Leadership Games - What are the benefits?

Among qualities that are admired in a leader, trustworthiness is ranked highly.  There are many leadership games to test trustworthiness. One example is titled ‘Blindfold’. A group of business associates is divided into two equal subgroups. One subgroup is asked to blindfold themselves; it is then explained that their colleagues in the other group will be taking them by the hand and leading them to two objects without communicating to them. The blindfolded group will identify the 2 objects by touching them. A leader who was considerate of his colleague he was leading seemed to fare better in this exercise. The lesson learned from this exercise is that in order to follow a leader confidently, you must have great trust in them. Additionally, dominance can sometimes lead to anxiety in employees.

Team Building and Collaboration  

Another set of leadership games are done to mimic the concepts of team building and collaboration. An example is a fun game called ‘smart hunt game’. Split the group into two or more teams with 5 to 7 people on each team. Each group appoints a leader. You can actually pick the person with the least leadership qualities because he or she will greatly benefit from the confidence-boosting element of this exercise.  Before the game begins, the contents of a tube of smartie sweets should be hidden around the room. On separate pieces of paper, write down as many animals as they are members on your team. The animals should be those with distinguishable sounds such as a cow, monkey, chicken, etc. You and your team members select your “animal identity” from the pieces of paper. The game’s objective is for team members to find the hidden smarties, and to direct their leader to them by making their own animal sound. The task is made more difficult by the leader being blindfolded and can only follow the animal sounds of his teammates. The team with the most smarties wins!

Communicate Strategies Clearly

Multi-Way-Tug-of War combines teamwork, communication skills and ability to strategize into a fun group activity. A specially designed 4 way powerpull is used as four teams battle for supremacy! In multi-way-tug-of-war, it is tactics that will win.  Divide the group into four teams and distribute the strong players evenly among the team. The team employs many strategies as the try to pull the knot over the finish line. A leader is selected and he communicates when to try harder, when to stay steady, etc. This is similar to the leadership provided in the business world.

Decision Making

Survival scenario exercises are wonderful leadership games that mimic the process of decision making. The scenario is that your plane crashed and your team need to select 12 items needed to survive. Five to 10 minutes is allowed for briefing, 15 to 30 minutes for the exercise, 5 to 10 minutes for scoring and 20 minutes for debriefing and discussion. Just as in the corporate world, many opinions are expressed. The key is to listen and to compromise.