Leadership Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

1. Leadership Training Extended • Unit 4: Leadership

2. How to Develop as a Leader Steps along the road to leadership (For the Beginner Bushwalking Leader) • Gain Experience in the Activity a) Acquire knowledge b) Learn the skills c) Experience a wide range of - areas - conditions - groups - problems BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

3. How to Develop as a Leader 2. Learn about Leadership • Think about leadership- also read & talk it • Understand the basic concepts • Extend your own limits- through testing experience • Know basic requirements for bushwalk leadership • Observe leaders in the field • Learn to recognise non- verbal signs & signals • Learn how to ‘manage’ people • Learn how to be a good follower BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

4. How to Develop as a Leader 3. Experience Leadership in the Field • Plan the trip and execute the plan • Make decisions under pressure • Practise concentration on the task elements • Learn how it feels to be ‘in charge’ • Test different techniques • Recognise and accept the duties of leadership • Think about your own motives • Remember your feelings as a beginner walker BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

5. How to Develop as a Leader 4. Grow in Leadership • Study the total environment • Study the people you will lead • Sharpen your powers of observation • Cultivate the habit of checking • Grow in confidence- the problem will pass • Flush out your unresolved anxieties • Develop your own ‘style’ • Appreciate the value of subtlety • Learn how to handle conflict in the group BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

6. How to Develop as a Leader 5. Towards the heights • Practisecare and concern for each individual • Plan the emotional as well as physical elements • Aim for positive leadership (not ‘negative’ control) • Make sure each person experiences positive feelings • Display and encourage enthusiasm • Build confidence and encourage each individual • Strive to do better • Never stop learning BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

7. Knowing your own abilities An apprentice stonemason does not begin to learn the trade by first building a soaring cathedral. Cleaning up the rubble or perhaps sharpening the tools may be a more appropriate place to start. • Similarly, the pathway to good leadership begins with the basic skills and slowly progresses to more advanced capabilities. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

8. Knowing your own abilities Your own journey along the pathway to becoming a leader should be conscious and directed. • First of all you must be capable of completing as a group member the types of trips you imagine leading. • Your technical skills and physical fitness should allow you to comfortably participate in the type of trips you wish to lead. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

9. Knowing your own abilities Only then can you concentrate on the tasks of leadership. • If basic survival tasks, such as pitching your own tent or coping with inclement weather push you to your limits, then you are probably not yet ready to assume the sometimes onerous task of leadership. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

10. Leadership Leadership “A leader is best when people barely know he exists. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him. Worse when they despise him. Fail to honour people and they fail to honour you. But of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say, ‘we did this ourselves’.” Lao Tzu (6th Century BC). BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

11. Leadership Good people skills always exist with good leadership. Most of the information in this section is taken from the book Bushwalking and Ski Touring Leadership, which is available on-line at: www.outdoorleaderonline.org. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

12. Leadership What is bushwalking leadership? • Throughout the twentieth century philosophers and behavioural scientists invested a great deal of effort into expanding our knowledge and understanding of the subject of leadership. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

13. Leadership We now know much more about how a leader should act in a range of circumstances, but we still do not have sharply defined rules for every possible situation. Like all other elements of human behaviour, the lines are rarely straight and the borders are often blurred. • What we have is a box of tools that can be used to seek an understanding of many of the situations which confront the leaders of outdoor adventure groups. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

14. Leadership Stages of group development • One of the tools in your tool box is to understand a model by Tuckman (1965) which describes how groups develop over a period of time. It is especially useful as a guide to understanding the behaviours in a group of unrelated people who come together to undertake an activity or task which extends over several days or longer. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

15. Leadership This model, in certain circumstances, can give an understandable explanation of what may otherwise be bewildering behaviour. • This model is not always relevant, particularly on short trips or where the group members know each other well. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

16. Leadership Tuckmanʼs model describes five stages, to which he applied catchy labels: forming, norming, storming, performing and adjourning. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

17. Leadership Forming This is where the people who will form the group meet and begin to establish their assessment of what is likely to happen, and how they each might fit in. • At these times, many will look to the leader to establish appropriate rules, assist with introductions, and help members feel safe while encouraging initiative. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

18. Leadership Forming continued: At this stage, a high profile and encouraging style is generally appropriate, but with a firm eye to ensure any inappropriate behaviour is identified and outlawed before it has a chance to become a problem. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

19. Leadership The next two stages, called norming and storming, frequently occur in the same time frame. Arguably they are both facets of the group working through the rules which will govern their behaviour and the pecking order within the group. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

20. Leadership Norming • The major element of this phase is the establishment of acceptable standards of behaviour within the group (i.e. group norms). • Rules of behaviour will usually and desirably be worked out by consensus— often in a non-verbal manner. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

21. Leadership Storming • This is the stage when groups often go through a more searching, demanding and aggressive phase. • There are situations where temporarily established norms, including that of the leader, may be challenged. • Individuals may question the legitimacy of everything in the group: who is a member, competency of individuals, appropriate behaviour, the task to be tackled, leadership authority, etc. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

22. Leadership Storming continued: As a leader, you should understand that this stage is typical in the functioning of an unfamiliar group established to tackle an apparently challenging goal. When confronted by these situations leaders often do well by showing understanding and flexibility, but at the same time, strength and confidence. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

23. Leadership The storming stage resolves when sufficient members believe that the benefit of belonging to the group outweighs the restrictions on personal freedom from group membership. If the trip is short, or many members know each other, this stage may be muted or nonexistent. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

