'Trial by fire' for skills team

By SOPHIE McINTYRE for the Gulf Daily News

MANAGEMENT staff put their teamwork skills to the test last night by walking on fire. The temperature was turned up at the Baisan International Hotel for a motivational training course organised by the Motivation in Business UK (MIB) section of Gulf Training Solutions (GTS). Around 20 people took part in the programme, which also saw them walk on broken glass and break wooden boards with their hands. Management staff at the Baisan Institute of Hospitality Management and other companies took part in the programme, which was led by UK trainers Martin Stirling, Steve Drake and Martin Sterling.

The instructors first talked about business motivation before walking on fire themselves - to be followed soon afterwards by participants.

The aim of the event was to show that nothing is impossible.

"When the managers are working in a team and they have a goal, or you want to achieve business targets, this kind of attitude can help you," said Baisan Institute of Hospitality Management corporate manager Sandipan Sarkar.

"We saw people doing it in London and wanted to bring it here."

However, organisers were keen to stress that the fire being walked on was cooler than normal.

That is because it was "soft fire", which is made by burning grass and soft wood.

"When people stand in front of it they get fear and an adrenaline rush, but when they've done it people feel amazing," said a GTS spokesman.

The programme claims to help people to overcome everyday challenges. First they break an inch-thick piece of wood, which is followed by the fire walk and then walking on glass. The idea of the course was to show that if people could eliminate fear, they could change their personality. "This is the first time we have done this in Bahrain and we are hoping to do more," added the spokesman.

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