Published in the National Business Review of 24 April 2008

Take six company executives, a passionate transformational leadership coach and put them in a village at the base of the Himalayas and what do you get?

"An amazing experience", " fantastic", "incredibly valuable', "all about redefining your own identity", are some of the comments from the Kiwi managers who have just returned from leadership experience offered by a new company, second base.

Zoe Dryden is the passionate transformational leadership coach who wanted to make a difference to other people's lives and set up second base as the vehicle to make that happen.

The first group of six executives from Maersk Sealand, MORST, Coca-cola Amatil and Contact Energy has just returned from two weeks in Nepal and their response is enthusiastic. Discovering or rediscovering what's important in life is a common theme.

Ms Dryden is a graduate in marketing management who lectured in strategic planning and at the age of 24 found herself running Pinnacle Corporation, a specialist shipping container company.

She sold her shares to going volunteering and ended up in Nepal, but "without trade or medical skills I wasn't much use."

Now she's put together a company that takes executives to Nepal to learn about their values, leadership, and management styles.

"My approach is to expose leaders to experiences which are transformational and coach them to take the best learnings from that, and then apply it in their own leadership situations back in New Zealand, Ms Dryden said.

"We take them to a remote rural village, but it's not a mud hut, it's got a concrete wall, a bed, and a pillow. They eat rice and lentils twice a day, but we bring them fruit, and they are all in the same village. There is electricity a few hours each day and some English is spoken by the host family."

Tony Gibson, formerly head of Maersk Sealand, said for him, "it was all about getting real."

"You get to ask what is my key purpose in life and how do I link that to the company I work for and the community I work in; how do I get work life balance?"

Sarah Eliott from Contact Energy said she was taken out of her comfort zone.

"I enjoyed it but it was definitely challenging. It was fairly intense, I found myself triggered in various ways and I am now a more aware person."

Ms Dryden says "this is not a hardship experience, and it's two weeks not two years. We do a workshop in Katmandu where we explore values, well being and how they handle stress.

"In the village they live with a host family and we do a community project selected by the villagers and in the evenings they teach the people some new skill. It might be around a sport, skipping for example, oral hygiene like brushing teeth, or sewing classes.

"Then they go on a trek in the Himalayas, where they reflect, commune and communicate with each other and their coaches about what they have learned.

The cost is $9 000 plus airfares and materials for the evening classes.

Tony Gibson says the tour exposes human frailties. "You learn to appreciate water and electricity and it makes you realise basic human values, what makes you happy, are more important than anything else."

Ms Dryden is looking to expand into Australia and to develop projects in South Pacific nations.