Will you accept the challenge?

In this chapter we will try to refine your Hero’s Journey by crystallizing your goals for the end of the program and highlighting the Treks you can take to achieve that goal.
At this juncture in each hero’s journey the protagonist must choose between remaining awash in confusion, fleeing from challenge, or acting to make it better. If the Monster is the Status Quo, this quest – if you choose to take it seriously – is your opportunity to slay the dragons of indifference.

Take a moment and ask yourself if you truly were introspective in the last chapter, because if you did not dig deep you will not maximize the rest of this program. Did you highlight an area for growth? Did you seek feedback to confirm an area for development? Have you identified the behaviours that you must change? Are you intimidated by the magnitude of the challenge? Or worse, have you rationalized them, excused them, pushed the opportunity for learning away?

Your answers, and your choice, is crucial. To accept the call to adventure and truly begin your quest to enhance your leadership effectiveness you must be willing to change.

This is not to say the leader already knows what to do and how to do it, but only that they are willing to begin a journey to a more desirable future state. This is the essence of leadership; and in the case of experiential learning, the step at which the leader chooses to learn or unlearn, as the case may be.

In this chapter you will complete a Trek that is focused on defining your personal leadership vision. This vision will be the personal results you want to achieve as you progress through this program. Then, you will be given the opportunity to choose the Treks to help you achieve that vision. Remember, each Trek is married to a capability within the LEADS Framework and will introduce to a learning concept and challenge you to apply that learning in a real-life scenario. Each Trek is completed once you have applied that learning and offered a reflection.

You must choose your Treks carefully – as it is the Treks and the challenges within that offer the trials and tribulations you will use to grow and develop into the leader you want to be.