“Wilderness Thinking”: inside out approach to leadership development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on qualitative research conducted to evaluate the sustainability of learning derived from a novel leadership development process which involves a short period of retreat. The findings aim to provide evidence of the impact of an “inside outside” approach to leadership development on the performance of managers back in their organisations. The paper seeks to challenge the traditional approach to the outdoor management development favoured by trainers in the 1990s and offer an alternative learning method that ensures the transfer of practical outcomes to the workplace. Design/methodology/approach – A semi‐structured survey was conducted with 50 senior leaders within two large UK corporations. The survey results were cross‐referenced with desk research to explore reflective approaches to leadership development in the UK and the USA. Participants' written reflections post‐retreat and one year later were used to supplement the findings. The target population included cohorts of leaders who had participated in a leadership development programme from 2003‐2006. Findings – The paper finds that the process of retreat acts as a catalyst for both emotional and intellectual learning. Through the training the participants were able to access intuitive knowledge about themselves, their lives and the impact of their leadership on the organisation. Practical implications – Links were established between the “inside out” approach of Wilderness Thinking and tangible outcomes back on their workplace. The practical changes initiated by leaders exposed to Wilderness Thinking counters the traditional challenge made to outdoor management development in the limited success with learning transfer to sponsoring organisations. Originality/value – “Wilderness Thinking” represents a breakthrough in leadership training and development through a unique approach to the use of outdoors to personal change and learning transfer. The findings of the paper add to the debate about the role of outdoor management development in the development of leaders.