Tim Pflieger simply chuckles when you ask him about the origins of his Team Leadership Center (TLC). The concept was so new, and by outward appearances so different, that he admits he had the locals scratching their heads.
He only half-heartedly jokes that there was even speculation of para-military training going on, but that wasn’t even close to what Pflieger had in mind. It was far less daunting than that, although no less mysterious.
That was 15 years ago, and a new era at the center is taking place. Pflieger is making some of the equipment he uses in his highly successful team building programs, available to the public. At the same time, he’s expanding his popular kayaking applications into a new business venture.
Pflieger is excited to dispel any of the remnants of mystery that still hover over his center. Still, for anyone who drives east on Dunn Road out of Institute and approaches Ploor Road, they will see a contraption to their right that looks like something out of a Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey trapeze training camp. For those who attend Pflieger’s center for a group session, it is the first glimpse of what they’ve gotten themselves into.
“People come here with a lot of anxiety,” admits Pflieger. “They don’t understand the emphasis we place on safety.”
Safety has to be important when you are operating a rope course, trapeze and zip line. But they are merely tools, as Pflieger immerses the groups in exercises and programs that will – as the center’s title suggests − enhance team cohesion and leadership skills.
“We are going to create an environment that addresses questions like why they are afraid of leadership or what is it that is blocking leadership growth?” stressed Pflieger.
Clearly, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill, sit around a table, listen to a lecture, and take an occasional break for coffee and donuts type of training session. This is adventure-based training. T-shirts, shorts and sneakers replace suits, ties and dresses.
Yes, there is the trapeze and the rope course, as well as rock climbing, kayaking and canoeing. But if that sounds like a commercial for a cruise line, there’s a method to Pflieger’s madness and it has grown out of the more conventional approach.
Armed with a Master’s Degree in Education, Pflieger spent nine years in higher education, in leadership development for college students.
“I cut my teeth in the college market,” said Pflieger. “Then I spent 18 months doing public seminars. It just led to a different way to deliver the curriculum; taking it back to the environment.”
Actually, taking it back to the family farm in Door County.
“I began wondering what were these people doing when they got back from the seminar,” said Pflieger. “I walked out the door of the house and looked at the barn and had an idea – the Team Leadership Center came from that idea. The definition of team is different, and what we tend to do in a leadership role.”
And if there’s one thing that we humans seem to lack, according to Pflieger, is good, effective leadership.
“We are the only species that elects, selects and appoints leaders who are incapable of leadership, and that wouldn’t be so bad, but then we let them hang around,” said Pflieger. “Geese and wolves don’t do it.”
Today, the barn is the centerpiece of the TLC campus. It’s a massive structure that Pflieger’s research places its origins around the turn of the previous century. As you walk in, you immediately realize you’re walking on rubber; the kind of chopped up pieces you’d find under today’s playground equipment. If the trapeze and zip line apparatus haven’t gotten you wondering upon your arrival, maybe the padded floor will. Then there are the rock climbing walls; one situated on a rare indoor “wooden king” silo.
Pflieger said the barn serves as an effective inside alternative on bad weather days besides giving the center a year-round tool. Rescheduling isn’t so easy when your warm-weather schedule is jammed.
“The first year, we had something like 43 groups that we served,” said Pflieger. In recent years, that number has swelled to more than 250 a year.
The program offerings have also swelled as Pflieger expanded to include, not only the county’s recreational resources through his kayak and canoeing adventures, but its community needs as well.
“We’ve always been at the table when there has been a community need,” said Pflieger, especially proud of programs like his, “Adventure Day Camps” geared towards youth with special needs, and “Sib Camp” for siblings of special need individuals.
“I feel we have the resources to bring all passions and interests to one place,” said Pflieger.
No matter the program, when it’s finished, Pflieger hopes the anxiety has melted away and another important facet of the entire program is in place.
“We have a strategy for application so when you’ve had a fun day and learned some things, you can apply them,” he said.
“People ask all the time, ‘what do you do here?’ and my response is, ‘we help people learn how to work together and become aware of their leadership style,’” said Pflieger. “We try to model and teach collaborative teamwork and effective leadership skills.”
At the core of the curriculum is the rope course.
“It’s the number one tool – the cornerstone of the curriculum,” said Pflieger. “There have been rope courses since the 1960’s. The military used them. This was the natural next step. The industry that now supports it has come a long way. I’ve worked with corporations, schools, sports teams, instructional staffs. I never know who’s calling on a particular day. We’ve worked with people from all over the world – Schneider Foods and its international marketing effort. These people wouldn’t be coming to Door County if it were not for Team Leadership Center.”
Obviously, safety is a concern when you present such an active curriculum – one so diverse that the new, “Adventure Race Program,” borrows from the television reality success programs like, “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race.”
“Safety is also number one here,” stressed Pflieger. “It’s our base line. People come from so many walks of life, with so many limitations, that safety has to be a priority.”
Developing the trust, in both the equipment and the curriculum, is a big step that will ultimately lead to good team building.
Even after 15 years, much of the public remains mystified by Pflieger’s highly successful center. It’s one of the reasons why he plans to open up his barn this year to the public, while at the same time expand his outdoor adventure elements into a new business venture called, “Kayaking Adventures Door County.”
“The paddling community has been pushing (the Door County market), but we haven’t pushed the tourist market,” said Pflieger, who will be operating out of The Door County Outpost location, south of Egg Harbor on Highway 42. “I use what’s here in Door County. It’s education, recreation, tripping, and some retail. We’ll offer Dunes and Cave tours; workshops and lessons coming from the educational perspective that is our (TLC) background.”
That same kayaking expertise will be offered to the general public in an, “Intro to Kayaking” class through the TLC, Thursday afternoons, June 3-Sept. 2.
Meanwhile, families will be invited to try out the rock climbing and zip line equipment at the center on Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (May 29-Sept. 4) and Wednesdays, noon-4 p.m. (June 2-Sept. 1).
“We’re giving an option you can’t get somewhere else – use of the TLC facilities, and specifically, the 250-foot zip line and rock climbing gym,” said Pflieger. “On a rainy day, it’s something different to do for families.”
For more information contact the Team Leadership Center at 920-746-9999 or visit www.teamleadership.com; or Kayaking Adventures Door County at 920-746-9539 or www.kayakingadventuresdoorcounty.com.
DCM
