LEADERSHIP TRAINING TIPS

Here at Albion, we are all about building a strong and supportive team. We believe that everything funnels down from the top, and when your leaders are happy and well-trained, so will the rest of your team be! Each year we gather at Albion owner and founder Liz' & Dave's home where we have team building games, trainings, and plenty of time for fun! We always leave feeling motivated, inspired, and closer as a team, and truly feel that this is a vital day for our company. 

We know what an important experience this is for our team and wanted to share a few of our favorite leadership building tips with you!

Here are 3 of our favorite team-building games that teach leadership skills in a fun and simple way!

Objective:

Make the ball travel around the holes without falling through a hole or off the tarp.

Supplies Needed:

Tarp with holes cut into it, about 3" in diameter

Tennis Ball 

Instructions:

Space 8-20 people evenly around the tarp. Ensure each participant is holding onto the edge of the tarp with both hands to create a table-top effect. Place the tennis ball on the tarp and roll it around each hole without letting it fall through or off the tarp. If the ball falls off, the game starts over.

Takeaways:

This game allows the team to practice their communication skills in a safe environment. It allows the team to take roles that give opportunities to coach, praise, and educate fellow teammates. It's interesting to see what roles people fall into and how it mirrors the responsibility we take on in the work place. Discuss why these roles are important and how they apply to the everyday in the workplace, as well as what can be done to make the workplace a cohesive and successful environment.

Objective:

Alongside your teammates, build the tallest tower with the supplies you've been given in 20 minutes.

 Supplies Needed:

Construction Paper

Tape

Straws

Styrofoam

Cups

Paper Plates 

Once 5 minutes are remaining, announce that the teams will rotate to another team's tower and be expected to finish what the other team had started.

Takeaways:

It's tough to come into a project halfway through and finish it, when you would have done it differently from the beginning, and to not see your project through until the end! We're handed different "supplies" in life and expected to be the best or build the tallest tower, but there is no one way to make it happen. We find ourselves feeling the competitive urge to be the best rather than collaborating to come up with the best idea.

The ultimate idea is that the tallest tower could only be built if every team came together with their supplies to make it happen.

Objective:

One person will be challenged to point out the leader from the rest of the group in this copy-cat game.

Instructions:

Place everyone in a circle and send one person out of the room. Select a leader among the group and instruct them to begin doing different movements/motions (such as clapping, waving, dancing, etc.) and have the rest of the group follow along. Bring the person that was sent out back into the room, and have them stand in the middle of the circle. Their task is to point out the leader of the group. 

Takeaways:

As the leader, you have a lot of people depending on you to lead them or guide them to the next step, but as the followers you need to recognize the leader you should follow. If you follow the wrong person you won’t be doing the right action.