Outdoor Leadership Seminar: No Ordinary Leadership Training

HEC Paris MBA's Outdoor Leadership Seminar defies convention with two days of outdoor challenges, mentored by SCYFCO. Students rotate leadership roles, receiving real-time feedback. MBA students share their experiences, highlighting themes of collaboration, team trust, empathy, and unconventional solutions. OLS: where leadership meets adventure.

Each spring, students take part in a two-day leadership seminar. This may sound like par for the course in an MBA program, but HEC does things a little differently.

This is no ordinary leadership training.

This is two days – rain or shine – outdoors on HEC’s green campus, with mentors from Saint Cyr Formation Continue (SCYFCO). With military backgrounds, SCYFCO members create a series of improbable activities from rappelling down the side of a building to assembling and maneuvering a raft across the campus lake. Decision-making and leadership skills truly get put to the test outside of the classroom.

Students are split into groups and each person takes a turn as leader. After every timed exercise, they receive feedback from SCYFCO mentors about their effectiveness in problem-solving and leading a team. This real-time guidance is invaluable, giving students key information about their unique skills and challenges.

We caught up with a few MBA students just days after the seminar to get their impressions of the unique experience.

Cassandra ’24

"It was such a fun, invigorating way to promote the real-world application of leadership and teamwork."

What was the most challenging part of OLS for you personally?
Throughout the seminar, each member of the team takes turns operating as the leader. Switching between being the decision-maker to a regular team member was much harder than I thought! It was interesting to hear my teammates’ perspectives and see how they would approach tasks differently than I might. I appreciated the challenges this role-switching posed to my thinking, pushing me to be more creative and open-minded in the variety of ways a situation could be approached.

What would you like to share with future MBA students about the value of OLS?
The Outdoor Leadership Seminar is yet another example within the HEC Paris MBA that enforces and encourages cross-cultural collaboration. It is so much fun to do this alongside students across both the September and January intakes, especially if they’re people that you haven’t met before or aren’t super familiar with. Because of this heavy emphasis on collaboration and the adventurous nature of the tasks, it’s a great bonding experience among colleagues.

What was the most unexpected part of OLS for you?
How truly intrepid the tasks were! I never expected it, but I am proud to say that I was able to successfully cross the HEC lake and rappelled down a wall of T Building during my time in the MBA. It was such a fun, invigorating way to promote the real-world application of leadership and teamwork.

What leadership skills did you learn/flex during the two days?
Motivation and persuasion were two major aspects of the seminar, both when operating in the leader role and supporting another leader as they spearheaded a task. It was pouring rain during most of the seminar, so ensuring all colleagues were invested and motivated in each challenge was critical. There was also a necessary balance of being collaborative and open to other team members’ suggestions and inputs, while also being resolute when planning a decision and making sure everyone knew how we would be moving forward through a task. I was proud of how decisive and efficient in executing our decisions my team was – it allowed us to be very effective with our time and ensure all challenges were completed successfully.

Nishant ’24

"Underperforming based on my own expectations was the most unexpected part of OLS but at the same time I learned how to deal with that stress and still finish the activity."

What was the most challenging part of OLS for you personally?
Understanding strengths and challenges of all team members and delegating responsibilities accordingly.

What would you like to share with future MBA students about the value of OLS?
Make the most of OLS by being more empathetic to every team member’s commitment and reaction to success as well as stressful moments.

What leadership skills did you learn/flex during the two days?
Knowing what each team member was good at as well as what they didn’t like doing. Example: one team member didn’t like outdoor activities, but she was excellent at organizing things so encouraging her to strategize was effective for our team.

It also takes time to build trust with your team. Members will listen to the leader (and other team members) if they trust their credibility and authority. Building trust requires cultivating a space where each person knows they are being listened to and having their ideas considered. It also requires delivering on your responsibilities and commitments. It’s also important to take some time to get to know each other a little bit.

What was the most unexpected part of OLS for you?
I am generally very good outdoors but during these two days I was exceptionally bad (e.g. I hung upside down from the building during the rappelling exercise because I didn’t release the rope!). Underperforming based on my own expectations was the most unexpected part of OLS but at the same time I learned how to deal with that stress and still finish the activity.

Sharleen ’24

"I think in an organization with clear hierarchy, it’s easier to follow your superiors, and easier to have your subordinates follow you. But during OLS, you are working with your peers and everyone in the program is a natural leader."

What was the most challenging part of OLS for you personally?
The most challenging part of the Outdoor Leadership Seminar was being a leader in a group of leaders. I think in an organization with clear hierarchy, it’s easier to follow your superiors, and easier to have your subordinates follow you. But during OLS, you are working with your peers and everyone in the program is a natural leader. This was the hardest part for me, and my greatest takeaway was recognizing when to follow.

What would you like to share with future MBA students about the value of OLS?
I believe that the OLS is a very unique MBA experience. We were able to experience on-the-ground decision making and had to quickly change strategies in the face of unforeseeable obstacles. Classroom learning is great, but it can’t provide the same insights as being outdoors and pushing yourself in activities you normally would not do.

What moment from OLS are you most proud of?
The moment I am most proud of was when I led the team to do a new task and we completed it on time. Our mentor also said that our use of the provided materials was a bit unconventional but worked better than their solution! I think it’s good that we were creative and overcame functional fixedness.

What was the best part about OLS?
Falling into the lake! I’ve always loved the HEC Paris campus, but there’s no fishing or swimming allowed in the lake. So, even if I unintentionally fell in, I’m glad it happened!

To learn more about the unique opportunities for out-of-the-box thinking at HEC, visit our website!