{"id":2174,"date":"2021-09-02T07:20:38","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T07:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outdoorpandit.com\/?p=2174"},"modified":"2021-11-13T05:33:25","modified_gmt":"2021-11-13T05:33:25","slug":"using-leadership-theory-in-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outdoorpandit.com\/2021\/09\/02\/using-leadership-theory-in-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"The Utility Belt of Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.13.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” text_orientation=”justified” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

\u2018The exact contents of Batman\u2019s utility belt are unknown, and he seems to change them frequently\u2026 In fact, his uncanny ability to have exactly what he needs is legendary\u2019!<\/em><\/p>\n

– comicvine.gamespot.com<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cShantanu, I really liked the fact that you brought in those few theoretical models during our debrief sessions. Actually they make absolute sense. But does all this theory really help? I mean, when I am just about managing to go through the daily grind, when will I think of what theory is applicable at what point, forget having the skill to act upon it?\u201d<\/p>\n

This kind of a question often gets asked on outdoor management development programmes I undertake for business organisations. And I always wonder if what they want to actually say is something like. \u201cBut all this is too theoretical! It doesn\u2019t work in the real world!\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a moot point, often coloured with skepticism, concerning practice of leadership theory. Usually then, I tell a story through which I offer one way of meeting the challenge of remembering so many concepts and models and using them appropriately (\u2018storytelling\u2019!). In this post I am going to write about one experience where the stakes involved had turned from low to high through a near miss and then vacillated between fairly moderate to very high for the group I was with.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/outdoorpandit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Cocepts-Theories-graphic.jpg” alt=”Outdoor Leadership, NOLS, Shantanu Pandit, Outdoor Pandit, outdoorpandit.com” title_text=”Cocepts Theories graphic” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.13.1″ _module_preset=”default” filter_brightness=”107%” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.13.1″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

The Incident<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I was one of the three instructors working a NOLS course in the Absarokas, a sub-range of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S.A. (I write about my instructor course in this post here<\/a>). It was early summer and there were spreads of thick snow on the mountains. On a particularly snowy stretch, the course leader (CL) decided to have all sub-groups come together and walk in a line along a trail that she was picking through the trees, staying on fairly level ground just beneath a steep slope. Twelve students and three of us instructors were spread out in a line, headed towards our \u2018X\u2019 on the map. It was afternoon, that typical time that is quaintly called the \u20183 o\u2019clock slump time\u2019. Each one of us was intent on putting one foot after the other, careful to use the freshly made footsteps in the snow. The setting was beautiful, our fresh trail passing through unending stands of conifers, surrounded by the stillness of a snowbound landscape. Suddenly we heard a shout from above and around a bend which was right in front of me. Rushing ahead, I saw a student sliding down the slope above us, with a few others strung out above her. We watched as she came to rest against two big trees, still a few feet above us. The slope was steep, pockmarked by a multitude of rocks and pebbles sticking out of the crumbly surface amidst a lattice of snow. I dropped my pack, told everyone to stay put and not make any attempt to help, and slowly started to climb up to her, asking her also to stay still. After the recommended safety check and \u2018patient examination\u2019 I was relieved to find that she was completely uninjured, and she made her way down to the trail with me carrying her pack.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/outdoorpandit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Absarokas-snowscape-a.jpg” alt=”Absarokas, Rocky Mountains, NOLS, NOLS Course, Shantanu Pandit, Outdoor Pandit, Outdoorpandit.com, Outdoor Leadership” title_text=”Absarokas snowscape a” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.10.5″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

For reasons that do not immediately make sense (and which we need not explore in this post), five students had suddenly had decided to leave the trail and go vertically up the slope. Their minds had obviously been completely off the map, for our intended campsite lay in the direction that the whole group was heading, and all we had to do was stay at the base of the slope and contour around to gain a wide valley. And those students had obviously not seen the hazard of loosely packed stones on the slope, for sure enough it was a stone that the student stepped on that had got dislodged, resulting in she taking a tumble. And now we had four students stuck on the upper reaches of the steep slope, luckily just below the lip of the top of that slope. We asked them to carefully gain the level top and wait for further instructions. Then we three instructors had a quick pow-wow. The students above described the terrain they were seeing around them and we decided that it would be safer for them to continue at their level and drop down to the main trail from further up ahead using a safe and easier slope. I climbed up to join the four adventurers and started picking my way towards finding an easy slope down. The students, particularly two of them, still wanted to play a leading role and started pointing out rather assertively spots from where we could start heading down when it was obvious to me that those patches were unsafe! Such frequent dialogues started consuming time and creating tension within the group when I repeatedly disagreed with their suggestions. The situation was compounded by sounds of distant thunder, and I started thinking of what should be done should a storm approach us. I realised that I was under considerable stress, and could feel irritation start bubbling up within me. That is when I literally halted in my tracks and told the students that I need to think things through before continuing.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/outdoorpandit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Absarokas-lightning-a.jpg” alt=”Absarokas, Rocky Mountains, NOLS, NOLS Course, Shantanu Pandit, Outdoor Pandit, Outdoorpandit.com, Outdoor Leadership, Lightning” title_text=”Absarokas lightning a” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.10.7″ _module_preset=”default” filter_brightness=”108%” filter_contrast=”138%” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.13.1″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]

Thinking Things Through<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This was a classic example of a ‘non-routine’ situation where deliberate decision-making was called for. And NOLS provides its instructors with a ‘leadership toolbox<\/a>‘ which one can access in one’s mind to see which theory or concept is suitable for practicing in a given situation.<\/p>\n

Some of the factors that I then listed in my head were as follows:<\/p>\n