GHAC Outdoor Organiser Workshop

Outdoor Leadership Summary

Outdoor Leadership Workshop

Here is a quick summary for those that could not attend the GHAC Organiser workshop on Sunday 29th August 2010  and a refresher for rest of us who attended.

Outdoor Leadership is the Capacity to influence others towards achieving common goals with a focus and competency the team would not achive on their own.

LeaderShip Styles - are ways you in which you express your influence on the group

COLT - Condtional Outdoor Leadership Theory (Priest & Gass, 1997) - The Conditional Outdoor Leadership Theory is a new approach to leadership based on applying the appropriate leadership style according to importance of task, group relationship, and level of conditional favorability. COLT Theory divides leadership styles into

Autocratic- complete decision making -high on tasks, low on group relationships, unfavourable conditions
Democratic - shared decision making - concern for task and group  relationship are balanced with somewhat favourable conditions
Abdicratic -  leave the decision to the group - low on tasks, high on group relationship and fully favourable conditions

A good leader knows when to change his style of leadership based on the task  and condition at hand.  The best action of the leader depends on a range of situational factors.

What is expected of a good outdoor leader

• creditability - he has the required experience. Has been there and done that or has the competence to undertake a task
• is physically strong with good endurance
• has technical competence with outdoor skills
• is intuitive
• is compassionate and respects team members
• leads by example
• Is punctual and maintains timeliness 
• has common sense
• has courage
• is passionate
• Is safety conscious and responsible
• Knows First Aid, Rescue and emergency handling procedures
  
• is realistic and respects limits
• communicates effectively and does regular briefings and keeps team informed
• Is a good listener
• delegates authority and involves group in planning, decision making and utilizes people skills
• Keeps a challenge or a goal for every activity
• Keeps a level of unpredictability and uncertainty in the activity
• Facilitates group interaction
• Likes and respects critics and handles critical feedback in a constructive way
• Manages and addresses conflicts before they get out of hand
• Has guts to say No
• Keeps learning and Mentors others
  
• un-leaders and becomes part of the group when not on the activity and knows when to use authority.

Qualities and Behavior  an outdoor leader should avoid

• Being Manipulative and coercive
• Misinforming team members
• Being Unrealistic and going over limits
• Less concern for safety
• No concern for environment
  
• Showing Arrogance
• Being Abusive
• Showing Anger
• Getting into fights verbally or physically
  
• Being Egoistic
• Having special relationships with some members of the group or bonding only with select few.
• Having access to more privileges then the group members.
• Asking Team members to do his personal chores.

References:
1) My own experiences and learning's when on the outdoors with Great Hyderabad Adventure Club www.ghac.in
2) My observation of other leaders when in the outdoors.
3) Collins Camping and Hiking Manual by Rick  Curtis
4) Outdoor Leadership theory and practice by Bruce martin
5) Effective leadership in adventure programming  By Simon Priest, Michael A. Gass

- Diyanat Ali, Chief Organiser, GHAC

Rapelling on a sunday morning.

An early morning wake up after a long time, do you know how awful that feels? especially for a lazy guy like me. But it was time and i had to leave for the rapelling event at moula ali. Moreover, i was supposed to assist the organizers!

Moula ali hasn't changed for months (and i hope it continues to be the same). A cloudy morning added to the view of a typical morning in hyderabad from a hill top. A quite breeze (which later turned to an incredibly gusty wind) with softness in air, just made a perfect start for a day. I felt like standing there and looking at the surroundings. Well! i can only speak for myself!

The team had already assembled and the ropes were in place and the first man was to take a 'rapelling plunge'. A good rapelling round for the first person and next it was me! but before i could take the plunge, i had to receive the much required 'gyaan' from the organizer. I learnt new terms associated with rapelling - harness, descender or figure of 8, b-lay (i do not know the spelling, think i should google it!). Very informative and the process employed for good descend was also mentioned.

