Before embarking on the adventure, the class was described a case study scenario involving two fictional companies that had recently merged and were finding it difficult to fully integrate the staff. The MSc in Strategic Management students represented the staff of these companies with the task of designing a programme that would facilitate their integration. Each group's project had to include ideas on how best to integrate the staff and provide suggestions on what the leaders (selected for each part by the Professor) had to do to bring all the participants to the top of one of the peaks as a newly unified team.

Australian MSc in Strategic Management student Malcolm Froneman describes the challenge. "The 2 day summit commenced with one of the teams being chosen to lead everyone up to a mountain refuge where we would spend the night.  The hike up to the refuge was harder and longer than expected and provided many challenges. After some hours we reached the refuge where we left our belongings and another group took the lead for a hike through thick snow up to a lake with some amazing scenery.

This second hike proved very difficult for many (some of whom had never seen snow before) and the group split in two with the remaining participants following the two mountain guides who accompanied us throughout the trip.  The outdoor activities allowed us to devise ideas and implement leadership in action as we were constantly surveyed by a Professor of Strategy, Pr Philippe Very.  Day two involved the whole team reaching one of the peaks and planting a flag on it as a symbol of team work.  The feeling of accomplishment was fantastic and the views all around matched!

Learning leadership in a classroom is very different to being out in the wild and having to cope with so many unknowns and unforeseen events.  This is the real-life-stuff we will have to tackle in the workplace really soon, and being able to be a part of it by each having a turn to lead was great.  It allowed us to observe the others and learn from their actions.  Hopefully it will make us better leaders in the end."

The program culminated with a debriefing session once the students returned. Key learnings were discussed and students shared their thoughts on leadership and the programme overall.  "The whole experience was extremely interesting." concludes Malcolm "I think that despite the trying conditions and the fatigue, an amazing time was had by all.  What a great way to conclude the academic year!"