me to support a project he's on in Abu Dhabi. I will be over there for two weeks starting in early March.
Linwood specializes in experiential learning and leadership development events, which involve ropes and games and that take place mostly outdoors -- in parks and, in the case of Abu Dhabi, in a sandy, desert camp. Hence, the desert gaiters, to keep out the talcum powder-fine sand out of my hiking boots.
I worked with Linwood on a similar project in Los Angeles and marveled at how powerful the experiential work was for leaders at all levels, many of whom entered their "day in the park" with some attitude about wasting time "playing" and left with profound insights into their own styles of leadership under pressure.
Directive leaders show up as highly directive in games that involve ambiguity. Natural collaborators reveal their colors in the first game of the day. And so on. The gift of this work is that there's no convincing a leader of what's showing up - they just had the experience, and so did their colleagues.
The first week in Abu Dhabi, I'll be shadowing the male facilitators working with male leaders. The second week, I'll be working with all female facilitators with an all-female group of leaders. What an honor. I couldn't be more excited!
I think I'll have to make that care package I put together for Linwood (and others on the team) that much more spectacular. It doesn't hurt to get off to a good start!
Linwood specializes in experiential learning and leadership development events, which involve ropes and games and that take place mostly outdoors -- in parks and, in the case of Abu Dhabi, in a sandy, desert camp. Hence, the desert gaiters, to keep out the talcum powder-fine sand out of my hiking boots.
I worked with Linwood on a similar project in Los Angeles and marveled at how powerful the experiential work was for leaders at all levels, many of whom entered their "day in the park" with some attitude about wasting time "playing" and left with profound insights into their own styles of leadership under pressure.
Directive leaders show up as highly directive in games that involve ambiguity. Natural collaborators reveal their colors in the first game of the day. And so on. The gift of this work is that there's no convincing a leader of what's showing up - they just had the experience, and so did their colleagues.
The first week in Abu Dhabi, I'll be shadowing the male facilitators working with male leaders. The second week, I'll be working with all female facilitators with an all-female group of leaders. What an honor. I couldn't be more excited!
I think I'll have to make that care package I put together for Linwood (and others on the team) that much more spectacular. It doesn't hurt to get off to a good start!
# posted by Cindy Marteney @ 5:42 PM 
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