Boot Camps for Managers:
From May 2005
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Tuition is $12,500, with some scholarships available to nonprofit agencies and small businesses. The student population intentionally crosses geographical, professional and ethnic sectors to ensure dissimilar backgrounds.
“We take people at the top of their game, whether it’s a janitor who’s a leader in his ethnic community or a corporate CEO,” says Doni Blumenstock, executive director of the ALF Mountain Valley chapter.
“These people are the decision makers, so we’re honing their collaborative-leadership skills and creating relationships among them that cross professional and socioeconomic divides. Because our communities have become so diverse, in cities and in businesses, we have to learn to work effectively with different cultural styles,” he says.
One participant tells of awakening to a bright clear morning, with the sun reflecting off an alpine lake cradled by soaring peaks. After a night of dark cold, with no other human voices to reassure him, he breathed in the frosty air, savored the awesome scenery and reflected on what he had accomplished to reach this place.
He toted a heavy backpack, traipsed through falling snow, struggled to make the last push up a razor-sharp escarpment and spent the night alone in the high Sierra. It was part of a boot camp for managers that changed Gary Henson’s life.
Unnerving, but Valuable
Founder and president of BusinessCoach.com in Sacramento, Henson is proficient in helping others identify and sharpen their leadership skills. Now he was the pupil, on a wilderness journey that bolstered his confidence by testing his mettle. “It was unnerving, but an experience like that gives you a stronger appreciation of other people and a better understanding of what you can do in your life.”
Gathering monthly, the ALF Mountain Valley participants choose a class project that requires joint problem solving. In addition to the courses and team mission, there’s a six-day wilderness outing. Although there have been inspiring achievements, “the expedition is not about physical endurance,” explains Blumenstock. “It’s about working as a group and having everyone participate in whatever capacity they can.”
Continued...
“We take people at the top of their game, whether it’s a janitor who’s a leader in his ethnic community or a corporate CEO,” says Doni Blumenstock, executive director of the ALF Mountain Valley chapter.
“These people are the decision makers, so we’re honing their collaborative-leadership skills and creating relationships among them that cross professional and socioeconomic divides. Because our communities have become so diverse, in cities and in businesses, we have to learn to work effectively with different cultural styles,” he says.
One participant tells of awakening to a bright clear morning, with the sun reflecting off an alpine lake cradled by soaring peaks. After a night of dark cold, with no other human voices to reassure him, he breathed in the frosty air, savored the awesome scenery and reflected on what he had accomplished to reach this place.
He toted a heavy backpack, traipsed through falling snow, struggled to make the last push up a razor-sharp escarpment and spent the night alone in the high Sierra. It was part of a boot camp for managers that changed Gary Henson’s life.
Unnerving, but Valuable
Founder and president of BusinessCoach.com in Sacramento, Henson is proficient in helping others identify and sharpen their leadership skills. Now he was the pupil, on a wilderness journey that bolstered his confidence by testing his mettle. “It was unnerving, but an experience like that gives you a stronger appreciation of other people and a better understanding of what you can do in your life.”
Gathering monthly, the ALF Mountain Valley participants choose a class project that requires joint problem solving. In addition to the courses and team mission, there’s a six-day wilderness outing. Although there have been inspiring achievements, “the expedition is not about physical endurance,” explains Blumenstock. “It’s about working as a group and having everyone participate in whatever capacity they can.”
Continued...
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