Follow the Leader
What do fixing a flat tire, walking on wood 4×4s through an obstacle course, shooting golf balls into the woods, laying a hose around a house and walking blindfolded down a forest trail have to do with leadership training? You might be surprised to find that students learned many valuable leadership lessons participating in these tasks in the field portion of this year's L280 Followership to Leadership course held in the Kaibab National Forest.
Instructors for the course used these wide-ranging exercises to show students how prepared they are to step into a leadership role. In each scenario, one of the students assumed the leadership role, received instructions about the exercise requirements, relayed these instructions to the team and then led their team through the task.
At the 4×4 obstacle course, the team quickly learned that they weren't going anywhere strapped to 10-foot-long 4×4s without the leader giving concise instructions how to move in unison efficiently.
Walking blindfolded through the woods required that the leader give directions that were clear and understandable for the team members to proceed safely.
Laying a hose around a structure seems easy enough until approaching sirens and a hysterical pregnant woman add to the confusion; this was a good lesson in keeping an eye on the big picture and making sound decisions to keep the team focused on the task at hand.
At the golf-ball station, the leader demonstrated gun safety to the team and then coordinated an effective method to grid the woods to find the golf balls — similar to the method fire crews use to grid an area to find spot fires. With a strong leader giving good directions in the gridding portion, the team looked organized and efficient, and they found all of the golf balls. Conversely, without a strong leader, the task was poorly executed and golf balls (spot fires) were not found.
Finally, at the flat tire changing site, the one drawback to a seemingly normal exercise was not having all of the necessary tools on hand to complete the job. In this scenario, the leader had to assess the situation and help the team problem solve to accomplish the task.
These varied hands-on exercises reinforced leadership concepts the students learned in the classroom.
Punky Moore is the fire information officer for the Kaibab National Forest, Williams, Ariz. She began her information career as a visitor-use assistant in the mountaineering program at Denali National Park in 1995. Moore moved to the Forest Service in 2000 and continued working in information services in Steamboat Springs, Colo., on the Med Bow/Routt National Forests. She acquired her Type-II Information Officer qualifications in Colorado and began working with the Northern Rockies Interagency Fire Use Management Team in 2001. She moved to the Mendocino National Forest in 2004. While on the Mendocino, Moore coordinated fire information distribution at the supervisor's office joint information center. She also developed the wildland fire use communication plan for the forest. In 2007, Moore presented a wildland fire use communications track at the Second Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference in Destin, Fla.
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