Kokoda Pilgrimages for Schools

More than 700 young Australians from all walks of life have graduated from our Kokoda Youth Leadership Treks over the past decade. 

Our Kokoda Youth Leadership Challenge was voted as the most outstanding youth leadership program at the Clubs NSW Annual Awards Dinner in 2017.

According to the judges of the award this program is without peer in the development of personal leadership qualities based on the enduring values of Kokoda.

Other schools who have used our Kokoda pilgrimages for leadership development are Kings School, Parramatta; Riverina Anglican College, Wagga Wagga; combined schools from the Hills District in Sydney; Penrith Panthers on the Prowl; Canberra PCYC and Lomandra School, Campbelltown.

Our Kokoda pilgrimages for schools are based on lessons learned from our own experience as graduates of the army Officer Cadet School, the Royal Military College and the Australian Command and Staff College.  We draw upon the experiences of our Adventure Kokoda trek leaders who have a combined total of 160 years professional military service that includes combat experience in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

During their pilgrimage students are disconnected from the travails of social media and reconnect with themselves, their fellow trekkers, the environment, the culture of the Koiari and Orokaiva villagers along the trail, and the wartime history of the Kokoda campaign.

We de-clutter the theory of leadership and get back to basics in a physically challenging isolated foreign environment where risk is real, personal commitment is required and teamwork is essential. And no matter how hard the going gets we are constantly able to reflect on the difficulties our young troops had in fighting their way across the trail against all the odds in 1942.

We stress that the relevance of the Kokoda pilgrimage is not about the glorification of war - it's about the commemoration of sacrifice.  It's also a realistic demonstration of the ability of the human spirit to conquer adversity.

But most of all It's about Australian leadership!

'the art of influencing and directing men to achieve an assigned goal in such a way as to obtain their obedience, confidence, respect and loyal co-operation'.

Essential military leadership characteristics include:

• Loyalty:
  faithfulness to country, corps and unit, and to your seniors and subordinates.
   

• Sense of Honour
  (Integrity): Uprightness of character and soundness of moral principles, absolute truthfulness and honesty; fairness and impartiality in exercising command.

• Sense of Responsibility:
  Consistent endeavour to discharge the responsibilities accepted as an officer.
   
• Knowledge:
  Acquired information, including professional knowledge and an understanding of your men.
   
• Courage:
  A mental quality that recognises fear of danger or criticism, but enables a man to proceed in the face of it with calmness and firmness.
   
• Initiative:
  Seeing what has to be done, and commencing a course of action, even in the absence of orders.
   
• Decisiveness:
  Ability to reach decisions promptly and to announce them in a clear, forceful manner.
   
• Tact: 
  The ability to deal with others without creating offence, and show respect for individuals
  .
• Dependability:
  The certainty of the proper performance of duty.
   
• Endurance:  The mental and physical stamina measured by the ability to stand pain, fatigue, distress and hardship.
   
• Enthusiasm:
  The display of sincere interest and exuberance in the performance of duty.
   
• Unselfishness:
  Avoidance of providing for one's comfort and personal advancement at the expense of others.
   
• Bearing:
  Creating a favourable impression in carriage, appearance and personal conduct at all times.
   

The Aims of Military Leadership are:

• Primary Aim: Accomplishment of the mission.
• Secondary Aim: Welfare of the men.

Military Leadership Principles are guides for the proper exercise of command:

• Be technically and tactically proficient.
• Know yourself and seek self-improvement.
• Know your men and lookout for their welfare.
• Keep your men informed.
• Set the example by deeds, not words.
• Ensure that the task is understood, supervised and accomplished.
• Train your men as a team.
• Make sound and timely decisions.
• Develop a sense of responsibility amongs subordinates.
• Employ your command in accordance with its capabilities.
• Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions.
• Make the primary mission the combat efficiency of your command.

Military Leadership Techniques are actions given by the leader.  Each technique should:

• Be guided by the leadership principles.
• Exhibit the characteristics of a leader.
• Be consistent with the situation.
• Contribute towards achieving the goal.

Combat Efficiency was described as the ability of the unit to accomplish an assigned mission in the shortest possible time with the minimum loss of life and waste of material.

Indications of Military Leadership are:

• Morale:
  an attitude of confidence in the mind of an individual when he identifies himself with a group, accepts group goals and works hard to achieve them.
   
• Discipline:
  the prompt obedience to orders and, in the absence of orders, the initiation of appropriate action.
   
• Esprit De Corps:
  the loyalty to, pride in, and enthusiasm for a unit shown by the members of that unit.
   
• Proficiency:
  the technical, tactical and physical ability to do a job well.

