ASB Leadership Forum: Discovering Leader Within, 0513 ALBJ, 74 The Alabama Lawyer 178 (2013)
| Author | Kristi Carr |
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\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0For lawyers who typically spend their days in business attire, this was decidedly different-jeans, sneakers and an outdoor military obstacle course. Meet the Alabama State Bar’s Leadership Forum Class of 2013.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0On their first day together, forum participants found themselves on the grounds of Maxwell Air Force Base under the watchful eyes of trained officers. Some lawyers hesitated when the helmets were passed out, so there was an element of relief for the attorneys when the obstacles turned out to be pools of water, walls and fences, and the challenges, while physical in nature, required mental solutions.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Their comfort zone was soon shattered, however, when they divided into teams and attempted the courses. The goal was to move all team members and equipment from one side of each obstacle to the within 20 minutes. Not one was successful. Why?
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0A short debriefing by members of the U.S. Air Force provided some insight. The lawyers, all avowed Type-A personalities, had created chaos by all talking at once. And, they failed to take the time to really assess the situation or the tools they had to work with. An officer suggested a formula to follow-observe, orient, decide, act.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0This would have helped at the “Bridge over Troubled Waters, ” where team members were faced with a pool of water dotted with a few pylons. Equipment consisted of a wheelbarrow and three long boards. Had they taken more time to observe, they would have noticed that some pylons, which could support at least one team member, were closer to one another than others and that the best path was not necessarily a straight line. And it wasn’t until their time was half gone that the team thought to compare the lengths of the boards and discovered they had two long boards of equal length and one shorter board, a detail that could make a difference in their strategy.
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Something to Think About
\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0The obstacle course was just a part of the first day but it underscored the belief that leaders are not so much born or made, but, rather, revealed. Participating in the forum sets...
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