Shehan : Outdoor Adventure Team trainer
View(s):It’s 5.30 am on day one and all are ready to start their outdoor adventure training with veteran Shehan Pilapitiya. ‘Outdoor Adventure Training’ is now a part and parcel of the corporate human resources training programmes. Being a pioneer in the field of outdoor adventure training, Shehan boasts of over a decade of experience behind him on the subject.
Shehan Pilapitiya has been a Corporate Leadership Adventure Trainer cum facilitator for past 13 years locally and overseas. Coupled with his ten years of experience in Human Resource Management and leadership team building training, Shehan is an all rounder in his field. ‘I have two friends in this field, who help me in my trainings. ‘Water & Jungle’ are two of my best friends’ he said.
‘I give all my participants a learning experience using these two components. Many corporates approach me with different expectations so I first see what their requirement is and then adopt a programme what best suit them. All my programmes are personally made and are flexible to be changed according to the performance of the participants’ he explained.
These trainings programmes are designed to help corporate clientele to get out of their comfort zones as it involves a lot of team work / effective communication / leadership and helping them to over coming fear and backwardness.
My first advice to them is ‘first believe and have confidence in yourself then you move on to trust your colleagues’ he said. Programmes range from one to six days. The maximum in take per training is sixty people. Shehan said he will take maximum 60 per group and nothing more as he always wants to share personal experiences and make sure all have a learning experience.
‘I believe discipline is utmost priority and make sure all participants practice it from the start of the training’ he added. An old boy of Trinity College, Kandy and S. Thomas’ Prep, Shehan is a sone of an ex- RAF Officer. ‘I was boarded at Trinity College Kandy. When you are in the school boarding everything is done on time, this helped me a lot up to date. My boarding life, military training, and the exposure I received from my overseas training helped me a lot. These trainings are all thinking out of the box, work as a team member not alone. I use the jungle and water as the class room and the adventure activity as the teacher. I facilitate the rest and look into the safety of all my participants because they come to me with a lot of confidence on me so I have to be up to their expectation which is a big challenge for me’ Shehan said.
He said he enjoys a new experience from every team he trains. ‘I learn from them too’.‘Not only I conduct these programmes for the corporate sector, but carry out trainings for all girls only / students / parents and kids alike. I enjoy and do these trainings with a passion for it. These trainings start at 5.30 am and would go on till around 10.00 in the night’. Other than being a leadership trainer Shehan is also a professional White Water Rafting Instructor and deep sea diver. He also is a qualified Human Resource Management Professional, who has held many senior postitions in the corporate sector.
‘Nothing is impossible in life’ is my motto.We should never give up especially when the defeat is in sight. Very often I put my participants under pressure and see how best they cope up. After every activity we go through a briefing and discuss what the learning experience was and mistakes made and relate that to the work place’ he explained.
Shehan could be contacted on shehantraining1@gmail.com or buzz 077 8970404 for any advise.
