Kenya builds leadership skills
Photos and text by Kathy Hagood

The birds in the acacia trees begin singing early at Sosian Ranch in Kenya, heralding the day with a strangely entrancing symphony of calls. Cups of hearty Kenyan coffee, delivered to each room, steam up the crisp morning air. Morning breaks and the new day dawns for participants in Leadership Safaris.

One is Larry Rudderman.  After retiring from the military Rudderman rose up the civilian career ladder to become the materials manager at Hydro Aluminum in Rockledge, one of the company’s 13 aluminum product supply facilities in North America. But somewhere along the way he forgot the desire he’d had as a young man to travel to exotic destinations, he says.

Then the manager heard about leadership training in Kenya offered by Leadership Safaris, a new company owned by Suzie DeBusk, president of Dragonpoint, a business solutions company HydroAluminum often engaged.

“Suzie’s passion for Africa and my confidence in her convinced me that I should go,” Rudderman says.     With years of background providing leadership training to General Electric's technology managers all over the world, DeBusk created Leadership Safaris to combine her training expertise with her enthusiasm for safaris in Kenya.

For the past decade DeBusk had traveled to Kenya every summer for safaris on horseback, and she had come to believe that just going there and immersing herself in the challenging terrain with its amazing wildlife provided her with better leadership training than any course she’d ever taken.

“It’s a harsh place with an austere beauty. Everything has thorns,” DeBusk says, referring to the many types of spike-and-thorn-bearing acacia trees and bushes there.

“You find out things about yourself while facing challenges there that you never otherwise could. It’s a place to get out of your comfort zone and re-evaluate what you're doing,” she says.

During Leadership Safari, training participants track animals, drive a Land Rover, ride a camel and a horse, jump from the top of a waterfall, spend time alone in the wilderness, throw a Maasi spear and shoot a rifle.

But the training isn’t just physical. The group gathers on a daily basis to discuss lessons learned on safari and in real life as they relate to leadership attributes of self-awareness, accountability, fortitude, adaptability, respect and integrity. Helpful exercises, including an assessment by coworkers, help participants get a clearer picture of their strengths and areas where they need improvement.

DeBusk led her first training session in Kenya last October and her second in March. A third is scheduled for 11 days in late June and early July.

Here’s a look at how the 10-day March trip proceeded following the flight to Nairobi.:

Day 1

After breakfast at the Fairview, a family-run four-star hotel, the group flies to Lake Nakuru National Park aboard a small aircraft. The mostly smooth flight offers a bird’s eye view of just how large Nairobi, population three million, actually is. Along the way are the Abedare Mountains, the green rolling hills of coffee plantations, the Great Rift Valley, and the majestic forested crater of Longonot, an extinct volcano.

Just before landing at Lake Nakuru, the pilot spots lions near the airstrip. Boarding a Range Rover, the group drives the short distance to view them. As the game ride proceeds the group sees and photographs baboons, zebras, white and black rhinos, giraffes, Cape buffalo and more.

The rover continues on to Lake Nakuru, to take in the millions of pink flamingos that fringe its shores.  Then everyone is ready for a lunch of grilled chicken, pizza, sandwiches, pasta, Caesar salad and brownies – one of many ample and tasty outdoor meals served throughout the trip.

A short flight and drive later and the DeBusk team arrives at Sosian Ranch and settles into their exquisite quarters decorated with antique furniture and Argentine wool blankets. Built in the 1940s by Italian artisans for the original ranch owner, Sosian is now a 24,000-acre working ranch and guest lodge.

Days 2 through 5

Guests wake each day to a gentle knock on their doors, the Swahili greeting of “Jambo,” and a tray with hot coffee and tea. The service is just one of a hundred ways the ranch staff, most of who grew up in Kenya’s native villages, spoils guests.

A typical day begins with a game walk or ride in a rover with the group’s Zimbabwe-born safari guide Squack Evans and his assistants followed by a huge breakfast back at the ranch. Breakfast features homemade breads, eggs cooked to order, plentiful fruit, cereal and yogurt.

Along the game ride giraffes, zebra, elephants and other wildlife are frequently sighted. During walks, team members learn to identify various types of dung and prints to track Kenya’s large mammals. A lion print and leopard dung are among the multitude of animal signs discovered.

One morning the group, guided by Joseph Lamart, a Kenyan of the Turkana pastoralist tribe, visits a Samburu village, tours a dung hut and learns about the Samburu’s pastoralist culture. For the brightly garbed Samburu and other pastoralists, success is measured in the amount of cattle owned.  The group thrives on a diet that is based on a hearty mixture of their cattle’s milk and blood kept in gourds.

Theirs is an affluent village and their chief is able to support six wives. Each warrior, a male who has come into manhood by surviving a stint alone in the bush, is able to have as many wives as he can afford.

After breakfast DeBusk leads interactive leadership discussions and members take on exercises or work on their professional assessment action plans. Following lunch the group tries various physical challenges, such as shooting a rifle and skeet shooting. Late afternoons are spent on game rides or additional physical challenges.

Dinner, typically served late, offers group members the chance to unwind by socializing with other safari guides and visitors from adjacent ranches. A game room with pool table and dartboard and living room with a roaring fire are perfect after dinner retreats for conversation.

Days 6 and 7

After goodbyes to the Sosian staff the group flies to the Masaai Mara National Park. Following arrival on a Mara airstrip they take a game ride to their accommodations at the Offbeat Mara Camp. Althought the group already has seen an enormous amount of impressive wildlife, the abundance of animals on the Mara is a new thrill. On the way the group sees not only lions but also a group of three cheetahs.

The camp features seasonal luxury weather-lined canvas tents each with two full beds and a private shower and toilet. During their stay group members take several game rides, visits a Maasi village and sees Maasi warriors dance. The Maasi earned the reputation as the fiercest of tribes as Kenya was being colonized and are still highly respected for their independence.

Day 8

After a final outdoor breakfast, the group flies to Nairobi, checks into a day room at the Fairview and heads out for lunch, shopping and a visit to the Karen Blixen house. The group learns about the life of the “Out of Africa” author before heading back to the hotel to clean up, dine and prepare for the overnight plus a day flight home.

For past participants like real estate developer/investor Bill Stinson of Melbourne, Leadership Safari’s training trip offered an amazing opportunity.

“You could take leadership training in a classroom anywhere but you could never learn as much as from taking on Kenya,” Stinson says. “We don’t have people happily living in dung huts here in the United States.”

Rudderman too felt Kenya offered a unique setting and experiences.

“You definitely don’t get to ride a camel every day,” he said.

Fortunately for future participants of Leadership Safari, a third day at the Maasi Mara camp has been added extending the 10-day trip, including traveling, to 11 days. The next trip is set for June 22 to July 3.

For more information on Leadership Safaris, call 394-3377 or visit www.leadershipsafari.com