Collaboration, impact, and purpose. How campfires help business leaders develop a plan for the future

In the last few months, School of the Wild has been convening groups of business leaders to explore what we can do to address global social and environmental challenges, and how to make the world a better place. Here, business coach Neil Pavel explains what he experienced around the campfire.

What happens when leaders, business owners, senior managers, and people who work for themselves get together around a campfire in a new and natural environment and are asked: “What conversation would you like to have that will make a difference in the world?” ​

I have experience of this twice now after Nigel, who runs School of the Wild, invited me to attend a couple of the Leading with Purpose campfire catalyst sessions that he facilitates.

For a few hours, myself and the other people in these groups shared our stories, ideas and insights into leadership and responsibility, and about culture and the future.

Being outside has an immediate impact.

I notice how we all think and behave more-than-slightly differently. There’s an openness to the conversations, less boundaries, and lots of trust.

Having the time and space to reflect on leadership and impact with a bunch of complete strangers allows a wide range of subjects, voices, and opinions to be heard and mulled over.

Being outside has an immediate impact. I notice we all think and behave more-than-slightly differently. There’s an openness to the conversations, less boundaries and lots of trust. 

What is amazing about this
What is amazing about this? Apart from the magic of spending time with business folk in a natural environment with fresh air, wind, smoke from the fire, birds, trees, bluebells and other signs of spring?

Apart from that? I am struck by the speed of collective creative thinking, in small groups, and then together as a whole group. 

Each time this group collaboration of leaders - guided by Nigel - spontaneously highlights a pattern of similar themes, showing that we all have similar concerns: ideas about community, how we approach profit and rewards, how we communicate and collaborate, and many other things that resonate with the current trend in business social responsibility: people, planet, profit – the triple bottom line. 

The speed of decision making really strikes me too: seven or eight different people, with different ideas all condense their varied ideas into one ‘big picture’ question within four or five minutes. 

Resulting in shared questions of, “How do we change the core motivation of business?” and, “How can we harness the power of community to have a positive impact on the world?”

We explore these big questions personally, and metaphors from our surroundings help convert them into stories and commitments to take forward. 

There is a tangible desire to keep the conversation going. 

They are small steps at changing awareness and behaviour. To have an impact on ourselves and the planet.

A bit of collaborative magic in the woods.

​If you’d like to find out more about our Campfire Catalyst for Leaders, or how School of the Wild can help you, your team, or your organisation quickly connect with each other and explore a business issue together, get in touch here.

Neil Pavey is a coach and facilitator and owns Think Outside Coaching. Working with leaders, teams and organisations to get magical through using metaphors, being asked interesting questions to develop, think, solve problems and improve, and sometimes by getting outside.