Over 100 Northwood University Florida students recently attended a Lessons in Leadership event designed to provide tools to unleash their own individual gifts and abilities.
The event focused on Allison Levine’s leadership manual On the Edge, the term’s Northwood University Omniquest selection which relays that principles learned within the world of extreme adventure also work well within the world of business, and it also included profound testimonials from faculty and staff.
A hiker who in 2000 climbed over 19,000 feet to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa and over 18.000 feet to Kala Pathar, Associate Professor and Chair Mike Tuttle who lives by the words ‘no regrets’ shared insight regarding his adventure. “Despite however thin the air is, how cold the temperatures are, how exhausted I am, or how sleep deprived I might be, there is no reason not to continue until the goal is reached. Life is built on small but deliberate steps, all in the right direction,” said Tuttle.
Associate Professor and Chair of Advertising & Marketing and Fashion Marketing & Management, Professor Jennifer McFarland, a long-time marathon runner, then shared how the sport has helped her to grow both internally and externally. Providing a variety of visual examples, she relayed that to finish a race and to live life to the fullest one must ‘be comfortable with being uncomfortable,’ that ‘storms are temporary,’ and that ‘hope is not a strategy, one needs a plan.’
The event then culminated as Head Men’s Basketball Coach and Director of Basketball Operations Rollie Massimino shared the importance of preparation, dedicated study and self-discipline as key components to success while ‘playing for incredible stakes’ both on and off of the court.
On the Edge is an engaging leadership manual that provides concrete insights garnered from various extreme environments ranging from Mt Everest to the South Pole. By reflecting on the lessons learned from her various expeditions, author Alison Levine makes the case that the leadership principles that apply in extreme adventure sport also apply in today’s extreme business environments.
Omniquest is a university-wide program, overlaying all other programs, in which a provocative and challenging book is selected each term. The theme of the book is adopted for discussion and analysis during the term on all campuses and within all programs, simultaneously.