My descend began. The path, from the start, had a gradual drop in angle to a certain point, after which the inclination was almost 90 degrees. The best part was here where i could start what i call a 'rapelling jump' and experience the rope controlled descend, jump-by-jump. The view down was excellent. Although for a first timer, the view would appear to be quite scary but one should never think of it. You overcome it and have a thought of experiencing the gradual descend. I'm sure you'll love it and would crave for doing it again!

Well, my completion of rapelling round was followed by me assisting in sending all the gears back to the top, after each participant completed his/her descend.

All in all, a great first-rapelling in hyderabad and the spot chosen by the organizers is apt. Cheers for good organizing!

More pictures at the rappelling photo meetup

GHAC Carnival 2010 - A huge success

GHAC Carnival held on 15th August 2010 was a big success with close to 450 people attending it despite the rains.  It was a lovely evening with the Adventure Fashion show being the Highlight of the evening. It was a pleasure watching the talented GHACians sing and dance together.

I must mention my deep sense of appreciation for the Keynote speaker Mr Rajeev Trivedi Additional Director A.P.P.A for gracing the occasion and for his excellent presentation on the adventure activities  he has done.

My sincere appreciation  to Shree Jayesh Ranjan  Secretary to Govt A.P, Tourism for his cooperation and for his encouragement for conducting the GHAC Carnival 2010 and extending the hand and support of APTDC to GHAC for future Club's Endeavours

I extend my thanks to Mr Sandeep Kumar Sultania Managing Director and Chairman APTDC and Mr Shekhar Babu manager APTDC and all the APTDC Staff for their  out-most cooperation and support during the entire event.

I thank the people and businesses that have chosen to sponsor and support the event. Without them this event was not possible. A big thank you to all the following sponsors

Reckon Technologies who were the main sponsor for the events. Our Co sponsors were APTDC, Wilcraft, Nava Bharat Ventures and Olive Hospital. Our Associate sponsors were BellIndia Pvt Ltd,  Hungama Deals, TripNaksha and KCHS School. Our Medua partners were Red FM 93.5 and Meraevents .com

I thank Arun Kumar from Traditions who were the event managers for the Carnival for the planning and smooth execution of everything that went so well. I thank Sharon who was the Emcee for the evening.  I thank Studio9 for the wonderful dance sequences. I thank all the Gorgeous and Handsome Hyderabadi Models who walked the ramp. I thank the "Stangers Band" for the wonderful performance.

An event  of this proportion cannot happen overnight. The wheels start rolling months ago. It required meticulous planning and a birds eye for details. GHAC  have been fortunate enough to be backed by a team of very motivated and dedicated organisers and volunteers  who know their job and are result oriented.

I would like to take this opportunity to place on record my hearty thanks to Ali Razvi for his vision and efforts for being the driving force behind the event. Without his vision and ideas this event would not have been possible. The very concept of hosting the First ever Adventure Fashion show goes to him.

I  express my sincere thanks to Mr Ranjan Sood for giving an excellent and informative speech  on GHAC and helping with organising the event.  I also thank Mr Kalpesh for all the good ideas and for supporting the event.

I extend my hearty thanks to Arun Raj for the  excellent design of the GHAC Carnival Theme. I also am thankful to Kranthi and the team of volunteers for  their enormous hard work done to publicize the event. I thank Farida and the team of Volunteers for coordinating with the press.

I thank the Sales Team consisting of Dr Vibha, Sachin and Prashant for publicizing the event and reaching out to people. I thank Bharat Reddy and the newsletter team for bringing out a superb annual GHAC newsletter edition. 

I cannot thank everyone enough for their involvement and their willingness to take on the completion of tasks beyond their comfort zones!. The Following Volunteers has helped with various tasks with organising the event.