24. Leadership The storming and norming phases are not usually distinct and sequential. Some groups may move back and forth between the two and some groups may never move beyond these phases. Skillful leadership can be needed to move the group into the performing phase. This will include careful cultivation of a culture of respect for each individual and a belief in the capacities of the total group. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

25. Leadership Performing • In the performing phase the group puts all its energy into achieving its goals. • The group should be capable of achieving more than the sum of the individuals in it. • The leader will mainly be involved as a peer and resource person and only occasionally as someone with a significantly different role to other members. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

26. Leadership A well-functioning group should spend the majority of its time in this phase, provided that the group stays together for at least several days. It is rare for a group to reach the performing stage in a weekend. • It is sometimes necessary for groups to regress, particularly when a new member joins the group or the role of the group changes. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

27. Leadership Adjourning (mourning) Finally, there comes a time when the group must disband (or adjourn). There may be a feeling of impending loss, but the main preoccupation will be with reminiscing and evaluating. • Group members start to separate and focus on issues outside the experience, although frequently plans are made for reunions. • The leaderʼs main responsibility is to help the group face the task and the social or emotional issues involved in its disbanding. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

28. Leadership Summary The overall pattern of group development outlined by this model gives valuable insights to a group leader. The characteristic behaviour patterns of the first three phases (caution, exploration and aggression) can be understood and handled sympathetically. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

29. Leadership This model works well where there are high stakes such as a long period together, where there is something to prove or where the level of challenge is high. • It seems to be less important when the trip is short, the group members know each other well, or for other reasons there is less at stake. • In these circumstances, often the stages blur, with an important forming, some norming, little storming, and a level of performing as demanded by the circumstances. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

30. Leadership In pairs, spend a few minutes sharing something from your own experience which you think fits in with this model. It need not be a bushwalking specific example. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

31. Leadership Styles of Leadership Leaders of adventure groups often have to perform many roles in the course of a trip. They may have to encourage a beginner, arbitrate a dispute and inspire confidence when faced with a hazard. • In addition to an awareness of group dynamics, leaders need to have a feeling for the appropriateness of various styles of leadership for particular situations and different groups. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

32. Leadership A number of styles of leadership can be described, ranging from ʻautocraticʼ to ʻlaissez-faireʼ. To be effective, leaders need to be aware of their own predominant personal styles and be able to expand their range of options. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

33. Leadership • Each style has appropriate applications, depending on the group, the nature of the task and the range of outside factors influencing the situation. • Aspiring leaders will benefit from an understanding of the range of styles and the situations where each is appropriate. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

34. Leadership BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

35. Leadership Situational Leadership A useful leadership theory, the situational leadership model, was first put forward by Hersey and Blanchard in 1982. • The situational leadership model is still in common use today. • Although most readily applicable to leadership in a corporate context, the model is also well suited to the outdoor situation when the members of the group are mostly at a similar level of development. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

36. Leadership Successful application of the theory demands that the leader have understanding, flexibility, patience and a high level of empathy with the members of the group. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

37. Leadership The four stages are: Directing Coaching Supporting Delegating • As leader, listed here are some of the ways that you can work with your group, according to these stages. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

38. Leadership Directing • Provide detailed instructions. • Give group members specific goals and objectives. • Check frequently to keep group members on track. • Enforce rules and regulations. • Demonstrate the steps involved in the task. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

39. Leadership Coaching • Present objectives in a convincing manner. • Motivate with praise and other rewards. • Reinforce and develop group membersʼabilities. • Provide encouraging feedback on individual performance. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

40. Leadership Supporting • Involve group members in decisions which will affect them. • Make members feel free to ask questions and express concerns. • Help individuals to develop higher skills. • Listen to their concerns with real interest and without criticism. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

41. Leadership Delegating • Delegate broad responsibilities and leave members to handle the details. • Expect group members to find and correct their own errors. • Provide feedback on overall performance. • Allow risk taking and innovation. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

42. Leadership Some leadership actions appropriate to the four styles are detailed in Figure 48.1 and typical needs of group members are described in Table 48.1. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

43. Leadership BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

44. Leadership Individual members, and the group as a whole, can be expected to move up and down the scale of development in response to perceived successes or failures along the way. • Generally, competence and confidence should grow with experience but if a challenge proves too great and some failure occurs, confidence will suffer and competence may diminish. • Careful leadership should minimise the risk of such setbacks occurring and should work quickly to restore confidence and commitment. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

45. Leadership Understanding group needs • Individual needs • Task needs • Group needs • Balance of task and group needs BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

46. Leadership Groups are comprised of individuals, but they also have a life of their own. To recognise what is required for dealing with both the needs of the group and also each of the individuals is an important skill of leaders. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

47. Leadership Individual, task and group needs • The functioning of groups in most situations is heavily influenced by the three-way interaction of the needs of individuals, the need to complete the task or activity, and the needs of the group as a whole. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

48. Leadership Outdoor adventure leaders should have the ability to focus attention on the group as well as the activity, the person as well as the task. • They should carefully influence the group to work together toward their goals, while at the same time facilitating the progress of each individual along the path of enjoyment, satisfaction and personal growth. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

49. Leadership A useful model for identifying the range of Individual needs within recreational groups is the three interlocking circles shown in Figure 45.1. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership

50. Leadership Leaders should be aware of the importance and interdependence of all three areas of need, and should ensure that no single area is neglected. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 4: Leadership