My Team-Building Experience Through Cass Business School
Brianna Bao talks about her team-building experience
During the month of October, when cobwebs and jack-o-lanterns decorated stoops and windows, I navigated a thrilling challenge of my own: a team-building and leadership program. As an MBA candidate at Cass Business School in London, this experience was nothing but enriching.
The bulk of the program involved presentations by professional leaders, including George Blakeway, Iain Robertston, and Ed Chacksfield. Such presentations involved discussions of reputation and trust, as well as the relationship between leadership and followership. As you can tell, these discussions covered a wide swath of leadership challenges and responsibilities, from gathering internal support to creating a brand and maintaining its relevance.
All three of our presenters are part of the Inspirational Development Group (IDG), a wide-spread organization that teaches personal and professional development, leadership skills, and teamwork capabilities. Their programs are award-winning, and it was an honor to learn from them!
The lecture by Ed Chacksfield, titled “Leadership, Followership & You,” spotlighted the four key components of managerial jobs:
- Technical – What job do you do?
- Administration – How do you get the job done?
- Leadership – How do you get the job done through and with others?
- Followership – How do you get the job done for and with others?
The differences between the four, as well as their overlap and equal importance, were incredibly eye-opening to learn about. They were also eye-opening to put into practice. Us aspiring leaders were split into teams and challenged with overcoming various team-building tasks in a workshop setting.
On a chilly day, we headed outside for some physical and mental challenges. Such challenges included building a bridge for our team to cross and carrying a stretcher of weights with a minimum amount of resources. Then, we had to work together and solve the Tower of Hanoi puzzle (which you can try your hand at on the Math Is Fun website!). To top it all off, we had to navigate the forest with the stretcher, headed for a spiderweb where each of us, including the stretcher, had to pass through without touching the web. Overall, our team, facilitated by Iain Robertston, came in third place, but we were happy just to have been able to participate.
While the program may seem like a lot of games, each activity was carefully crafted to give us the best understanding of leadership. There really is a thrill when you’re in charge—so long as you can take the heat. Running through the forest with the stretcher and shooting ideas back-and-forth about strategy became second-nature to all of us. And, although we were all practicing being leaders, we also practiced following one another and communicating clearly—two lesser-discussed elements of leadership that are actually vital for being in a managerial position.
As I participate in more team-building and leadership events in my time at Cass, I’m excited to share them with all of my readers!
This article was originally published on briannabao.co.uk.