Sloan students head to Kilimanjaro for leadership trek
Robert Vega
Issue date: 12/7/04 Section: Student Life
While most students are taking IAP courses, trying to find summer internships, or simply taking some well-deserved rest, 12 MIT Sloan students will be learning how to become better leaders while scaling the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.
Billed as the inaugural Sloan Experiential Leadership trek, these students will take leadership studies outside the classroom and onto the world's tallest free standing mountain.
The Sloan Leadership Club has traditionally developed students into better leaders by bringing in valuable speakers and by sponsoring the leadership conference. This year, however, they will take a new approach. The speaker series and conference are still valuable resources, but the only way to teach leadership under extreme circumstances is to actually put the students in stressful situations. Kilimanjaro provides a unique opportunity to do so by forcing students to lead under difficult conditions.
Yet the real leadership and team building work begins well before anyone steps onto African soil. Two leadership facilitators will accompany the expedition on the mountain and will hold two leadership workshops prior to departure. The trekkers are also training together by working out together, and doing outdoor activities such as night hikes and climbs in the White Mountains. Also, unlike other treks, all 12 students are actively involved in organizing the trip and working out the logistics.
The goal of this expedition is to use the challenges faced on Kilimanjaro to improve leadership skills and develop and maintain a high performing team. They are also hoping to create a long-standing MIT Sloan tradition for future Leadership Treks. There is already another trek planned to go to Patagonia in the spring.
Billed as the inaugural Sloan Experiential Leadership trek, these students will take leadership studies outside the classroom and onto the world's tallest free standing mountain.
The Sloan Leadership Club has traditionally developed students into better leaders by bringing in valuable speakers and by sponsoring the leadership conference. This year, however, they will take a new approach. The speaker series and conference are still valuable resources, but the only way to teach leadership under extreme circumstances is to actually put the students in stressful situations. Kilimanjaro provides a unique opportunity to do so by forcing students to lead under difficult conditions.
Yet the real leadership and team building work begins well before anyone steps onto African soil. Two leadership facilitators will accompany the expedition on the mountain and will hold two leadership workshops prior to departure. The trekkers are also training together by working out together, and doing outdoor activities such as night hikes and climbs in the White Mountains. Also, unlike other treks, all 12 students are actively involved in organizing the trip and working out the logistics.
The goal of this expedition is to use the challenges faced on Kilimanjaro to improve leadership skills and develop and maintain a high performing team. They are also hoping to create a long-standing MIT Sloan tradition for future Leadership Treks. There is already another trek planned to go to Patagonia in the spring.