Sreenath
Sukumar
Prathima
Deepam Morporia
Dr. Peddi Reddy
Anurag Khare
Priti
Shankar Reddy
Rashmi
Sharan K
Praveen Kumar K
Nataraj
Narendra V
Deepam Morparia
Anshu Gemini
Shraddha Bajaj

I would like to thank each and everyone who have helped with the event and whose names I could not remember. Lastly I would like to thank all the members and their families and guests for  attending the event and making it a success.

Regards

Diyanat Ali
Chief Organiser

GHAC Top Adventurer Award goes to:

The Top GHAC Adventurer Award for this year 2010 went to

Padmaja Phullbatla ( Top Female Adventurer Award)  for organizing and participating in so many treks that I cant list them all here. She has also been to the Everest Base Camp last May 2010

Sreenath M ( Top Male Adventurer Award) for organizing and participating in numerous treks and bringing in innovation all the time.  The dudhsagar railway track trekking was initiated in GHAC by Sreenath.

Shree Jayesh Ranjan, IAS,  Secretary to Government, Tourism presented the award at the GHAC carnival 2010 celebrations at Taramati Baradari.

I Congratulate them both and wish them even more adventures to come.


regards

Diyanat
Chief Organiser
GHAC

First Ever Adventure Fashion Show at GHAC Carnival 2010

First Ever Adventure Fashion Show at GHAC Carnival 2010

Downpour did not dampen the spirits of city adventure buffs as they gathered at the Taramati Baradari on the evening of 15th August 2010 to celebrate two years of adventure activities, travel and trekking. It was "GHAC Carnival 2010" to mark the second anniversary of Great Hyderabad Adventure Club, a city-based non-profit organization focusing on adventure activities, a healthy lifestyle, nature and environmental awareness.

The event began with a dance performance  by Studio9 to mark the Independence day followed by a first of its kind adventure fashion show featuring lines for trekking, hiking, rappelling, rafting were showcased by the club. A blend of quick dry fabrics and cotton tees apart from the hiking gear, life jackets, water bottles and rest of adventure paraphernalia was showcased across various sequences.

The event was managed by Traditions while the fashion lines were sponsored by Wildcraft. Hungama Deals gave away Giordano watches and movie tickets while Meraevents gave away Tshirts and Caps to the adventure club's lucky members.

The Key Note Speaker Shri Rajiv Trivedi, IPS, Addl. Director, Andhra Pradesh Police Academy shared his paragliding, long distance swimming and other personal feats with the adventurers and asked them to be mentally fit and agile to take on challenges.

The Chief Guest at the event  Shri Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Secretary to Government  of A.P. Tourism lauded the efforts of the club and extended cooperation from the AP Tourism Development Corporation in the club's future endeavors.  After a sumptuous dinner GHAC members sang and also hit the dance floor and jived to the tunes of the Hyderabadi rock band 'The Strangers'.

The main sponsors for the event was Reckon Security Systems. The Co Sponsors were APTDC,  Wildcraft, Nava Bharat Ventures andOlive Hospital. The associate sponsors were Bell India Pvt Ltd, Trip Naksha, HungamaDeals.com and KCHS School. The media partners were Red FM 93.5 and Meraevents.com

GHAC Carnival 2010

We are holding an event "GHAC Carnival 2010" on Sunday  15th August 2010 from 7 PM onwards for our second annual meet to create more awareness on the importance of incorporating adventure and environmental concern in our lives and also celebrate the achievements of our members in overcoming challenges and faring well in the various adventure activities.

Whats in Store

• An Adventure fashion show for the first time in India by professional Hyderabadi Models
• Listen and see the adventures undertaken so far
  
• Live Rock Music performance by Bandwidth to rock you till rest of the evening till 11 pm
• Dance troop performance on hit bollywood numbers
• 19 course Hyderabadi delicious menu both veg and non veg
• The venue is just 6 KM from mehdipatnam and  has a great ambiance with the taramati structure in the back drop.
  
• Meet and Network with everyone from the adventure family
  

Donor Passes are available for Rs 500.

For more details please visit http://meetup.ghac.in/calendar/11945933/