Explorer Jim McNeill Joins Forces with Teamwork Specialist The Colour Works to Deliver an Array of Leadership Training Programmes with a Real Difference

~Launch of Survive the Arctic - a leadership and teamwork experience~

Survive The Arctic is a new unique two day course conceived by Jim McNeill and Giles Miskin, MD of The Colour Works. On day one participants will use the world renowned Insights behavioural profiling system to understand ourselves and the impact we have on each other. It's all very well knowing your team and leaders on a good day but what about when the pressure is on. Here we exercise our understanding of the psychological traits of our personalities when the heat gets turned up and relationships get stretched. Improved interaction in any situation with each other is crucial to effective leadership and teamwork.

Day two starts with a talk by Jim McNeill, founder of the Ice Warrior Project, on exactly what it is like to take on Mother Nature and her awesome power, giving a real insight as to the trials and tribulations of leadership and teamwork at the sharp end.

After the talk candidates find themselves in the aftermath of an air crash and having to survive the life-threatening Arctic environment. In order to do so and get back to civilization the team needs to travel towards a rendezvous with a rescue aircraft. They have to make the rendezvous in time, otherwise they will perish but unfortunately they encounter a series of challenges as they progress. These are all based on Jim's real life experiences.

The challenges are good fun but are also specifically designed to look at a whole host of characteristics, including: communications, ingenuity, problem solving, logical thinking, utilizing resources (strengths and weaknesses), leader-required and leaderless situations, as well as the obvious team performance.

Jim McNeill, says "These are real lessons learnt the hard way and it seems from our "guinea pig" clients that we've been able to translate them well to the corporate setting. Many things can go wrong in such dangerous situations and it is vital that the team has not only the right technical skills - navigation, rope work, camping, medical skills - but also the ability to pull together, understand, value and play to each other's strengths. A team that fails to do this will not achieve its goal, whether that?s in the Arctic or in normal civilisation."

Giles Miskin, Managing Director of The Colour Works says "We are absolutely delighted to work with Jim to bring the lessons learnt in such extremes alive in a more civilised setting and allow us to digest and absorb them. Jim's anecdotal evidence gives an appreciable reality to the problems we all face in improving our effectiveness; it's just the consequences of getting it wrong for him and his expedition teams are somewhat different!"

The National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA) was the test-bed for the course. Dr Mark Kilgallon, consultant to the NPIA said "By reducing the time for real syndicate formation by at least four days (according to the NPIA instructors), Jim McNeill and Ice Warrior made a profoundly positive impact on the Strategic Command Course at Bramshill; so much so that even seven weeks after the event the participants are still talking about it."

Editors Notes

For interviews or commentary from either Jim McNeill or Giles Miskin please contact Lori McNeill on +44(0)1344 883861 or lori.mcneill@ice-warrior.com

The Colour Works
The Colour Works are a diverse, highly talented and experienced group of people from a wide range of roles in public, private and third sector organisations. We combine their expertise with state-of-the-art behavioural profiles and diagnostic tools to identify opportunities to tangibly improve performance. We partner with clients to deliver unique high-impact learning solutions that challenge, support and inspire individuals to make the connection between their behaviours and their personal effectiveness in their role, producing better individual, team and organisational results. The Colour Works achieve breakthroughs in mindsets, behaviours, relationships and organisational dynamics. Giving you the tools to own and sustain the improvement.

Ice Warrior:
Ice Warrior is a long-term project encompassing all those gutsy, traditional aspects of pioneering that were present during the days of the golden era of exploration but brings them into the 21st century.

• It calls for participants - from all walks of life, all echelons of society.
• It conducts crucial scientific work particularly focused on global climate change.
• It applies leading-edge technologies to accomplish its aims.
• It inspires people to grasp life and shows that anything is possible given the right attitude and training.
• It acts as an exemplar in all aspects of leadership and teamwork honing performance and sustained delivery.
• And it tells the stories to its audiences around the globe using its media facilitators and partners.

Ice Warrior is all about modern-day exploration using ordinary, everyday people to achieve extraordinary expeditionary feats. In this modern age, our discoveries are about subjects such as the reality of global climate change, changes to flora, fauna and topography and as we come across these experiences we deliver them into the many homes, schools and businesses that follow the project.