Duck Dynasty Rules!

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I'm probably the only person in America who hasn't seen a full episode of "Duck Dynasty."

Little did I know I would be right smack in the middle of a full day of Duck Dynasty-style team-building in the Ozarks a few years ago. Before then, I thought that only Texas, California, and Mississippi women could shoot. You need to add Missouri and Arkansas women to that mix. The guys are pretty good shots too. And the women are no slouches with their duck calls! It's an unusual combination for this city boy, out in the woods with duck calling going on.

We have many properties that do team-building events over the course of the years. I think it's vital to bring everybody together outside of the office. It helps build your culture and loyalty from your employees, and it gives everyone something to look forward to each year.

In this case, I was in the Ozarks for the annual clash between the Ozark Horse Trader-region's best print shopper, and the Ozark Radio Network-region's best radio station cluster. They are operated separately though under one ownership. The theme was Ricky Duck Dynasty Games II. I somehow think this could only have been done in the Ozarks. By the end of the day I was left speechless.

It was 7 on 7, and I was a spectator and sometime judge. Here are some of the highlights from this team-building event.

The first part of the day involved the application of the training that the sales reps go through. They had five stops to make in the morning session.

1st: They had to go do a "Return on Investment" worksheet at a client. Once they were done, they had to text their results in and confirm with the word "quack."

2nd: They had an envelope they picked up after their first stop and it lead them to another business where they had a clue to lead them. Once there, they had questions on their market competition. They again had to text in their answers. The next envelope clue lead them to the next stop which was their respective offices.

3rd: Around the conference room table, each one had to rattle off one of the "7 Steps" on an opening call-CMP. They were scored on their effectiveness to do this important call. Next envelope and new clue to next destination.

4th: This stop involved questions on their own media company and product knowledge. Once completed, they had to text in their answers and the final destination was uncovered.

5th: Once at the business, they picked up materials and items to make a duck call. They were instructed to go to Ozark Sporting Clays for lunch and then had to put the duck call together as a team; one person would present their best duck call or calls.

"There are two kinds of people in this world.the educated and the unducated." -- Si Robertson. (I was unducated for sure.)

Let the games begin!

The afternoon session involved some physical skill sets along with mental skill. Once we arrived at lunch, both teams put together their duck calls and were judged by duck-call experts. One team put together two duck calls and won. Great job Mykayla! I'd never seen a duck call made before. Come to think of it, I'd never heard one before. Sheltered life I live.

There were three separate events in the afternoon:

1st: Ken-Ducky Derby! Hard to describe this one. A relay event where each team member had to do various things at the next hay bale. Carry an egg on a plastic spoon. Put a book on their head and ride a duck pole (lack of a better description -- duck head with a pole and ride it like a horse.) Take a balloon on a plate. Hit a golf ball with a stick. Tag next team member. Not easy, I can attest to this.

2nd: The Great Duck Hunt: This was a team scavenger hunt with clues at five different stations and you had to bag (find) the duck to get your next clue to the next station. The first team back got 350 points. Timed event. If you were second, you got points de-duck-ted for each second you finished behind the first place team. Ugh. 
And then, something I've never seen before in team-building events.

3rd: Hit Me with Your Best Shot!: These people in the Ozarks are very creative! They put a picture of me on half of the sporting clays and a picture of the owner on the other sporting clays. Live ammo! Rick Hamby, the owner of Ozark Sporting Clays did a great job on safety. Safety came first. Everyone was instructed not to aim at either Tom Marhefka or myself. This was their one chance to get us back for those long days of training! They took back souvenirs of their shots with us on the sporting clays. They're posted in their cubicles now to remind them of the great shots (sales reps) they are.

They had two separate "five stations" to go shoot the sporting clays. Still and moving targets. Two hours of shooting. Some people had never shot before and they stepped up and did great. I was impressed. 
Ozark Radio Network took top score for the day. Money and medals were given out. Ozark Horse Trader took second, though not far behind. Duck hunt did in OHT. MVP for the day was awarded also.

If you're looking for women in the Ozarks, be careful. They can all shoot!

Sean Luce is the Head National Instructor for the Luce Performance Group International and can be reached at sean@luceperformancegroup.com or www.luceperformancegroup.com.