Reprinted from The Leader, Summer 2000, Vol. 16, No. 3

NOLS was recently featured in an article in Investors Business Daily. Here are some excerpts:

"In the wild, there can be a razor-thin margin between success and failure, survival and death. What makes the difference? It's in the details, say alumni and instructors of the National Outdoor Leadership School in Lander, Wyo.

"... you can still sharpen your knack for maturing details in the workplace with the following four tips from NOLS instructors and alumni:

"1. Find a role model and carefully study how that successful person handles the details.

"When a student comes to part-time NOLS instructor Sam Talucci and complains of being cold and wet during an expedition, Talucci tells him, 'Watch what the instructors are doing.'

"He pushes students to analyze closely how expedition leaders conduct their business. He then instructs students to imitate those actions, even if they don't understand them at first.

"2. Practice new skills until you've perfected them.

" 'Repetition helps get you where you want to be,' Talucci said.

"3. Before you analyze details and get facts during a crisis, clear your head.

" 'In the middle of a storm, just stick your head in the sand for a bit,' said NOLS alumnus Tom Scott, co-founder of Nantucket Nectars, a fruit juice company in Cambridge, Mass. Why? 'In the middle of a storm, your ability to calmly walk through the issues is really going to determine your ability to succeed,' he said.

4. Analyze strengths and weaknesses in yourself and your colleagues to improve teamwork.

" 'Look around and see what (is) needed,' advised Archie Clemins, a NOLS alumnus and retired admiral from Boise, Idaho.

"Carefully analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the whole team spelled success and survival for Clemins and his NOLS colleagues."