New Zealand Paralympian and the first double-amputee to conquer Mt Everest, Mark Inglis, says the best boardroom lessons he ever learnt were on the side of a mountain.
“There are more similarities between surviving on the mountain and steering a large business through crisis than you may think. You're always thinking of the resources on hand, the needs of the people around you, and the best path to take forward.”
Mark, who has thrown his weight behind the inaugural First Boots Expeditions trips, describes them as an “exciting and innovative” professional development programme for corporate executives.
Designed to get high-powered individuals away from endless PowerPoint presentations and into the bush, the inaugural trip in May 2022 is a mixture of high-adrenaline activity, luxury accommodation, and leadership training.
‘Coast to Crater’, is a nine-day excursion into New Zealand’s remote East Coast. Starting in Gisborne, participants will tramp through bush and hunt in dense spots accessible only by helicopter. By night, they’ll sleep in tents and prepare bush tucker around a campfire with the First Boots team, including ex-members of the military and special forces.
The expedition leaders – who have decades of military experience between them – will guide the participants to make their own decisions as they make their way through the bush. Only about 60 per cent of the trip is planned on purpose.
“Inevitably we will run into issues with the weather or client led navigation,” an expedition leader and ex-special forces operative says. “At that point, we’ll put it to the group to make the smart decisions that will allow us to move forward.”
This expedition leader, who also has experience in operational control rooms, says the experiential, military-inspired learning provided on the trip could prove to be invaluable to senior executives who are working within similar “high-consequence, low margin of error” environments.
“When the situation changes and suddenly everyone’s looking at you, the last thing you want to do is let anxiety overwhelm a rational decision-making cycle, leading to rash actions.
“Nine times out of ten, the best decisions are made when you take a second to calm down and weigh up the risks. That second could go on to save you countless hours of stress down the line."
Participants will get feedback on how they lead the group, both from the expedition team and their peers.
“When you’re a senior executive, you don’t get much feedback on how you’re being perceived, most of the time. But that’s really important when you are the one making a snap decision and asking everyone else in the room to come along with you on that.”
At the end of the trip, the group can look forward to recovering at one of New Zealand’s premier luxury accommodation spots, Huka Lodge.
Founding director Jethro Gilbert describes First Boots expeditions as “Lara Croft combined with Jason Bourne and James Bond, with a bit of Bear Grylls married up with Tony Robbins".
“Yes, we deliver high-performance leadership development and give corporate execs at the top of their game real skills they can take away, but they also get to find inspiration in the great outdoors and experience real adventures,” Jethro says. “We want to give people an authentic experience away from the boardroom.”
With a background in youth and leadership development programmes, Jethro has seen how fast people can gain new skills, knowledge and confidence when give the space, opportunity and challenge.
“That’s where the real magic happens.”
For Wellingtonian Jethro, New Zealand was the obvious choice for the first expedition.
“But we’re not locked into locations – wherever we find a good spot for an expedition, we’ll run one.”
Other upcoming trips include the 16-day ‘Outback Crossing’ through the middle of Australia and the ‘Southern Stars’ voyage from New Zealand to the Cook Islands travelling by traditional waka.
