In the fast-paced and competitive world of business, nurturing a strong and cohesive team is crucial for success. While traditional team-building activities have their merits, it’s time for companies to explore the benefits of taking team-building days outdoors. By shifting these activities outside, organisations can unlock a myriad of advantages, including enhanced team dynamics, improved mental well-being, fresh perspectives, and the opportunity to push individuals outside their comfort zones. Let’s delve into these positive outcomes and discover why the outdoors should be the new frontier for team building.
Leading with Resilience: Building Stronger Teams
In today’s rapidly changing landscape, effective leadership is essential for building strong teams and ensuring success. The challenges faced by leaders require not only competence but also resilience—the ability to adapt, persevere, and inspire others in the face of adversity. In this blog post, we will explore how to lead with resilience and discuss strategies for building stronger teams in any sector.
Why You Should be Doing Risk Assessments for Home or Hybrid Workers
The number of people working from home or in a hybrid setting has increased dramatically in recent years. This trend is likely to continue, as more and more businesses embrace the benefits of remote work. However, it is important to remember that working from home or in a hybrid setting can pose a number of risks to employees’ health and safety.
In The News: May 2023
We’ve pulled together some of the latest leadership and management-related news.
This includes some topical subjects which many of you might also be experiencing in your workplace.
Unlock Your Leadership Potential: Why You Should Consider an ILM Level 4 or 5 Management Apprenticeship in Wales
In today’s competitive business landscape, organisations are constantly seeking skilled leaders who can navigate complex challenges and drive growth. If you aspire to excel in a management role and enhance your professional development, an ILM Level 4 or 5 Management Apprenticeship in Wales could be the ideal opportunity for you. These apprenticeships, offered by Call of the Wild, provide a structured and practical approach to developing your leadership abilities. Below we will explore the key reasons why you should consider embarking on this transformative journey.
Weartech invests in people as workforce grows to 105
A Port Talbot-based manufacturer has expanded with 11 new recruits, taking its workforce to more than 100 people, and recently completed a bespoke learning and development programme with Call of the Wild.
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Leadership Decisions
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force in various industries, and its influence on leadership decisions is increasingly evident. In this blog, we will explore the immediate impact of AI on leadership decision-making processes and delve into its potential future implications for teams. From enhancing data-driven decision-making to transforming team dynamics, AI is reshaping the way leaders operate and envision the future.
What Does The Outdoors Have To Offer Me?
What things can we learn from spending time in the outdoors? Specifically, how can walking in nature help us prevent depression, anxiety and poor overall health?
Elevate Management Skills in your Organisation with an ILM Higher Apprenticeship in Management
Our ILM management apprenticeship programme provides an incredible opportunity for growth whilst having a significant impact on your organisations. We currently have spaces available on our Level 4 and Level 5 Higher Apprenticeships in Management and encourage you to consider embarking on the transformative journey of an apprenticeship.
Communication and Interpersonal Skills What Are The Barriers?
Communication and interpersonal skills are important in both home and work life. However, various barriers can impede effective communication and interpersonal interactions. In this article we highlight some of the barriers that exist and suggest some strategies to overcome them.
We’ve identified 5 main barriers which are commonly encountered.
An Old Name For a New Way of Being
Wales is in the headlines this week as our national park celebrates its 66th anniversary and unveils a new brand and an updated official name. The park has lived with a dual English and Welsh name for a number of years but is now taking the step to embrace the original name of the region and be known officially as Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, pronounced ban-aye bruch-ein-iog, with the ch making the same sound as in loch!
In The News: March 2023
We’ve pulled together some of the latest leadership and management related news.
This includes some topical subjects which many of you might also be experiencing in your workplace.
The Rising Cost of Mental Health in the Workplace
Mental health in the workplace has become a growing concern in recent years, with more and more employees reporting high levels of stress, anxiety, and burnout. Despite efforts to improve workplace culture and reduce stressors, the problem seems to be getting worse.
We’ve compiled the annual figures published by the Health and Safety Executive to show just how much an impact the poor mental health is having on businesses.
Big News From Call of the Wild
You’ve probably already spotted that things are looking a little bit different in our world.
We’ve been on quite an adventure as we worked on our new look.
International Women’s Day: Combat Medic to Call of the Wild
For International Women’s Day we’re shining a light on our Head of Business Solutions, Francesca Zenati.
Starting out her career as a Combat Medic in the British Army, it was her passion for the values she’d experienced there that brought her to Call of the Wild.
A Big experience with Sir Gareth Edwards CBE
A week ago we had an evening that we won’t be forgetting in quite a while. For the past few years we have supported Wales Week in London and this year we hosted a night at the House of Lords with Welsh rugby legend Sir Gareth Edwards CBE. We were joined by business leaders from across the country to celebrate and connect.
