Out of the Classroom: Wharton Leadership Ventures
Walk the Walk

A series of Wharton programs beginning this spring will offer a new approach to leadership training that weaves together academic lectures with outdoor activities. Wharton Leadership Ventures: Experiencing Leadership Through Action and Reflection takes participants on hikes in the California-Nevada Lake Tahoe Region on the West Coast and at the Adirondack and Catskill Mountains on the East Coast as part of an integrated program on leadership. In contrast to "Outward Bound" types of programs, these 3-day sessions are designed to strengthen and improve your ability to think strategically, communicate effectively, and act decisively while in a natural setting. Readings, case studies, and discussions will expose you to a range of leadership and teamwork styles and challenges and help you develop the flexibility to lead across company and cultural differences.

Topics covered in the programs include:

  • Risk awareness and mitigation
  • Rapid decision making
  • Reflection, vision, and effective communication
  • Use of metaphor for leadership and team building
  • Core values, ideas, and competencies
  • Conflict resolution within teams

Wharton faculty conduct the classroom sessions, and professionally trained climbers and exercise physiologists lead the hikes. Among these specialists are Edwin Bernbaum, PhD, Program Director at The Mountain Institute and a Research Associate at the University of California at Berkeley; and Mark Davidson, Program Director for Wharton Leadership Ventures. Mr. Davidson is an avid outdoor enthusiast and a Wharton MBA graduate. As a consultant in the health care information technology industry, Davidson worked with senior executives on business and technology strategy as well as organizational structure, dynamics, and communication.

Customized Leadership Ventures

Wharton also offers leadership ventures on a customized basis for companies and organizations that wish to take groups of managers through an intensive shared learning experience. Dr. Michael Useem recently took a group of company executives on a weekend trip to the Gettysburg Battlefield as part of a customized leadership venture. The extended visit began with a dinner-time discussion of Civil War history on Friday night, followed by a full day of walking the historic battlefield. It culminated in these executives extracting lessons they could use upon returning to their offices. "One of the things we learned on this trek was that the weakness of just one of Lee’s commanders, which went unnoticed by Lee, ended up turning the direction of the whole war in favor of the North," Useem said. And although Lee was distinguished for not micro-managing his generals, Useem said, this one oversight had enormous implications. "He had a very empowering leadership style — he would bring in good people and give them a wide latitude and discretion in the battlefield."

Venture Virtually

The new programs build upon the hands-on experiences of Wharton’s Center for Leadership and Change Management, which has organized treks or leadership expeditions such as climbing Mount Everest in the Himalayas, hiking in the High Sierra to trace the path of the Donner Party — and even a hitch at the Marine Corps Training Facility in Quantico, Virginia. Beginning in January 2002, the Center will hold simulated ventures at the U.S. Army’s Fort Dix, NJ, facility. The first virtual venture, Useem said, will recreate the scenarios facing U.N. Peacekeepers in Bosnia.

Find out more about the new program Wharton Leadership Ventures: Experiencing Leadership Through Action and Reflection.

   

This month's articles:

  • Thought Leaders: Leading Up
    Acting as If You Were in Charge: What do you do when your boss is making a bad decision? Wharton Professor Michael Useem examines the consequences of keeping quiet.
  • Laughter From the Front Lines: We learn how important it is to pay attention to the little nuances of conversations — even if you think you’re speaking the same language.
  • Wharton West: Vice Dean Helps A.L.S. Association: When a teaching sabbatical, a relative’s diagnosis with a crippling disease, and a passion for bicycling all came together for Len and Susan Lodish.
  • Wharton Fellows: Fellows at Chicago Regional Forum Set New Program Design Transformation.
  • In the Classroom: The Leadership Journey: What’s Your Story? Your own story can become your leadership map.
  • Out of the Classroom: Wharton Leadership Ventures: A new Wharton program helps you to walk the walk — across mountains and valleys — in search of new perspectives on leadership.
  • The Last Word: Wharton and The New Business Reality: Taking Stock of the Future. Vice Dean Bob Mittelstaedt discusses Wharton scenarios for the future and a new program on "the new business realities."