Introduction
How well do you really know your team, or your colleagues? It’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot lately in the context of what we do at Park Trek. So, what if it turned out the most effective team-building activity wasn’t found in a workshop, conference room or offsite venue. Rather it was through walking side by side.
As leaders, we spend a lot of time with our colleagues. We attend meetings together, work through problems together, and pursue goals together. Yet despite all that time together, I often wonder how deeply we really get to know the people we work with.
The same question applies beyond the workplace. How well do we know our friends? Our families? The people who matter most to us? How they are travelling, what challenges they’re facing, or what’s on their mind or worrying them?
The Power of Walking Side by Side
In my experience, some of the strongest connections I’ve formed over the years haven’t been built in a boardroom, at an offsite, in a café or across a desk. More likely, they’ve been forged through shared experiences, like walking together, side by side. Or perhaps even wandering the Tasmanian highlands with clients and a fly rod as I did years ago.
There is something uniquely powerful about walking side by side. Unlike most conversations, where we sit opposite one another, walking places us shoulder to shoulder. It removes much of the intensity and formality that can accompany face-to-face interaction and creates a more natural environment for rich conversation. This is strongly, but not exclusively, seen in males.
When people walk together in nature, they often drop their guard. Discussions become less transactional and more personal. Silences are comfortable rather than awkward. Differences in status disappear on a trail. Conversations drift naturally between work, family, aspirations, challenges and life experiences. Before long, people begin sharing parts of themselves that might never emerge in a more structured or formal setting.
I’ve seen this happen countless times on the trail. Conversations that begin with a discussion about someone’s role or career often evolve into something far richer. People talk about experiences that shaped them, the obstacles they’ve overcome and the things that are most important in their lives. These moments of openness create understanding, and understanding is the foundation of trust.
Walking, Engagement and Team Trust
As Patrick Lencioni has famously observed, trust is the bedrock of a high-performing team. Walking also seems to unlock something within us individually. The repetitive rhythm of putting one foot in front of the other has a remarkable ability to settle the mind. Away from the constant demands of emails, phones and competing priorities, we find space to think more clearly and be more present. This enriches our interactions.
Many people describe it as a “flow” state. Problems appear more manageable, ideas come more easily and conversations become deeper and more meaningful. The physical benefits of walking are well understood, but I believe its mental benefits are just as significant. Walking creates space for reflection, perspective and genuine engagement with the people around us.
What I also love about our walks is that some of the most memorable interactions often extend well beyond the walk itself. The trail creates conditions for connection – walkers open up, share experiences, and perhaps even vulnerabilities. Then the real magic of connection and acquired trust continues afterwards.
A conversation that begins on the trail often continues into the evening. Stories shared on the walk are often revisited around a dining table, where people learn more about each other and discover unexpected common ground. On multi-day walks, there is something especially powerful about casual campfire conversation. The barriers that exist in everyday life seem to disappear, replaced by authenticity, laughter and listening.
These shared experiences create enduring connections. I see and hear about this from our guests who often meet as strangers and then go on to book future walks as friends.
Walking in Nature is an Inclusive Pursuit
Another aspect of walking is its inclusiveness. It is one of the few activities that brings together people from vastly different backgrounds on equal terms. Age matters less. Gender matters less. Professional status matters less. On a trail, a senior executive and a graduate can walk side by side and discover that they share similar hopes, concerns and aspirations. People from different industries, cultures and life experiences can connect through the simple act of moving through a landscape together.
In a world that can at times feel increasingly divided, there is something refreshing about an activity that reminds us just how much we actually have in common.
Of course, nature plays an important role as well. Being immersed in a natural environment changes the dynamic completely. It encourages us to slow down, observe more carefully and engage more fully in the present moment. Whether it is a coastal track, a mountain trail or a walk through open bushland, nature has a way of bringing out the best in people.
When you combine the benefits of movement, meaningful conversation and immersion in nature, you create an environment that naturally promotes trust, wellbeing and connection. It is good for us physically, good for us mentally and, perhaps most importantly, good for our relationships. It’s very different to the typical offsite or bonding workshop that I often participated in many years ago.
Bring Your Team Together by Walking
For teams, this is powerful. Organisations invest significant effort into building culture, strengthening communication and fostering trust. While there is no single solution, I have increasingly come to believe that some of the most effective team-building experiences are also among the simplest. Give people the opportunity to walk together, talk together and share meaningful experiences, and remarkable things can happen.
Ultimately, walking isn’t about covering distance. Or as we say at Park Trek, “it’s not about how far or how fast”. Rather, it’s about finding time and space – to connect with oneself, with others, and with nature. Whether with colleagues, friends or family, some of our most important conversations occur when we’re walking side by side.
If you’re interested in exploring how walking experiences can help strengthen relationships, build trust within teams, or simply create more meaningful connections, I’d love to talk with you. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or reach out directly at charles@parktrek.com.au .
So, on that note, I’ll leave you with a question: When was the last time you truly connected with the people who matter most to you while walking together?
#Leadership #TeamCulture #Connection #Trust #Wellbeing #Walking #Nature #TeamBuilding #LeadershipDevelopment #MentalWellbeing #ParkTrek
Park Trek acknowledges and pays its respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which we wander as a walking company. We recognise the unique place held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the original custodians of the lands and waterways across our continent, with histories of continuous connection dating back more than 60,000 years. We are proud to live on the planet’s oldest continent with the oldest continuous living culture. We support the Uluru Statement from the Heart.