Leadership Games - The Bucket Exercise

This activity is the best of all the leadership games to demonstrate clearly that empowering people to think for themselves takes up much less time and energy.

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If you want the theory behind this exercise, I suggest that you read this article first:

Benefits of this Leadership Game

• Participants see clearly the benefits of employee empowerment…and how to do it.

• Team members experience the frustration and waste of energy by having a directive leadership style in certain situations…both to the leader and the employees.

• Participants see that that to empower people to think for themselves take up much less energy and is much more productive in the long run.

• Participants see that “telling people what to do” do not empower them in the end.

• They experience that by NOT empowering people, the whole operation fall apart when the leader is not there for a period of time.

Time Needed

30 Minutes to an Hour.

Number of participants:

6 to 20

Materials Needed

• Masking tape (for indoor) OR a 30 meter (100 feet) long rope (for outdoor).

• Two car tyre tubes.

• 6 pieces of string of about 3 meters (10 feet) long. (Water ski rope will work just fine)

• Two empty buckets…big enough so that the car tyre tubes will fit over them.

• 10 Blindfolds.

Set Up

• Form a rectangle on the ground by using the 30m (100 feet) rope if you do the activity outdoors. Use the masking tape if you do it indoors. The rectangle should be 10 meters (30 feet) long and 4 meters (13 feet) wide.

• Put a tyre tube and 3 pieces of 3 meter (10 feet) ski rope on each side of the rectangle.

• Put the buckets in the middle, about 2 meters (7 feet) from the sides inside both sides of the rectangle

• In the middle, between the two buckets, put a blindfold.

• Divide the group in two separate groups. If your group consist of 8 people or less, keep them in one group. In this instance, you would only need one bucket inside the rectangle and only one set of tyre tube and 3 pieces of string on only one side.

• If you have divided the group into two (more than 8 people), let each group gather on either side of the rectangle. Each group should stand next to the tyre tube and string on either side.

• Blindfold half of the people of each group.

• Get the NON-BLINDFOLDED half of each group together and brief them on the objective and rules of this leadership activity. The blindfolded people should not hear this briefing.

Objective, Briefing and Ground Rules

• The objective of this leadership game is for each group is to get their bucket on the blindfold. If one group get the bucket on the blindfold first, then the other group must put their bucket inside the first group’s bucket.

• The bucket can’t be dragged. They have to lift it up somehow and put it on the rectangle.

• Nobody is aloud inside the rectangle. If anybody steps inside the rectangle, they have to start all over again.

• Each group can only use the tyre tube and the three strings…and they have to use all these props.

• The NON-blindfolded people can’t use their hands. They have to keep their hands folded behind their backs all the time until the bucket is on the blindfold in the middle of the rectangle.

• The NON-Blindfolded people can only talk to the rest of their team. They can’t use their feet or teeth or any other body part.

• So each group will have blindfolded people with hands (who can’t see) and NON-blindfolded people who can see (but can’t use their hands).

Complicating this Leadership Game Even Further…

As soon as both groups are on their way, withdraw the “leaders” from the leadership activity and ask them to stand 5 meters away, without saying anything. They must just observe. Tell them that they are going on a conference for a couple of days.

Or you can withdraw the “leaders” and give them another task to do. I usually give them another activity to solve…one that is not as complex as the bucket.

If the “leaders” used a directive style initially, this whole leadership activity will stop once you have taken the leaders out. This is because the blindfolded “workers” are used to do as they are told. And now that nobody is telling them what to do, they do nothing.

(This concept can be used during any of the leadership games)

How To Empower People During This Leadership Activity

If the "leaders" start the activity by briefing the blindfolded people and then leave them to solve the problem by themselves, it will take much less energy from the “leaders”.

They could let them to feel and touch the borders of the rectangle. Then they could let then feel and touch the 3 strings and tyre tube. Anything to empower them…or to let them “see”.

From there on, the “leaders” only have to encourage or maybe stop them if they are getting too close to the border of the rectangle. If they ask the “leaders” where to go, they can answer, “Just follow your instinct. I will warn you when you get too close to the borders. You are doing great. Learn from your mistakes”

This would free up their time to do other things as well.

Debriefing of Leadership Games

I have found the following questions to be useful in debriefing the activity:

• What emotions did the blindfolded people experience during the exercise?

• What emotions did the “leaders” felt?

• How did you react when the “leaders” were taken out of the exercise?

• What could the “leaders” do different to empower the blindfolded people?

• What did you learn during this leadership activity?

• How does empowering people influence the bottom line?

• What can you do to empower your employees back at work?

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