NMMU Business School’s first Immersed Wilderness Leadership Excursion

From the 20th – 25th of May 2013, seven NMMU Business School MBA students, along with Prof Paul Poisat from the Graduate School, joined award-winning author, specialist wilderness guide and NMMU Business School Adjunct Professor, Dr Ian McCallum, on an Immersed Wilderness Leadership Excursion to the Imfolozi Game Reserve in the heart of KwaZulu-Natal. This immersed leadership development excursion was offered for the first time in 2013 to all Second and Third year NMMU MBA students.

The excursion, which forms part of the Business Schools “green” philosophy, was aimed at allowing the participants to uncover and understand the link between the natural environment, personal identity and ecological leadership.

The leadership excursion included a four-night, five-day wilderness trail in the Wilderness Leadership School concession area of the Imfolozi Game Reserve, a Wild Leader seminar and an overnight stay at the WLS Headquarters in the Stainbank Nature Reserve in Yellowwood Park in Durban.

The Transformative Leadership Wilderness Trail was focused around transformation, relationship building, resilience, intuitive reaction, strategic innovation, and conflict resolution.

This Leadership Excursion, which formed a fundamental knowledge building block, has been implemented in universities internationally and is seen as a critical learning opportunity for sustainable growth, both personally and institutionally.

Professor Paul Poisat commented that “The Wilderness Experience takes you out of your comfort zone and challenges each participant differently. The wilderness experience provides ample metaphors and opportunities to reflect on one’s life and provides perspective for the future.”

“The highlights of the excursion were the regular sightings of buffalo, rhino, and elephant, and hearing lions at night. Group members took turns on night watch duty and used this time to reflect, while being responsible for the safety of the others. The group had to constantly overcome fears and conquering these fears contributed to building personal resilience,” added Prof Poisat.

“The excursions primary objective, which was aimed at knowing yourself and understanding your purpose, serves as an extension of the Leadership Development Project offered on the MBA,” he concluded.