Corporate firewalking and empowerment experiences for teams
An evening your people will remember for the rest of their lives. We create moments of real fear in a safe and carefully held setting, so that people can practise feeling the fear and doing it anyway, and then take that courage back to work.
- People at an evening fire walk
- 10 to 100
- Qualified and fully insured instructors
- Certified
- Trained in the teachings of this fire walking pioneer
- Tolly Burkan
Inner Leader runs corporate fire walks and other empowerment experiences, activities that help people face their fears and build courage, for teams across the UK. Every activity is led by certified, fully qualified and fully insured empowerment instructors. An evening fire walk works for groups of 10 to 100 people at your venue, and arrow breaking, board breaking and glass walking can be built into a team day, leadership programme or conference.
Most of us carry a list of things we have told ourselves we could never do, such as speaking up in the big meeting, going for the stretch role or having the difficult conversation. The belief comes first, and our behaviour follows it.
Our empowerment experiences give people a new way to challenge those beliefs about what they are capable of. Each activity sounds impossible and uncomfortable, and the natural reaction is one of self-doubt and fear. It is at exactly that point, when the fear is real, that we introduce the power of mindset.
Strangely enough, the learning is about everything except the activity itself. It is about learning how to shift your mindset from self-doubt to courage in the moment. Courage works like a muscle, and the more often people practise it, the stronger it gets and the more readily it is there when they need it at work.
Why we walk on fire with teams
Walking barefoot across a bed of glowing, red-hot embers is the centrepiece of our empowerment work. It is the activity people have heard of, the one they are most nervous about and the one they are still talking about years later.
Fear is a normal human response, and nearly everyone feels it standing in front of the fire, including people who seem very confident in the office. That is the whole point. You cannot practise courage without something to be afraid of, and a fire walk gives every person in the group a real, physical fear to work with, in a setting that has been designed to keep them safe.
When someone walks up to the edge of the embers, feels their heart racing and takes the first step anyway, they learn something about themselves that no presentation could ever teach them. Afterwards, the question most people find themselves asking is a simple one: now that I have done this, where else have I been telling myself I can't do something?
How a corporate fire walk evening runs
A fire walk takes place after sunset, and the whole evening builds towards it. While the fire is lit and burns down to embers, we work with the group on fear, self-doubt and the stories we tell ourselves about what we can and cannot do.
People learn practical ways to step into fear in real time: how to notice what their mind is telling them, how to see it differently in the moment and how to choose what they do next even while they still feel afraid.
Then, one at a time, the people who choose to walk cross the embers, with the rest of the group gathered around them cheering them on. Afterwards we sit down together and talk about what happened, what each person learned about themselves and how they will use it back at work.
An experience people carry with them for life
Ask anyone who has done a fire walk with us and they will usually remember the evening, the people who were there and exactly how they felt as they stepped off the embers. It is a rush of excitement and pride that is very hard to find anywhere else.
That memory is what makes the experience so valuable. Months later, facing a tough meeting or a new challenge, people think back to the fire and remind themselves that they have already done something far scarier than this. For many people it becomes a reference point they carry for the rest of their lives, and a very positive one.
It also brings a team together in a way that is hard to create at work. Standing around a fire at night and encouraging each other across, people see a different side of their colleagues, and that shared moment stays with the team long after the evening is over.
Arrow breaking, board breaking and glass walking for teams
Alongside the fire walk we run a range of other empowerment activities, which can be held indoors as part of a team day, a leadership programme or a conference. In arrow breaking, people snap a wooden arrow using only the soft part of their throat. In board breaking, people write a fear or a limiting belief on a wooden board and then break through it with their hand. In glass walking, people walk barefoot across a bed of broken glass.
Each of these sounds impossible, and each one is designed to switch on the same fear response as the fire. That is what makes them so useful. They give people the chance to face their worries, their self-doubt and their imposter syndrome in a real moment, in the room with their colleagues, and to discover that they are capable of far more than they believed.
At Harvey Nash, a leadership day ended with the team writing down their biggest fears and breaking through them in an arrow-breaking exercise. It became a shared moment that bonded the group.
Safe, insured and held by certified instructors
Every activity is led by certified empowerment instructors, fully qualified and fully insured. Tim and Sarah Cooper-Robins, who lead Inner Leader, trained in the teachings of Tolly Burkan, the man who first brought fire walking to mainstream awareness in the late 1970s and who taught Tony Robbins to fire walk in 1983.
Everything is prepared with great care, everyone is fully briefed before they take part and we are with people at every step. The activities are designed to feel frightening and to be safe, and it is that combination which allows people to practise courage without any real risk.
