Our story and how we work

Leadership dysfunction is avoidable…

Four “P”s underpin our high impact programmes in amazing places. More about these in a moment.

First a short back-story.

I have led at senior levels in the public, not for profit, and private sectors, including with the British Army and Special Forces. I have also consulted, facilitated, and coached widely.  I know what good leadership delivers and what it looks, sounds and feels like. I have also studied it extensively.

Many organisations could do so much better. And yet a lot of dysfunction is avoidable. CEOs know this.  Whether it is short term thinking, a weak sense of mission,  poor communication, fear and mistrust, or a lack of self- and situational awareness – there is a multitude of ways in which leaders don’t lead as well as they could.

Ultimately this means that teams and organisations fall short of their ambitions.

Connecting to amazing..!

In spending a lot of my life outdoors, from an idyllic adventure-filled childhood in Scotland, through service in a Mountain Rescue team, and a first career in the military, I have noticed how powerfully place influences the way people think and act.

The workplace can be great for operational thinking and coordination. But go outdoors and connect with somewhere amazing and everything changes. Biochemistry, blood pressure, mood, openness to new thinking, and more. Our first “P” is for Place.

The possibilities beyond the problems…

Add expert facilitation that pursues the questions that give life to the ambitious possibilities that lie the other side of the problems that clamour and seduce, and we are entering leadership territory. This is our second “P”, the Process of inquiry. Doing this outdoors fires up all our senses and make inquiry deeply experiential.

Getting all creative…

Time-out to think on one’s own is great. Time-out to think together with others is super-powerful. This takes us beyond debate, fixed mental models, and entrenched points of view and into active listening, dialogue and the creation of new insights and joint meaning. The conditions for creativity are now in place! Our third “P” is for People.

The comedian, climber, and Commando…

Our final “P” is for Partners. We create unique experiences, programmes, and simulations  by working  with specialist partner companies. Closer to home, our experienced crew of consultants, facilitators, and coaches is drawn from chief officers and directors,  improvisation performers and detectives, Everest summiteers and paramedics, elite military and more.

It’s a rich bank of backgrounds, skills and life experiences that bring creative challenge and support to our leadership clients, hundreds of whom have joined us on microadventures, retreats, adventure drives, treks, and missions since we launched in 2011.

Step off the hamster wheel, slow down, and breathe

We would love to work with you. Give me a call.

Dave

P.S. You might also like to read our Manifesto here.