Wilderness thinking: a novel approach to leadership development

Abstract

Purpose

Describes the development of a leadership approach in which the outdoors became an environment for personal reflection.

Design/methodology/approach

Reports on the pilot findings from research conducted with 50 managers from Airbus UK and TOTAL and contribute to knowledge about reflective approaches to leadership development

Findings

A process of retreat became a catalyst for reflective learning about leadership among 50 managers from Airbus UK and TOTAL. The findings challenge OMD and SMD and their specific use of the outdoors as a medium for individual learning.

Originality/value

Evidence was found that wilderness thinking represents an innovation in reflective learning which challenges the main trends in the use of the outdoors to develop leaders

Citation

Watson, S. and Vasilieva, E. (2007), "Wilderness thinking: a novel approach to leadership development", Development and Learning in Organizations, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 10-13. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777280710727325