Follow the Leader: leadership course 7-9 June

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FOLLOW THE LEADER: leadership course - 7/ 9 June Andrew McLellan (with the "Social Committee" and Friends) For those who wish to lead First up on the agenda was a talk on leadership And control a messy bleed responsibilities covering "Before the Trip" "the Trip" Or always wonder which way is South "Huts or Camping", "Food" (lasagna anyone?), "Trip And are endowed with a large mouth Morale" and "After the Trip". My most lasting We suggest you sign up smartly impression is that even if caught in a howling northerly For the next "Leadership Assistance Party". with horizontal rain somewhere in the Tararuas, there will never be any problem with morale because a blazing Unbridled eagerness was amongst the essential qualities campfire can always be lit and stories swapped, regardless necessary for those wishing to learn the intricate secrets of the fact that one's campsite has suddenly been of how to become a leader especially knowing that the redesignated as a valuable native swamp reserve! weekend would be spent in sunny Wainuiomata! Moving right along, rest assured that there should never On arrival, our chaperon for the weekend gave some be any fear of a Tongue and Meat trip ever getting lost - explicit instructions on how to behave in a Scout Camp. well at least not in a room 7m X 10m. Although there was Simple rules such as no "drunk and disorderly some initial confusion, Geoff's expert instruction avoided behaviour, "don't break anything" and "no unnecessary any possibility of the punters being geographically movement between bunkrooms at night". After this embarrassed. A blindfolded Bev also provided amusement obligatory talk, we began our adventure into the with her blundering forays from one end of the room to unknown. the other, aided by several moving obstacles. Armed with some rousing quotes from "Challenge of the Post lunch was "When Things Go Wrong" with Lyndsay Blurbs", courtesy of Uncle Roger, the first real pearls of Fletcher. I think the topic covered was "how to lose wisdom were revealed. The first lesson for budding difficult people in the worst possible weather conditions", commandants oops I mean leaders, is that supplemented with full colour slides. It was clear that communication is an important skill. The Chief Guide there was an abundance of recent episodes of this kind to gave the first objective lesson in this regard by cleverly draw upon. shouting that a white board and pen are a powerful tool in someone else's hands. No doubt certain members of our fledgling fascists sorry that should read leaders related well to the training video - I'm sure we've all come across the types of people portrayed but I'm still struggling with the real significance of the pink jumpsuit are these to become recommended items on club trip gear lists? Nero, Reagan and Ayatollah Khomeini didn'tget to where they got without plenty of sleep or at least cerebral inactivity. So our intrepid bunch of rising stars crept quietly off to their respective pits. No - I can't put this off any longer special mention should be made of the culinary delights that befell us over the weekend. For me, breakfasts were the highlight, only marred by some unnecessary foreplay involving a heinous concoction of leaves and hot water, the real climax was of A leaderless bunch (Roger Bolam) course the weetbix. Personally, I think those angelic faces behind the aprons (Rob Stone, Alastair Wallace) should The remainder of Saturday afternoon was lead by Eric receive knighthoods for their efforts in respect of and Paul, dabbling in team work exercises, and then breakfast alone. But mention should also be made of general discussions as a prelude to dinner. The exercise cornfritters, chops, chook, pork, gluevine (a purely non- involved the group running from one end of the camp to alcoholic beverage) and spoons. the other and then running back again and then, just for variety, running back again in search of clues.

A cross between orienteering and a multi-choice test, this After a speedy allocation of tasks by Steve, all without the exercise proved to be one of the most revealing of the aid of a calculator, dazed but enthusiastic teams set to the weekend. Some leaders adapted a mixed tasks before them. In many cases scenarios were based on socialist/democratic approach based on warm fuzzies and real experiences a bit scary to have such a depth of working together, while others adopted the capitalist free hairy stories in the club and for some, these exercises market competitive approach. were a form of exorcism - finally casting off the last vestiges of unpleasantly recent events. Special mention Ilse showed how to lead from the back and still win must go to Eric's frighteningly convincing portrayal of a Richard showed how to develop all the classic symptoms complex protruding fracture of the tibia, severe vomiting of hypothermia in 30 seconds (more sensible leaders (simulated of course), and a relatively low level of spared their charges from the horrors of the water consciousness. Eric, the Oscar is in the post. obstacle). All teams agreed that the organisers of the next such exercise should read their maps before expecting No one can forget Paul's infamous creation of Dougal - others to find clues that don't exist. Personally, as a difficult person! One of the more enlightened of recruits charming as I found the women's ablution block, it is no suggested that such persons be quietly taken aside and sat place to hide clues. All grievances were forgotten once down, preferably on something very sharp! A thorough Buzz Bars were supplied to all involved (cheers Eric!). debrief followed lunch, with emphasis being placed on tight side creeks and tight places in general, courtesy of Dinner was tastefully accompanied with the Rex "Spin a Yarn" Benbrooke aforementioned non-alcoholic beverage. The evening was wiled away in good humour with the true artistic talents After an efficiently run "tidy-up", our final test for the of the club being revealed. It wasn't too long before our weekend was to come. A cunning exercise in group weary bunch of trainees made a relatively early retirement manipulation involved pretending that the "Duchess" to their bunkrooms. wouldn't start of its own accord. Obligingly, a mass scrum was formed just to reinforce what we had learned Sunday morning was back to basics A, B, C, lead by over the weekend. Kara Lipski. We were given a crash course in some basic First Aid. For some, it was all a bit too overwhelming Thanks to the Hillary Commission, Eric "Moving Right talking about arterial bleeds, pressure points and Along" Evans, and the other instructors: Paul Critchley, protruding fractures. One person who shall remain Anita "Camp Mum" Catchpole, Rex Benbrooke, Geoff nameless gave us a practical demonstration of the Crockford, Lyndsay "I feel - " Fletcher, Kara Lipski and recovery position. This part of the course was well Steve "There Will Be No Rumours" Patience. structured and backed up with good notes. After a brief interlude of Search and Rescue from Paul, the main exercise of the day was prepared for - yes, many hours of intense instruction, total dedication and raw guts culminated in a series of challenging role play exercises. a a AS from WT&MC Journal: 1981