On Sunday, we traveled to Sintra, a picturesque town nestled
in the Sintra Mountains just west of Lisbon. Sintra has been designated a
UNESCO World Heritage site due to its 19th century Romantic style
architecture. Due to its geographic location, it was much cooler than Lisbon
and at times, very windy, but it was a beautiful day.
When we arrived at the train station, the
impressive tile work inside the train station gave us our first glimpse of
Sintra’s charm.
Our first stop was the Palace of Sintra, located in the
historic city center. Eric conducted his
staff ride on his chosen leader, King John I, who is known as the “kind king”
in Portuguese history. We discussed King John’s strategic decision-making
skills and the cultural dimensions that may have impacted his decisions. Since
King John had a military background and was an illegitimate heir who did not
expect to assume the throne, we concluded that a leader’s background can
heavily influence his or her decision-making skills. After Eric’s staff ride, we broke into small
groups and briefly explored the historic city center and grabbed lunch at one
of the numerous outdoor cafes. 
From there, we traveled by bus up the steep mountainside to
the Quinta da Regaleira, an estate built in the early 20th century
by an eccentric, wealthy entomologist, Dr. Anthony Augusto Carvalho Monteiro.
The Quinta estate is comprised of a mansion and a very large garden which
includes an initiation well, a 100 foot deep well with a spiral staircase that
leads to the bottom. The architecture
and gardens are full of esoteric symbols, and it is believed that the gardens
served as an initiation path for masonic rituals. I conducted my staff ride at the site of the
initiation well, and we had a lengthy discussion about how leaders use symbols,
rites, and rituals to connect with and engage their followers. Because symbols
are an innate part of culture, our takeaway for today’s leadership was that
strong symbols can help create a strong organization.
After my staff ride, we walked back down the steep mountain
to the historic city center to catch a different bus to the Pena Palace,
located at the top of the mountain. Because the buses were crowded and running
very slow, we opted to take Tuk-Tuks to the Pena Palace.
It was a crazy ride,
especially for Charles, Alison, Cathy, Sarah, and me. For most of the trip, our Tuk-Tuk moved at a
snail’s pace, but there were a few times we briefly traveled downhill and
thought we were on a roller coaster. At times we wondered if we were going to
have push our little Tuk-Tuk up the hill.
Even though we were the last to reach the top, we had a great time
getting there.
We took another bus up the very steep hill to the Pena Palace,
which is situated at the very top of the mountain. The palace’s architecture
was beautiful, and the views from the palace were amazing-we could see the
surrounding valley and the ocean. Alison
conducted our final staff ride of the day on Queen Amelia, the last of the
Portuguese royalty to use the palace as a summer residence. Queen Amelia was a French-born noble
expatriate who married into Portuguese royalty, and was a bit of a rebel and
outsider who was faced with some difficult decisions during her reign. This
resulted in a lively discussion of how leaders deal with rumors and the ways a
leader approaches making difficult decisions. As with Eric’s staff ride, one of
our takeaways was that a leader’s background can heavily influence his or her
decision-making skills. 
Leigh Schell
No comments:
Post a Comment