Top Dunes 4×4: leadership and teamwork in the Moroccan desert

Some lessons do not fit in a meeting room. You can talk for hours about trust, communication or how a team decides under pressure, but some things are only understood when you live them. That is why, together with the psychologist Gemma Carrió, we created Top Dunes 4×4: a week of leadership and teamwork in the Moroccan desert.

Why the desert

The desert takes away the usual: the phone, the diary, the office, the roles people play at work. What remains is the team, the terrain and the decisions. Leaving the comfort zone is not a goal in itself: it is how learning becomes unforgettable and how the change is real when you return.

Physical challenge, nature and coaching

Top Dunes combines three things:

• Physical challenge: real situations in which the team has to organise itself, decide and trust.
• Nature: the desert as a place to stop and see things with perspective.
• Coaching: what you live is worked through in session, so the team understands what happened and what it wants to change.

What you take back

The week ends with concrete agreements for when you return: what the team will do differently back at the office and how it will keep it going. That is the difference between an experience you remember and one that changes the way you work.

Who leads it

• Gemma Carrió, psychologist.
• Paul van den Hout, ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC), facilitator on the ESADE Executive MBA, with more than 35 years of experience working with people and teams. If you want to know what that credential means, I explain it in this article.

Is it right for your team?

Every team arrives at a different moment: one that has just been formed, another going through a change, another that needs to rebuild trust. If you want to know whether Top Dunes fits yours and when the next dates are, write to me and we will talk it through. You can also see everything else I can help you with.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Top Dunes 4×4 take place?

In the Moroccan desert.

How long does it last?

One week.

Who leads it?

Gemma Carrió, psychologist, and Paul van den Hout, ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC).

How is it different from a team building day?

Team building usually stops at the activity. In Top Dunes every experience is worked through with coaching, and the week ends with concrete agreements the team takes back.

How can I find out the next dates?

Write to me through the website and I will tell you the next dates and whether it fits your team.