Taking the Leap of Faith

Although it has been over a decade since I facilitated my first ropes course program, I am still amazed at how powerful the experience can be.

I’m not speaking of the power that I wield as a facilitator, but rather the awe that I feel when I am part of a ropes course experience.  I don’t get the goosebumps every time, but every once in a while I share a moment with an individual or a team that reminds me of what a wonderful gift it is to be a team building facilitator.

This past weekend, I worked with a youth group from a local Unitarian church.  It was an odd mix of high school students – a couple of natural leaders, a bunch of quiet “average” kids, two or three very “energetic” youth and one teenage boy with cerebral palsy.

When the client mentioned that Matthew was wheelchair bound, I had to warn her that the ropes course is set in a combination of hilly fields and forest – not exactly an ideal setting for a power chair.  In the next moment, I assured the organizer that if the group was up for the challenge, I would design a program that would include every member of the team – regardless of mobility.  The deal was struck and the date was set.

When the group arrived, my co-facilitator and I decided to keep the group of 24 participants together, taking them through a series of activities that could include everyone and still be appropriately beneficial.  Name games, ice breakers, and problem-solving activities punctuated the morning, and during each activity I could see that the group of teens was supportive and inclusive (with an occasional reminder – “remember that one of your team has less mobility than the others, so be sure your planning and action takes place with him in mind…”).

The group was progressing well, and the long-awaited “high element” portion of the day was fast approaching, yet I still hadn’t decided how I was going to get a wheelchair bound participant onto a high element.  I had to commit to either rigging a makeshift “Giant Swing” or using a haul system on our “Leap of Faith.”

Deciding that the trail to the  Leap would be an easier terrain for Matt’s power chair, I set about devising a way to get him up to the 20-foot platform.  I rigged up two separate ropes – one would be used to haul the climber up, while the other would be used to belay the climber down.  Using a “team belay” on the haul rope, I would clip in and climb next to Matthew as his team hauled him up to the first platform.  After testing the haul system myself (whee!), I judged that everything should work well, and Matthew was clipped onto the two ropes.  As I climbed up the tree beside him, Matthew was hauled slowly up, higher and higher, until he was near the platform.  The whole way up I kept an eye on Matthew’s face, checking in to make sure he was okay.  Although I could see the nervous look in his eyes, he responded that he was fine, and I carefully lifted him up onto the platform.  Now for the moment of truth…

I turned Matthew around to face away from the tree, and he looked down over the edge of the platform.  Twenty feet off the ground, Matthew was ready to “jump,” so I quickly unhooked the haul rope, and he moved to the edge of the platform.  I gave a count of “three…two…one…” and Matthew tottered off the edge of the platform – giving an excited/scared/elated little yelp as he was lowered slowly back down to the ground.

As I climbed back down to the ground, I realized that I had probably been more terrified of the whole experience than Matthew had.  Although I am a highly experienced and well-trained ropes course facilitator and rock climbing instructor, I am not trained in working with disabled climbers.  I didn’t know if Matthew’s condition would make this type of activity a dangerous one (wearing a full-body harness, having all of his weight lifted for an extended period of time, etc…).  In the end, it was really me taking the “Leap of Faith.”

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I checked in with the organizer of the group this evening, to see how things went and whether she had received any feedback from the team.  This is what she wrote:

“Eriq – THANK YOU SO MUCH!  Our group had an amazing experience… when the advisors spoke to me of your including Matthew in the adventure, there wasn’t a dry eye around.”

I know what she means.  Being able to include Matthew in the ropes course experience has been one of the highlights of my recent facilitation career and has reminded me of why I got into this field in the first place.  I’m still grinning as I write this

Thank you Matthew.

Value Based Adaptation

Early on I learned that no matter what is going on externally – economy, trends, competition, etc. – my business will only succeed if I stick to the core values that my company was founded on.  As long as my decisions stay true to these values, I am able to adapt quickly to an ever changing landscape.

The mission at the core of my business – to facilitate positive change in groups and individuals through the use of experiential education tools and adventure programming.

The relationship I keep with my facilitators – give them your trust, pay them a decent wage, expect their best, and then step out of the way.

The relationship I keep with my clients – promise only what I can provide, provide more than the client expects, create a foundation of trust that the client can build on long after the program is over.

As long as I stick to those core values, every decision I make is easy, and so far I have been fortunate enough to make decisions that have helped my company to thrive.

For instance – this year, one of my University clients had their budget slashed.  Although they had expected to be able to return this Fall to have us run their Freshman Orientation programs, the money just wasn’t there.  The school pulled out entirely and was forced to run an in-house team building activity.

It is always disappointing to hear that a long-time client is deciding not to re-contract our services, but I also see it as an opportunity to reflect, to learn, and to adapt.  We took the information we had learned during the process of negotiating with that client to completely redesign our Team Building DiY (Adventure Team Challenge).  We were able to cut our costs and offer the program at a reduced rate for schools with a tighter budget.  While we lost one client, we gained two more in their place – each one choosing to go with the less expensive option.

We now have another option – a new level of service to offer clients who are on an ever-tightening budget.  In the coming year, I will stay in contact with  all three schools and let them know how important their feedback was and what we were able to do to accommodate their future programming needs.  With any luck, the groups will be able to come back next year and either go for the less expensive option, or choose the next level of programming.  Either way, the trust is there, and I have every reason to believe that we will be able to provide a service for their Freshman Orientations next Fall.

In the wake of the “Economic Downturn” of the last couple of years my business has had to adapt quickly to the changing needs of my clients.  This adaptability is one of the skill-sets that I rely on not only in my team building facilitation, but also in the way I run my company.  In order to make difficult decisions that I can live with, I simply do a check against the core values, and the decision becomes easy.