5 Leadership Tips from the Wild

Outside of work, I volunteer with a Scouting BSA troop in my community and one that my son participates in. Our troop is a combined girls and boys troop and I love guiding young people to grow as leaders while exploring the outdoors. To lead some of our wildest backcountry trips I have a slew of specialized trainings. Last weekend I spent 16 hours recertifying in wilderness first aid, CPR and AEDs. While learning to assess injuries, take vital signs and care for people experiencing injury or illness when urban medical care is not an option — I learned 5 things that translate to the wild landscape of higher education leadership.?

1) Clearly communicate your needs and the situation. Cliche warning: Communication is key.? If an ill or injured person needs professional medical assistance, delivering strong, detailed and clear information to emergency services is critical. Providing too little information (they’re really hurt) is like telling your colleagues “nothing is working.” Both may be correct, but they won’t get you the help you need.

In the wild — be clear so that emergency services know if they need to send someone on foot or send in a helicopter. The same is true at work, do you need an extra set of hands and it can wait until tomorrow, or do you need a team of people assembled immediately? You have to communicate clearly to get the right help and resources.

You have to communicate clearly to get the right help and resources.

2) Leadership is critical for success.? As we role-played in teams of 3 each person took turns being the injured person, the medical assessor and the leader. For those trekking in the wild and practicing wilderness first aid, having two people fully trained in WFA is essential. Those two people form a medic team when needed, with one acting as the leader and the other as the medical assessor.

Define clear roles. The leader remains calm and level-headed, ensuring the team collects detailed medical information and takes vital signs every 10 minutes. The medical assessor, listens and performs the work, using their technical skill to capture the needed medical information.

Distinct roles increase success. The leader serves as a point of contact and decision-maker. The leader may not be taking a pulse, but they make sure the patient’s pulse is taken. The same is true in most fields. Leaders assess the field, decide on a plan of action and they need a strong team who can support the plan.

As our trainer, Vince Secor said: Making a decision is more important than making the “right” decision. A decision drives action and teams can always adjust as they gather new information.

Making a decision is more important than making the “right” decision. A decision drives action and teams can always adjust as they gather new information.

3) Embrace innovation and creativity. When you’re backpacking, canoeing or hiking in the backcountry, every ounce of supplies you carry impacts your pack weight. This includes what you do or don’t take in your first aid kit. Bandaids, triangle bandaids, gauze, tape, aspirin and Tylenol? — those are going to make it into most first-aid kits to help with the all-too-common cuts and scrapes. But, if someone takes a nasty spill and breaks a large bone, you might have to create an improvised splint using what you have.

We’ll never have a crystal ball at work or in the woods, so we do our best with what we have and what we know, and we need to learn, iterate and improvise as life unfolds.

4) Be prepared. The best outdoors people plan and prepare for their treks. This includes planning food and gear sometimes weeks in advance, checking the weather, and bringing maps and an assortment of tools to increase safety.

Success in the workplace is pretty similar. Big meeting, prepare. Big project? Plan it out. Big transformation? You might be training and upskilling as part of the rollout.? Success doesn’t happen on the fly. It results from careful planning and training so that you and your team are set up to succeed.

5) Make it fun! While I spent a weekend preparing for the worst in the outdoors, I did that because I love being out there miles and miles from civilization where a phone signal doesn’t exist, stars abound and life is wild.

Recertifying in wilderness first aid is similar to reviewing crisis communication plans; you hope you won’t have to use them, but there’s a good chance the time will arrive and you’ll want that knowledge and skill at your fingertips.

And, hopefully, work is fun because it’s somewhere you get to create and advance something you’re passionate about while surrounded by a great team of people who help you through the inevitable ups and downs.?