I found a new blog that I love to read….it’s called The Practice of Leadership. I read an article today on The Importance of Creativity for leaders. Make sure to read the article in full. I wanted to highlight one of the points the author makes.

“The leader must be able to travel into an unexplored path” Read the rest of this entry »

A person can teach themselves to overcome learned helplessness and be more optimistic.  As with all forms of mental discipline, from sports psychology to the suggestions below, they seem simplistic and somewhat silly when written on paper.  However such disciplines, like exercise, healthy eating, systematic investing, and others, can have powerful effects when applied consistently and intelligently over time.  They are not magic.  But, they do work.
Is being optimistic an advantage?  People with high scores for the optimistic explanatory style has been shown to have to be the ones “immune” to learned helplessness.   Other significant benefits have been documented: Read the rest of this entry »

This weekend I was climbing at Cathedral Ledge in New Hampshire, on a route called Recombeast (5.9+). The crux of the route is on pitch 3, where you have to make a traverse onto a flake, with nowhere to put your feet except for smearing on the rock. This day, the area for my feet was wet! So it made it quite a challenging task. It took me a while to make the proper moves, but ultimately what got me through it was by standing still and remembering past experiences I had.

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Brandon has a unique approach to his team building sessions. His passion for helping people challenge themselves is refreshing and will serve both managers and employees alike. I would highly recommend Brandon if you want to your staff to think beyond the obvious and become more creative and critical thinkers.

-Mark, Team Building Participant

Our company partnered with Ascent because of their leadership expertise and knowledge. Shortly thereafter, we asked Brandon to participate in our monthly speaker’s series…he blew the roof off! He was well prepared and very “keyed” into our audience. The attendees not only learned something but had a great time learning! I highly recommend Brandon’s company!

-Deidre Hughey, BuzzBuilder

Ascent Adventure Consultants has teamed up with my company on a couple of training sessions to to provide the Experiential Education for our trainees. It was a great partnership and they are easy to work with. The clients love their engaging and creative ideas. Everyone, including me, left happy!

-Tim Moore, Dancing Elephants Acheivement Group

It’s amazing to see how many articles have been popping up all over the internet and in print media lately about how having a wilderness experience, whether its climbing, hiking, camping, kayaking, backpacking, etc., can greatly impact your life for years to come. I read another article this morning, this time out of Austrailia, on how having a wilderness experience gives a new perspective on life. They theorize that it’s because when out in nature, you realize how small you are and that you are part of something far bigger. Check out the article here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/03/2616497.htm.

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A few weeks ago, while guiding a trip at Table Rock NC, one of the ladies mentioned how she kept having to tell herself “Trust Your Feet!”, and that is what got her to continue to move forward. After the climb, she mentioned how that thought and concept really could have a good life lesson to it! I gave it some thought and wanted to share with you all some thoughts on how this climbing concept and experience translates into all of life.

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One of the most common issues that I see arise among the groups in team building and leadership development programs that we facilitate is that managers begin to realize that they need to make changes in the way they organize and structure their days and tasks so that they can more effectively manage their teams.

Here are some great key points of application that I have seen teams develop:

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The rock climbing, mountaineering, and outdoor adventure experience has so many applications to real life. It is my joy to be able to help individuals see this through our climbing courses, and through the team building and leadership development programs that I conduct. There is nothing more satisfying when I can almost instantaneously see someone’s life change for the good as a result of something they have experienced through climbing and/or team building.

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