Haskayne Adventure Leadership

n May of 2016, the Canadian Centre for Advanced Leadership in Business received a $3 million gift from Hal Kvisle to establish the Hal Kvisle Adventure Education Fund. This fund ensures students the opportunity to participate in CCAL’s adventure education initiatives for many years to come.

Kvisle finds that much of the risk taken in the outdoors are comparable to the risk and decision-making he has experienced in his professional life. “Whether we go up this creek or follow the ridge, or choose a different path, will make a big difference,” says Kvisle. “Experiences like these are important for future leaders to develop their sense of character and personal leadership development.”

These specialized programs give students the chance to take their education outside of the classroom and into the world of experiential learning. These experiences allow students to discover personal development in a dynamic environment and explore how to relate their personal leadership lessons to their professional lives.

There is something for everybody in these unique programs. If trekking through the Canadian Rockies with everything you need for the week on your back piques your interest, there is the Leadership Expedition. If you prefer the indoors, there is the Leadership Drum Circle and the Leadership Dojo.

Those who have participated attest to the power of these transformational experiences that push students out of their comfort zones and shift perspectives. “Good leadership isn’t about being the loudest, most outspoken person in a group, it’s being a person who tries to listen to everyone, considers their opinions and tries to find a solution that best fits each person,” reflects Kira Lagadin, a past-BComm participant on the Leadership Expedition. 

The month of July is quite busy for the Adventure Education programs with three separate Wilderness Retreats running at the University of Calgary’s Biogeoscience Institute field station at Barrier Lake. Every summer, this for-credit course is offered once at the undergraduate level and twice at the graduate level. The purpose of this course is to cultivate core leadership skills in the context of sustainable development through outdoor activities, personal growth challenges, team building, self-reflection, and cross-cultural learning. The course has run since 2004 and more than 500 Haskayne students have been through the program. 

“The Haskayne Wilderness Retreat offered us a unique experience of reflective learning, challenging us to evaluate our values and beliefs,” states Cory Miles, a fourth-year Real Estate student, “Sometimes it takes a retreat experience for this kind of sustainable individual learning to take place.”

Thanks to generous donors such as Hal Kvisle, a great number of Haskayne students have the opportunity to participate in these transformative experiences.