Taking part is always optional and nobody is ever pressured. We take great care to make sure everyone feels included, especially anyone who would rather not take part or is not physically able to. Encouraging and supporting the people who do is a real part of the experience, and for some people, discovering what a positive difference they make to others is their most valuable take-away.
When clients ask us for a fire walk or empowerment experience
- Teams who need to bond and connect with each other, quickly
- Teams lacking energy, cohesion or a sense of fun
- Groups stuck in a fixed mindset, believing they cannot change or improve
- Teams working in silos and not collaborating well
- People held back by self-doubt or imposter syndrome
- A conference or company event that needs a finale people will remember
Who this is for
This work is built for:
- Team leads planning an offsite, away day or team-building event
- Event organisers looking for an evening or closing moment at a conference
- Groups of 10 to 100 people for an evening fire walk
- Leadership teams and programmes that want a shared experience of courage
It is not the right choice for:
- Anyone looking for a stunt with no learning around it
- Groups where people would feel they had no choice about taking part
How it works
Talk to us about your group
We talk with you about your team, what has been going on for them and what you want to be different afterwards, and shape the evening or session around that.
Prepare the mindset
Before any activity, the group works on fear, self-doubt and the beliefs that hold people back, and learns practical ways to step into fear in the moment.
Feel the fear and do it anyway
People choose whether to walk the fire, break the board or snap the arrow, with the whole group encouraging them. Everyone is part of it, whether they take part in the activity or support the people who do.
Take it back to work
We finish by talking through what people have learned about themselves, and where else in their work and their lives they can use the same courage.
What I achieved through these activities still resonates today, and allows me to perform better on a day-to-day basis, for me it's about getting comfortable with the uncomfortable, letting the pressure rise, and taking a step, sometimes into the unknown, but with a solid mindset.Adam Forrest, Senior National Account Manager, Kimberly-Clark
Bringing the Harvey Nash leadership team together during change
A long-serving Managing Director had left, the market was demanding and a national leadership team had not been in the same room for some time. One day together left the leaders re-energised, aligned and proud of the team they were part of.
Outcomes you can expect
- More courage in your people in the workplace
- A growth mindset (the belief that you can learn and improve), and less self-doubt
- Faster bonding in new or established teams
- Faster trust and rapport between people
- A stronger sense of team spirit
- People who feel valued, energised and motivated
How it runs
| Format | Fire walks outdoors after sunset. Arrow breaking, board breaking and glass walking indoors, at your venue or conference |
|---|---|
| Group size | 10 to 100 people for an evening fire walk |
| Duration | An evening fire walk, or activities built into a team day, programme or conference |
Questions
What is corporate firewalking?
Corporate firewalking is an evening where a team walks barefoot across a bed of glowing embers, after a session on fear, self-doubt and the beliefs that hold people back. The learning is about everything except the walk itself: people practise feeling the fear and doing it anyway, and then talk about how they will use that courage at work.
Is corporate firewalking safe?
Yes. Our instructors are certified, fully qualified and fully insured, and every activity is prepared and run with great care. Everyone is fully briefed before they take part, and we are with them at every step.
Why don't people burn their feet on a fire walk?
The embers are wood charcoal, which passes its heat to the skin very slowly, and each foot is only in contact with them for a moment as you walk. That is why a properly prepared fire walk is safe. The fear, though, is completely real, and the fear is what we are working with.
Does everyone have to take part?
No. Taking part is always optional and nobody is ever pressured. People who choose not to walk are just as much part of the evening, encouraging and supporting everyone else.
How many people can take part in a fire walk?
An evening fire walk works for groups of between 10 and 100 people. Arrow breaking, board breaking and glass walking work well for smaller groups as part of a team day or programme.
Is a fire walk a good team building activity?
Yes, when it is about more than the walk. Standing around a fire at night and encouraging each other across, people see a different side of their colleagues, and teams tell us it bonds them quickly. The session before the walk and the conversation afterwards are what turn it into learning people take back to work.
Where do you run fire walks?
We run fire walks across the UK, outdoors after sunset at your venue, offsite or conference. Arrow breaking, board breaking and glass walking are run indoors, so they fit into a team day, a leadership programme or a keynote.
Can it be part of a conference or a team day?
Yes. A fire walk makes a memorable evening finale for a conference, offsite or company event, and the indoor activities can be built into a team day, a leadership programme or a keynote.
Let's talk.
Planning an away day, offsite or conference and thinking about a fire walk? Tell us about your group and your date, and we will talk you through how it would work.
We’ll reply within one business day.