The Boardroom Beat #27 - The Allure of Adventure

This is a call to contemplation and action…..make 2024 a Year of Adventure. My long term clients select an overarching theme for each new year…..Choice, boldness, impact - to name a few. I land personally on the theme of adventure for 2024, and recommend it to others for three reasons;

1.    The primal need for adventure,
2.    The benefits of adventure,
3.     Accessibility of adventure.

Board Room Beat is a leadership forum and this topic is no departure. There is a strong connection between an embrace of adventure and workplace attitudes/behaviors that benefit organizations. Stepping beyond comfort zones and experiencing new things is key to the definition of adventure. Adventure encourages;
*    self-learning 
*    confidence gaining
*    risk taking 
*    growth and learning 
This is precisely what organizations in growth mode encourage of their employees. 

Teresa Marshall Is VP of Globalization and Localization at Salesforce; She should know. I met Teresa in 2010 when as a Senior Manager she launched the “un-conference” concept hosted by Salesforce in 2010. I sensed a leadership aura extraordinaire and have followed her since. No surprise that Teresa was on board for leg #1 to crew for The Translated 9 entry in the Ocean Globe Race 2023, billed as the most human and adventurous regatta ever. See footnote for more info and and a vicarious thrill.1 

Teresa shares that “Joining the T9 race team in the first leg of the Ocean Globe Race was great and at times trying adventure. I expected the physical and mental challenge of a 40+ day non-stop ocean passage. Even three months after returning I am more aware of how resilience, empathy, and collaboration on the boat influence my every day life.”

1. The Need for Adventure

According to evolutionary psychology, the traits that once made survival possible, though muted by a more comfortable existence, remain hard-wired. Quoting Harvard Business Review, “You can take the person out of the Stone Age, but you can’t take the Stone Age out of the person.” At first it may seem counterintuitive that embedded “survival instincts” correlate to modern day adventure seeking. In his body work spanning decades Dr. Marvin Zuckerman explains that those prone to risk-taking had the tenacity to bring down the mighty beast. The brain’s “seat of adventure” is the ventral striatum which forms part of the dopamine reward system. It fires when we encounter something novel and unknown. I have long harbored the unscientific opinion that without primal stress we (annoyingly) create our own first world problems to bemoan. Similarly, without the “adventure” of basic survival there is a need to fill.

2. Adventure Benefits

As the outdoor sports company REI states in The Nature Fix: Why we are Hard-Wired for Adventure2, “It can just make us stoked. There’s something about playing in the sweet spot of arousal—the emotional zone between boredom and total fear—that fully engages us. Psychologists call this a state of flow.” 

In this state the brain releases the rewarding neurotransmitters dopamine and oxytocin. Their impact on mindfulness, engagement, and focus is key to mastery of skills. The correlations to desired workplace skills are clear. Adventure serves as a catalyst for developing resilience, confidence, and a profound sense of accomplishment.

3. Adventure Accessibility

This is the perfect segue to the accessibility of adventure. Humans are all wired differently. Although some may crave the adrenaline surge of extreme sports and grave danger, that is not blanket suggestion of this article. Rather, It is to discover one’s own quest by stretching, learning, and trying new things. It may be ball room dancing, it may be a challenging technical certification. I can attest that the rigors of achieving Master Coach status in 2023 had every component of adventure, and when I learned that I was awarded the designation I was exuberantly energized for hours/days. Adventure leads us to what we are capable of achieving.

An Adventurous Twist on New Year’s Goals

I am circling back to where I started - a call to contemplation and action. New Year’s Goals are a trifle dépassé. Update your 2024 vision for yourself with these reflections:
 

Do you want to contribute with an article, a blog post or a webinar?

We’re always on the lookout for informative, useful and well-researched content relative to our industry.

Write to us.