This past Nov. 2, I arrived, a bit harried from travel, in Orlando, to participate in Executive Experience, sponsored by the Disney Institute, PCMA, Delta Air Lines, and Exposoft. I was primed for some change in my life. With uncertain expectations and a persistent fear that I would end up falling into the lake - or worse, be the only one to not catch a single fish - I decided just to go for it and open my mind to exploring a new approach to leadership.

Fishing and leadership … what does one have to do with the other? For the second consecutive year, Executive Experience has offered high-level professionals the opportunity to participate in a leadership-building experience that incorporates experiential learning with strategy exercises. Under the guidance of professional Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S.) anglers, executives try their hand at a new sport in the morning and apply their experiences to leadership strategies in afternoon sessions led by the Disney Institute.

When I arrived at Executive Experience, the term "angler" was foreign to me, although I suspected it had something to do with fish. With the sum total of my fishing experience confined to catching a fish or two in a goldfish bowl, though, I quickly grasped that I was going to need those anglers' help.

Getting Started
The opening event paired the teams to develop their strategy for the following morning. I was assigned to pro angler Jay Kendrick along with Christine Phelps, director of meeting services for the American Academy of Neurology, another inexperienced fisher … person. We set out early the following morning with general instructions on how to cast and reel. I harbored a secret fantasy of luring the largest bass in the lake and winning the event.
As the boats roared out of the gates, Christine and I howled as if we were on a wild roller coaster. (I wondered if Disney was taking note of this for a future theme-park ride.)
The first day, to my surprise, I caught two decent-sized fish (which at first glance seemed to me to be the largest fish ever caught by man) and managed not to fall overboard into the lake.
As we settled into the afternoon sessions I expected to hear much of the same lessons learned over many years as a planning executive.

Happily, I was wrong.

We openly shared our experiences on the lake. We talked about how what we experienced in our team on the lake parallels what goes on back at the office. More importantly, we discussed what we could do to take our organizations and ourselves to the next level of leadership. Facilitators kept the audience involved and pushed us to expand our thinking, to interact, to participate in the process.

Learning from the Best
We heard from Lee Cockerell, executive vice president of operations for Walt Disney World Resort, who employs 40,000 people.
We learned about Disney's philosophy and the small things we could incorporate into our leadership style to make a difference in the lives of our employees. Cockerell spoke of the importance of creating an environment where employees want to come to work. He spoke of attributes parents want to instill in their children: high self-esteem, confidence, strong values, a focus on education, and the ability to go forth in the world and succeed.
Isn't this what we should want for all people … at the very least for our employees?
Cockerell reminded us of how important it is to appreciate those you care about. He jokingly mentioned that "hopefully you wouldn't tell your spouse or significant other you loved them just once a year. It's the same thing with employees: Tell them often you appreciate their work, how well they handled a project, the value they bring to the organization."
He suggested to the participants that they make employees "feel special, treat them as individuals, and recognize the importance of work-life balance, respect them, their culture, color, religion, diet, and sexual orientation; educate and give them the tools they need to understand their job and its challenges and appreciate them every day."

An Attitude of Gratitude
I thought of my staff back home who were wrapping up the two national conferences we conducted the month before and how grateful I was to them for their good work which afforded me the opportunity to participate in this program. Sitting there, I was inspired. How could I give back … to them, to the planning industry, to society?
The following day we heard from Clay Dyer, who didn't need to say a word. His generous spirit and willingness to put himself out there was more than enough to inspire. Dyer was born with significant physical challenges that he refused to use as excuses to prevent him from doing what he loved best - fishing. Dyer has competed in and won many B.A.S.S. tournaments and continues to strive to make the National B.A.S.S. Championship Tour as well as make the rounds as a motivational speaker.

I was overwhelmed.

Prior to the Executive Leadership program I was struggling with many recent organizational changes and personal frustration which left me closed off and feeling stagnant with both my employment and personal life. I was frustrated by the lack of organizational support due to limited funding to provide staff development and planned organizational growth. And on a personal level, I was not having much fun with work occupying so much of my time.
The Executive Experience program changed this for me. The program is generous on so many levels. Of course, I expected nothing but the best from PCMA, Disney, Delta Air Lines, ESPN, and B.A.S.S. But what amazed me the most was the enthusiasm of all of our hosts - their genuine excitement when we told them of our first catch, their support when we were no longer in our element and feeling a bit uncomfortable dressed in fishing gear, their willingness to give their time and talents to support the Executive Experience and its attendees' success.

Giving Back
My own executive experience can best be summed up this way: Catch and release. Just as we returned the fish we caught to the lake, I returned home with a deep desire to give back:
To give back to my employer by arriving on the job refreshed and ready to bring about positive change.
To give back to my colleagues by sharing Disney's philosophy and showing them that even without deep pockets we could make a difference in the lives of our employees.
To give back by volunteering at PCMA.
To give back by providing pro-bono services to those smaller nonprofits with limited organizational capacity to address their planning needs.
To give back to my community by providing assistance with the local football team's trip to San Diego.
To give back to my profession by asking more of myself, by sharing my experiences and perhaps putting myself out there just as Clay Dyer did.
To give back to the suppliers, who make these leadership experiences possible for us nonprofit employees.
This last one stopped me in my tracks: How can nonprofit meeting planners give back to suppliers who compete for our business?

Here's what I think:

Planners can give back by always operating with the utmost integrity, basing their decisions on sound business practices; thanking the sales staff that regularly calls upon them even when there is nothing to bid on; embracing those new sales managers that are trying their best to do right by their company and are our future sales leaders; acknowledging the endless efforts of the convention services representatives each time they struggle to meet our limited budgets, create an environment for program change, and hustle to produce those extra 10 meals we under-accounted for; and by thanking the reservation agent who finds that extra room for our VIP when the hotel is oversold.
Executive Experience changed me for the better.
Just getting out of my comfort zone, even wearing fishing gear, helped me to not take myself so seriously. I laughed at myself when I didn't catch a fish, and even harder when I actually did. I learned to take risks, to trust, and to be a willing part of a team - whether we caught the biggest fish or not.
But most of all, I got hooked by a desire to give back.