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Leadership Experience at Gettysburg

Leadership Experience at Gettysburg

Organizer: The Conference Board
Cost: $3,950 for The Conference Board members, $4,950 for nonmembers*
Length: Three days
Past clients: Pfizer (PFE), Sony (SNE), Freddie Mac (FRE), Philip Morris (PM), Honda (HMC), Target (TGT)

The Conference Board began taking managers to Gettysburg in 2003, inspired by the "staff rides" West Point cadets traditionally take to historical battlefields to study the tactics of past military leaders. Led by military historian Cole Kingseed and business consultant Rich Thomas, participants tour the site of the 1863 Civil War battle and discuss how the decisions faced by those generals are similar to the choices they make in their own jobs. Thomas says the two lessons business people most commonly take away from the experience are the importance of effective intelligence gathering—something that appeared to have hampered the Confederates in the battle—and the need to clearly communicate your intent to direct reports so they can act decisively on their own—a strength of the Union.