Reflection in the Snow

Following our few days in the Cairngorms we headed over to Fort William just as the snow began to fall and the winds picked up. While the majority of the group headed off on a luxury one night expedition, I chose to stay back and gain some further leadership experience, taking the four members of the group that didn’t want to go on exped into the Mamores.

At the time of leading, decisions that were made either by me or by the group as a whole seemed to come about naturally, as the day dictated. It is only now, upon reflection, that I can see how my style of leadership changed throughout the day.

 In 1939 Lewin, Lippitt and White carried out a study on Leadership styles. They concluded that there are three distinct approaches to leadership and that the most effective leaders will adopt all three as the situations affecting them change. For the majority of the path up from Achriabhach towards Lochan Coire Nam Miseach and most of the way down I was using a Democratic style of leadership. As a whole the group made decisions about the pace, when to stop for breaks and some of the route finding, but I always had the final word.

As we headed into the Coire and we neared our high point I suddenly had to change the style of leadership that I was using. With height, the conditions underfoot had changed from damp to icy. In a very short space of time the weather also changed and we quickly found ourselves in full white out conditions. At this point I adopted an Authoritarian Approach to leading the group. We were within ten minutes from our high point and everyone was keen to get there but from where we were stood we should have been able to see the Lochan and we couldn’t even see ten metres ahead of us. On top of that it was becoming harder to identify the path in the rapidly building snow. Realising that we could be in trouble if we continued, I stopped the group and told them that we had to head down immediately. I put the strongest member of the group at the front to set the pace and I remained at the back to usher everyone along. Before long we were back below the cloud and the snow and everyone was relaxed again.

At the beginning of the last century, sociologists and psychologists were starting to look into theories of leadership. It is now widely recognised that there are 8 leadership theories. The one that relates best to Lewin, Lippitt and White’s is the Contingency Theory. This suggests that the leader must adapt the style in which they lead the group depending on situational factors. It goes on to conclude that there is no one method of leadership that will work in all situations. I certainly feel that this is true. Whether it’s changes in group dynamics, weather, route or activity, a leader must be able to provide a safe and enjoyable experience that everyone can gain something from.

References

Lewin, Lippitt and White, ‘Leadership Styles’, 1939

Woods, B, ‘Applying Psychology to Sport’, Hodder and Stoughton, 1998

Misty Eyes

In October this year I headed up to Scotland with college as part of the Mountain Leadership module. We spent the first few days of the trip in the Cairngorms with the intention of completing a one night expedition over Ben Macduhi and sleeping under the Shelter Stone. As one of the stronger members of the group I was to use this time as valuable leadership experience.

The expedition was not a success and in retrospect it is possible to see how it came down to one moment in that day which caused the trip to fail. By looking at Martin and Priest’s Adventure Experience Paradigm (1986) it is possible to see where, as a leader, I made a mistake.

We had reached Coire an t Sneachda by late morning in thick mist and rain. The plan was to head out of the back of the coire via a steep path to the summit and follow the long plateau to Ben Macduhi. Leaving the coire I made a navigational error which left us attempting to pick our way up the steep slopes and gullies.

As can be seen on the diagram below, Martin and Priest’s (1986) theory suggests that the more competence and experience a person has, the more they can push the risk levels to increase arousal. The arousal levels will go through several stages before that person has become over stimulated, feels out of their depth and becomes frightened.

The big mistake I made was to keep pushing on, for me feeling little more than the start of an adventure but for others feeling high in misadventure.

We realised that we couldn’t find a way up the way that we were going and so made our way back to the coire and eventually found the path. By this point it was too late. Several members of the group had become quite scared and shaken by the experience and just wanted to head down.

This theory can be very useful to a leader provided that they are always conscious that what might feel fine to them may feel very frightening to someone else. In the future I will make a big point of finding out what experience group members have and never pushing on in difficult conditions and terrain with people that are unhappy with it.

References

Priest, S, ‘The Adventure Experience Paradigm’, 1986

Objectives and Aspirations

I've started this blog as part of the Mountain Leadership module of my second year of a foundation degree in Outdoor Education at Truro College. Initially I have set it up as part of an assignment but hopefully I will continue to use it to record my different experiences in the hills and on the crags.
What are my aims for this coming year? On a large scale I hope to be ready to take my ML assessment by the time I finish the course next summer. Living in Cornwall this will be fairly hard to do. Fortunately, I have already done the training course and with trips planned to Scotland and Snowdonia over the next two months with college, I will gain more experience in personal walking and group supervision.
Having worked as a climbing instructor over the summer I feel more confident talking to large groups of people whether they're children or adults but I know that once out of my comfort zone, up a mountain and lost in the mist I will find it harder to control the group. It is only with more experience that this will improve and with trips leading younger students in North Wales and Dartmoor I feel my confidence will grow.
So I look forward to the coming months, getting back into the mountains and becoming a qualified Mountain Leader.