Some 50 years on the gender of our language has changed but the principles and techniques remain the same.

By day 5 . . .

'The years I spent in war were the happiest I ever spent.  I shared a task with men of every type and every social station and was admitted to a fellowship so rare as to almost justify the beastliness that made it possible.  There is this to be said of war: you live simply if at all, and you do it in the company of men at their very best, spurred to a passionate unselfishness by a common purpose which at all other times is lacking'.

Around the campfire our trek leaders will discuss the '3+1 Rules of Survival' and various theories of leadership based on our own experiences: the army 'Group' theory based on the premise that he or she who wears the rank is not necessarily the leader; 'Command' leadership relevant to combat situations; 'Situational Leadership' which is the ability to shift behaviour according to the demands of the situation.  We discuss the characteristics of effective team leadership which encompasses the natural mix of decisive action people, thinkers and carers. 

By this stage the group are no longer strangers and are beginning to develop strong bonds of friendship.  They now have an appreciation of the term 'Esprit de Corps' which wartime historian, Dudley McCarthy, attributed to another young group of strangers, the 39th Militia Battalion:

'Although possessing no permanent site, having neither roof nor walls, no unchanging form, it yet becomes home for those who serve in it.  Away from it, each of its members can revert to being homeless individuals, lost uncertain, without proper identity.  Because of this it calls to life in a man, rounded into fullness through shared battle, suffering and death, each other will always feel some sense of brotherhood for each other man of his battalion.  Through this thing the strong lift the weak to efforts and achievements beyond their own strength and their conscious wills, and the dependence of the weak gives greater strength and endurance to the strong.  For every individual human part of this battalion who is killed, this thing changes something in those who survive and calls to life something new that never was there before'.

Students then retire to think about a leader who has inspired them in their lives thus far - a parent, a teacher, a coach, a friend.  Later in the day they return to the group and tell us about that person and the values they have and the qualities they exhibit that inspires them as a role model.

We then share a view on leadership from an old mentor:

‘From long experience I have learned the importance of knowing the capacities of my people.  I view each person as an individual with strong and weak points.  I have considered opinion about the strengths and limitations of each person and the responsibilities each will probably be able to handle best.  In a general way I know when it will be safe to let a person ‘have his or her lead’ and when to ‘tighten the reins’.  I consider it is part of my job to provide conditions that will allow my people to perform at their best.

‘I have learned to watch for signs that a person may be reaching breaking point, particularly during prolonged periods of stress.  When I sense a person to be reaching breaking point I arrange for their relief as tactfully as possible.

‘I follow the practice of pushing decision making as far down the organization as it should reasonably go.  For example, I give most of the problems that come to my desk to people who I think should handle them.  Usually I do not comment on these problems in advance even though I usually have my ideas on how they should work.

‘I try to avoid making commitments that involve my people without their knowledge.  I recognize it is tempting to promise people they will get everything they ask for.  Instead I take note and promise that their request will be looked into, and that they will get it unless a good reason exists.

‘I have learned to be especially careful in one aspect of my actions.  I have found that people are highly sensitive to anything a boss says or does.  I have found that even the most vague speculations about possible actions can cause my entire organization to shift into high gear. Accordingly, I learned long ago not to throw off any chance remarks which might be construed to be subtle directives.

‘Despite my calculated reserve I am constantly tempted to tell employees how things should be done.  I have a reputation for getting to the root of problems and, of course, I like seeing things done according to my own preferences.  However, I am convinced that much of my effectiveness depends upon resisting this temptation. I have found that this restraint has resulted in my people getting high satisfaction from their own jobs.  I believe that this is also why I have developed a reputation for always having my people ‘behind me’.

‘I have learned to use my people as a team.  I encourage ideas and suggestions from everyone concerned, not only by saying so, but also by making sure that those who ‘stick their necks out’ do not feel threatened by their or others’; comments.

‘I insist that my people clear their ideas with each other before coming to me.  I recognize that most problems will involve the activities of more than one branch or section.

‘I am concerned about the development of my entire organization and I make effort in this direction.  I make it a specific responsibility of supervisors to bring on their employees.  I encourage supervisors, for example, to invite selected employees to conferences where the latter can make a contribution or learn something relevant to their own work.

‘I believe that written directions or memoranda are most useful when they summarize or record concepts that have already been discussed.

‘I have found that the idea within which employees can act on their own initiative needs defining.  I therefore keep in touch with my people so that I can show them where they are in over their heads.  I don’t hesitate to tell them when they have failed – I do so plainly but in a way which stresses how such mistakes can be avoided in the future and how they can profit from them.’