Top management on a mountain peak:
Management consulting for international corporations
Top executives in mountain boots and unfamiliar surroundings. Consulting case of an international group in the context of Neuwaldegg’s management consulting and development.
An international group is breaking new ground in leadership development
Instead of programmes for top management, the offer is a marketplace where you can individually combine which topics are exciting for senior managers. The experience: due to the extreme heterogeneity of the tasks in the industries and business areas, there is no longer a common denominator among top managers that one programme can cover. An intro and outro, where the approximately 200 leaders meet, provide the framework. The request to us: a module on the subject of purpose, unlike any other the target group with a lot of seminar experience has ever known, at 2,000 metres in the Alps and mainly outdoors.
1,750 metres above their comfort zone
The aim of the offer is to clarify personal purpose as well as the purpose of the business. What drives me personally? What do I want to bring into the world? And what contribution does my division make to the group? How do I want to develop it further? What do my stakeholders expect and how do I get my managers on board for this? During the course of the module, personal purpose was also to be matched with the job purpose– how do the two fit together? How can I create an even better fit?
What do I want to bring into the world personally and in my area of responsibility?
We use the successful “Purpose Quest” format at the mountain top, which we have been offering in the Austrian foothills of the Alps for a long time, and adapt it to the needs of the group and the target group. The top managers arrive on the first morning in outdoor clothing and with large backpacks at the meeting point, somewhere in the middle of nowhere at the end of a rocky valley. The ascent begins. We take every opportunity to deal with the relevant questions. By using peer sparring, sociometric constellations, bio-energetic body exercises and solo units with detailed reflection, the participants successfully get closer to discovering their own purpose over the 1,000-metre elevation gain. They arrive in the evening at the simple refuge on the summit: “Done it!”, exhausted, sweaty, inspired and energised by their own “FOR WHAT”. On the second day we work on the mountain plateau with a wonderful view over the peaks on their own division’s purpose and further development. We use the diverse natural landscape far above the tree line for different settings – everything takes place outside.
In the evening, the sparse facilities in the mountain hut are used to celebrate a lively party that anticipates the implementation of what has been worked out. The third day brings everything together and back down to earth. In the morning sun the managers develop their personal roadmap to operationalise the purpose in their area of responsibility and personally. The descent is used to consolidate and firmly establish everything.
Nature makes the difference
If one thing cannot be overestimated, it is the effect of nature on development processes. Leaving the familiar behind is an additional driver of innovation. As a result, this format clearly takes the high-calibre leaders, who already have countless courses and programmes under their belt, out of their usual comfort zone. Coupling the work on their area of responsibility’s purpose with the work on their own purpose proves to be key to giving the individual the chance to reflect on the task ahead: What do I want to bring into the world during this life? Anyone answering this question and developing a way to express this in their leadership work, will achieve significantly more success in both areas.