After training hundreds of Fortune 50 managers in classrooms all over the world, Suzie DeBusk says she found her own best leadership training in the wilds of Kenya.
During the past decade, she's spent her summer vacations on safari fraternizing with lions, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, zebras, hippos and baboons.
Now the Rockledge-based entrepreneur is trying to share the personal and professional development opportunity Africa has to offer with senior managers, business owners and salespeople via her company, Leadership Safaris.
Her training employs physical challenges that have been used with great success by programs such as Outward Bound. DeBusk also incorporates 360-degree assessments, pioneered by the Center for Creative Leadership, and group coaching sessions.
"There's nothing like Kenya to take you out of your comfort zone and give you the opportunity to cope with survival situations you never realized you were capable of handling," DeBusk says. "That's been a huge confidence builder for me personally."
DeBusk created Leadership Safaris in the summer of 2005, leaving the management of her 17-year-old business solutions company, DragonPoint Inc., in the hands of her capable partners.
Since then, she's led two 10-day Leadership Safaris programs at Sosian Ranch, Lake Nakuru National Park and the Maasi Mara National Park in Kenya, drawing the likes of Larry Rudderman, materials manager at Hydro Aluminum in Rockledge, and Cocoa Beach developer Bill Stinson.
Interest in her training company is growing and attracting the attention of Orlando entrepreneurs including Chris Stubbs, president of the Central Florida franchise of Link Staffing.
"Leadership Safaris offers a tremendous vehicle for management growth," Stubbs says. "Besides that, who hasn't dreamed of going to Africa, especially when you get to stay in luxury accommodations?"
Stubbs and his wife,
Nance, plan to sign up for a future Leadership
Safaris program.
Safari participants bed down in a four-star hotel in Nairobi, a well-appointed ranch in the Laikipia highlands and an upscale tent camp in the Maasi Mara during their Kenya program. Attentive staff members are on hand at the various venues to cater to guests' needs, and the food, even when served in the bush, is fresh and flavorful.
Rudderman took
part in Leadership Safaris' October program. For
the first time in his life, Rudderman drove a
Land Rover over rough terrain, road a camel,
went skeet shooting, interacted with Maasi
warriors, toured a Samburu village and tracked
large game animals.
"Taking on the
new challenges got me completely out of my
routine. Away from the phone calls and e-mails,
I actually had time to reflect, and I believe
it's made me a better manager," Rudderman says.
Stinson, a former
NASA engineer, says he, too, found his
Leadership Safaris experience "transformative."
"Going to Kenya
expands your sense of the world and what you're
capable of accomplishing," Stinson says.
He says he
especially appreciated that the program features
private safari guides, including Zimbabwe-born
Squack Evans, during game rides and walks.
"Squack was
amazingly knowledgeable about the wildlife and
terrain, which helped me immerse myself even
more in the place," Stinson says.
DeBusk says she's
pleased that the Leadership Safaris experience
has strongly affected Stinson and others.
"Kenya will
change your life if you let it," she says.
DeBusk started
her career as a junior high teacher after
graduating from the University of Central
Florida in 1980. Soon, she found she had talent
as a programmer and gravitated to the technology
field. She founded DragonPoint in 1988. The
company now services more than 150 customers,
including Hydro Aluminum and Mercedes Homes.
"I've been very fortunate to
have both the resources and the
time to develop a new company
based on my passions for Africa
and leadership development," she
says.
DeBusk has added an 11th day to
her training program, allowing
for an extra day to be spent in
the wildlife-rich Maasi Mara.
Her next two trips are set for
June 22-July 3 and Sept. 7-18.
The cost for the tax-deductible
training and trip, including
airfare, ranges from $12,000 to
$15,000,depending upon whether
participants opt for side trips
to Kenya's other national parks
and/or the Seychelles
Islands.
DeBusk currently is set up to
take up to two groups of four to
five on each program. She has
dreams of expanding her
curriculum to include safaris in
Tanzania and other parts of
Kenya and to offer advanced
programs for alumni.
"I see Leadership Safaris as a
better way of developing
leaders. There's only so much
you can learn in the classroom.
Learning by doing is much more
powerful," DeBusk says.
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