Participants: 8 – 32
Location: Inside and Outside (Outside is better by far)
DIY Team Center Access: Videos, photos, tips and tricks and more for this activity
Activity Level: Medium
Time Needed: 15 to 20 Minutes plus debrief – 45 to 60 minutes total
Objectives: Trust, Coaching, Leadership
Materials Included: 16 Eyeshades, 30 mouse and rat traps, rope for course area
This is one of the most powerful and, ironically, one of the simplest events.
Trust Walk is about leading, following, trusting and communicating.
Many leadership styles emerge during this event. Some find it difficult to be responsible for another person’s safety and others find it exhilarating. To trust or give up control can be very hard for some people.
A glimpse into Trust Walk
After pairing up, each individual takes turns leading the other person through obstacles (we provide 30 mouse traps and 1 rat trap – 100% safe) and overcoming adversity. While a very simplistic activity, many people find it difficult to trust their partner and find they will ‘cheat’.We also advise you to pay attention to the Ukrainian online casino Pin Up http://prantmedia.com.ua, where right now there are many interesting offers to start playing for money. With fast signups and an assortment of bonuses spreading, you’re sure to use this stylish site when participating in a loyalty program.
Because it is so simple, very few people take the time to strategize or find out exactly how far ‘X’ number of steps is for their partner. This create the scenario for a great lesson in coaching – we need to communicate with other people the way THEY hear it best, not the way WE hear it best. This is an activity every manager should master before going back to work!
With several variations, you can run this activity with both pairs alone and then all the pairs together at the same time to create a completely different level of communication.
Who should buy Trust Walk?
Trust Walk is perfect for a group who must instruct or direct anyone. The need for good, clear communication in a style that the receiver will hear best is a VERY difficult concept to practice. You can tell someone all day long in the classroom, but try and actually do it. We automatically refer back to what we know – that is our default. As supervisors, educators, managers, we need to be sure we are communicating in a way that the recipient will understand it.
Whatever the scenario, the Trust Walk is a powerful learning opportunity. This exercise is a great way to start or finish an event, meeting, workshop or any other function in which it would be valuable for people to examine how trust really works.
What will the group learn from Activity?
Trust Walk, sometimes called Leader Walk, is full of amazing learning opportunities. This is because participants feel it is 100% REAL versus simply a game because of the mouse and rat traps.
Trust
An obvious learning opportunity here, trust is difficult to talk about with groups. This activity creates a concrete experience to use as a tool to discuss trust, how it works, how you lose it and may of the complexities that surround it. Trust is a major building block of any group. Without it, it is challenging to accomplish anything of real value.
Coaching
All participants get the opportunity to be both coach and coachee. As a kind of communication, coaching has its own societal set of rules that we learned. However, some of those rules are wrong! My football coach thought yelling was the right solution to every situation, even when congratulating a player. Experiencing how you communication must change and how you must adapt to your coachee is incredibly valuable. Doing this in a ‘silly team building game’ is obvious because your coachee is blindfolded. Being a good coach, adapting to your coachee, in life is not obvious. We ALL have blindfolds in areas of our life and need people to help us in those moments, yet not made to feel like an idiot and become defensive. This team experience demonstrates how valuable being a good coach (and coachee) can be.
Leadership
This may be surprising but during the first round, the leaders (we call them coaches) are by far the most nervous. They are directly responsible for the safety of their partner! Since the mouse and rat traps are REAL, they take this very seriously. Back in ‘real life’, we take our leadership (and coaching) roles casually and many times with little care. What if we were as serious and felt as directly responsible in life when we are a leader?
Followership
There are times when we MUST simple put our complete trust in someone else and follow their lead. Trust walk shows this ‘must’ but in real life, it is rarely that simple. However, this is a big part of being a good team mate. Blindly following has it’s place in life – when is that for YOUR team?
Speed of Trust
Stephen M.R. Covey (the son) wrote this fantastic book about trust that makes this elusive topic concrete for people.
We use the Trust Walk in a very particular way to help participants experience the two basics of the Trust ‘tree’ – Character and Competence. Participants deeply understand the difference between the two after they are put through two rounds of this activity.
If you want more details, you an see a learning session James Carter (co-authored a book with Stephen Covey – dad) wrote about how to use the Speed of Trust concepts in conjunction with this activity to create incredible shifts in inpiduals and groups.
Mouse and Rat Traps
The traps are pre-set by our staff to be 100% safe to be used with your group. We HIGHLY suggest you use them and ask the group to take off their shoes. This makes a silly trust activity VERY real because of the potential fear of the pain. Fear that is only in our mind but makes people wonder, ‘Do I really trust this person to keep me safe?’.
DIY Team Center Access
Videos, photos, current tips and up-to-date activity usage is included on the activity page on our DIYTeamCenter.com website. After purchase, you will be emailed a login and password with a membership for the activities you have purchased. We couldn’t give you any more unless we were there in person to help you run it!
With each team building purchase, you also receive:
- 100% Happiness Guarantee, forever
- Unlimited Support Monday through Friday from a Professional Facilitator.
- Two-Year No-Hassle Replacement Warranty
And what’s more, you are also entitled to 100% Lifetime Money Back Satisfaction Guarantee.
If you would like help in selecting an event, please do contact us at 800-513-8759 . Our representatives will be more than happy to help you.
With each team building purchase, you also receive:
- Unlimited Support Monday through Friday from a Professional Facilitator.
- Two-Year No-Hassle Replacement Warranty
And what’s more, you are also entitled to 100% Lifetime Money Back Satisfaction
If you would like help in selecting an event, please do contact us at 800-513-8759 . Our representatives will be more than happy to help you.