There’s Something On My Mind…
Rebecca Aslett, Marketing Manager, Call of the Wild
Time to Talk day might be billed as the nation’s biggest mental health conversation but not many of us have the courage to open up because talking about mental health isn’t easy, especially if you’re facing your own struggles.
Keeping the tank full: how to prevent leadership burnout
By Mark Soanes, Director, Call of the Wild
Like many of you, I’m sure, I was quite shocked to hear the announcement last week that Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister is stepping aside. It’s not something we hear very often from political leaders, or leaders in general. But what interested me the most was her reflection ‘I just don’t have enough in the tank’. As leaders our time is constantly in demand, the pace is fast and the decisions we make can have enormous repercussions, but how often do we stop to check in with ourselves?
How full is the tank?
There is so much talk, endlessly, nowadays about mental wellbeing, work-life balance and a high level of awareness of what stress does to our bodies. They are certainly things I’m aware of when looking at my own team, but how often do we check-in with ourselves? In all likelihood – not often enough. Jacinda’s admission is a nudge we didn’t know we needed to consider how full the tank is, are we giving ourselves enough opportunities to keep our tanks full, so that we are giving our best to our organisations.
But who has time for that?
Ah, time. The endless battle for time. Although it might sound like a self-indulgence to block out time for something other than work, it’s vital. Our MD, Geraint, and I have recently started taking a day off a week and it’s been revelatory for both of us. It’s given us an opportunity to catch up on life-admin, to spend time with family we’ve missed out on and to do the physical activity needed to refill our tanks. A whole day may not be feasible for all of us, but when was the last time you took a lunch break? When was the last time you stepped away from your emails, your meeting schedule, your constantly ringing phone and went for a walk around the block? Why not start today? Do one thing that fills up your tank and see what a difference it makes to your day, to your team and to your business.
This all harks back to our ethos at Call of the Wild, and one of the reasons we started the business 25 years ago. First look at understanding yourself. What makes you tick and can you be honest with yourself when the hard times come as inevitably they will. If you don’t first understand how you lead yourself then how are you going to be effective in leading others and the organisation?
Mark Soanes has been Director at Call of the Wild for 25 years. Find out more about the work we do to support leaders and get in touch to see how we can support you, email info@callofthewild.co.uk or call 01639 700 388.
Team building with Telesgop
Swansea-based Television production company, Telesgop joined us for a full-day team development day. The day included psychometric testing, designed to help them better understand themselves individually and as a team, we then took them through activities to help support their learning and understand how to better communicate and work effectively as a team. Their testimonial below describes why they chose to have the day and what they got out of it. Company Chair, Elin Rhys also describes her own experiences of the day.
Can Leadership Be Learnt?
Can leadership be learnt? In our view yes it can. Although you can’t change the personality of someone you can influence their preferred behaviours. So if they are put in a leadership position then the skills required to be effective can be learnt as this involves adapting behaviours of yourself and influencing the behaviours of others.
Why reflection is important
As an organisation that specialises in developing people and other organisations we regularly tell those that go through our programmes to reflect. Reflection is an incredibly powerful tool in personal and professional development. It’s also really powerful to reflect as an organisation, and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing!
After a busy summer, welcoming people back to more interactive, in-person activities, it’s been wonderful to see that continuing into October. We had a brilliant month, and here are a few of highlights we’re celebrating:
We have a brilliant team here at Call of the Wild – seeing all the positive comments we get back from people who have been through our programmes makes us so proud of the work they do. It’s amazing to see their ongoing commitment to our mission to deliver positive behavioural change with lasting results. As a team we’re passionate about creating inspirational environments for people, and therefore organisations, to grow and develop.
Here are just a snippet of the great feedback we had in October:
Making time to reflect
How regularly do you reflect as a person, a team or an organisation? It’s a brilliant exercise to do! If you have any questions about the work we do and how we can support you and your team, please get in touch.
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
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On a day when our Prime Minister has said sorry, it got us thinking about what it is to apologise as a leader. As leaders we have big decisions to make, big responsibilities, and a workforce looking to us for guidance. But we are still human. We misjudge situations, make mistakes and we may not always have the answer. The very nature of leadership is dealing with uncertainty, so how can we be certain we’ll always pick the right approach?
Mindfulness is Transforming Leadership
In 2007 Chade-Meng Tan – Google employee #107 — launched Google’s meditation programme. The programme currently teaches 2,000 Googlers per year to meditate in order to become better leaders. Today, leading companies like Blackrock, Aetna, Ford Motor and Goldman Sachs conduct mindfulness classes for thousands of their leaders.
What is causing this shift to mindful leadership? In the stress-filled 24/7 world in which we live, leaders of all organizations need the opportunity for a “time out” period. It is their opportunity to relax, breathe deeply, de-stress and gain clarity about their work and the decisions they are facing.