5 Leadership Lessons in Adventure Sports that Will Foster Entrepreneurship in India An adventure sports like Bungee jumping can help build an extreme level of confidence in an individual, by bringing him face to face with his fears, and an opportunity to overcome them
By Rahul Nigam
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Adventure Sports help hone and discipline the mind that makes leaders successful in their businesses. Attempting these requires a very special kind of skill: that to train and calm the mind amidst panic that eventually can have a lasting effect on decision-making skills during a crisis situation. All these attributes cumulatively contribute to making a successful entrepreneur too. Besides, adventure sports help leaders in attaining the following traits as well:
Confidence to Take on the World
Confidence makes you believe in your own abilities to perform a certain task successfully. This confidence is inherent. No one can inject confidence in your body, it has to come from within. However, going through certain experiences, and overcoming challenges can go a long way in triggering that confidence. An adventure sports like Bungee jumping can help build an extreme level of confidence in an individual, by bringing him face to face with his fears, and an opportunity to overcome them. The resulting confidence is everything in businesses, and in life. To build confidence, organisations invest heavily in courses and workshops. They should take adventure sports like Bungy Jumping. A lot of companies are starting to see merit in enrolling for such experiential learning instead. The resulting lessons are bound to make an impact and push one towards success in business.
Decision-Making
Accepting the mental challenges that adventure sports bring, truly honest the decision making powers of an individual. This happens because standing on the edge, one has to consciously put aside the bubbling fear, calm the impending panic, and chose courage if one wants to take the leap. This prioritisation has to happen in quick succession under a stressful environment, but the results are beyond rewarding. As is said, you are what you are today because of your decisions and choices.
Resilience
Resilience = Never, ever giving up. Adventure Sports make you resilient by inculcating a spirit of never giving up, pushing the limits, and taking the leap of faith. In businesses, ups and downs are inevitable and one can't escape from this vicious circle. However, taking lessons from your failure and setting new targets and overall beating the track again demands courage and resilience. One doesn't drown by falling in the water, but rather by failing to swim.
Achieve Perfection
Perfection can't be achieved without meticulous planning. In the adventure sports industry, safety is of paramount concern, and so has to be in built-in adventure sports businesses, as there is no room for error. Therefore, industries train for six sigma quality and have to strive for perfection, a trait that transfers on to the jumpers as well. Its all in or all out, there can be no halfway here.
Networking
In the adventure sports industry, direct interaction with adventure enthusiasts and clients builds interpersonal skills, which also helps in networking. The industry itself is a tremendous platform for networking among operators, travel agents as all are interdependent.
As an entrepreneur, these skills of good communication, networking and good sportsmanship are prerequisites for success in business.