The Leadership Experience
Oct 27, 2021
The Leadership Experience is the internal hero's journey we all take to train and discover and claim the powerful leader we are.
We are most often unknowingly on this pathway and we will all eventually develop some skills and talents of a leader over the course of time.
But for those trying right now with no results…
But for those trying right now with no results, those that hear the call to lead and can hesitate no more, for those that desire to lead in your passion and just need the skills, there is a way.
Create your own leadership experience.
And I’m not talking about searching for it in another book or listening to one on another podcast. I don’t mean signing up for another online webinar. I am talking about creating one and having one, because you can’t “Google” experience.
You Can’t Google Experience
Ok, so maybe you can literally.
But the difference between defining it and actually having it is having skills and evidence of what you can do. Not because you read it or someone told you how, but because you did it.
The Magic
EXPERIENCE is the magic elixir that transforms someone who calls themself a leader into someone who has the presence, the awareness and the powerful skills to unite teams, ideas and actions.
There are all kinds of ways to design and participate in a leadership experience – blindfolded rock climbing, even blindfolded drawing, brainstorming better product ideas, building towers, role playing, etc. but the one that shows me something new every time, the one that stops me in my tracks, silences even me, and moves me to new action, is Equine Guided Education (EGE). If you haven’t heard about it follow my blog to learn more.
What is it?
Experiential learning simplified is to “learn by doing” (shout out to my favorite youth development organization 4-H.) It’s hands-on learning amplified by limited guidance and direction.
It’s room for screw ups and trial and error.
It’s required reviewing and redoing, and typically a “successful” outcome – but one that may look nothing like the original “idea” because in learning through experience the openness to ideas, trials and input allows for multiple solutions, not just one right answer.
Hey, even discovering how to not do it as bad as the first time is a win and sharpens these skills more than easy success ever could.
- More accurate evaluation of a challenge
- Less hesitation to act on bold ideas and innovation
- Quicker, targeted decision making
- Strong leaders with expanded awareness, adaptable skills, and the confidence to take action
Stop fearing mistakes
Yet we continue to fear mistakes and manage our decisions and actions like there is only one right answer.
The practice of creating multiple ‘right answers’ gives us the power and freedom to choose the best one at that time.
That is real-life, in real-time and it’s a really needed skill in this time of adapting to all sorts of weird lifestyle and workplace unknowns (aka Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 aka COVID-19, zoom meetings, extreme reliance on tech., more communication access and less skill to communicate…)
In experiential learning trials instead of being told the “answer” we are supposed to get, aspiring leaders are given a situation, a problem, question or challenge and are supported to examine all possible outcomes, and then encouraged to make a decision and test drive the ideas to get to that solution.
Not working? Then stop mid-experiment and try something new or take a whole new path, just reflect and find a way to start again.
And you will do that with confidence when you’ve got options, intuitive sense, and fearless initiative that comes from knowing you can adapt to whatever comes up next.
Thanks for reading. If you liked this article, be sure to share it on your favorite platform. (At 5’ tall my favorite platform is my shoes.)