Field Notes: Developing Outdoor Leaders
Mike Smith | OSI Executive Director
The term “outdoor leadership” might be one of the most often uttered and yet least understood phrases in the outdoor space. What on earth is outdoor leadership? Is it mastering a specific set of technical skills? Are you an outdoor leader once you can successfully read a map and compass or tie a specific knot? Do you need to climb, ski, bike, fish, hunt, or paddle with a specific level of proficiency, or is it about something greater than the sum of the constituent parts?
There are entire fields of academic and professional study dedicated to the exploration of these questions. And like all good realms of inquiry, questions most often lead to more questions rather than concrete answers. As an example, I met a fascinating professor two years ago who, after years of teaching technical skills, was exploring the role of serendipity in leadership development. That’s probably not the first thing on most people’s priority list of instructional topics, but he made a compelling argument.
Exploring, discussing, and developing outdoor leadership sits at the heart of our work at OSI. Making the outdoors accessible, engaging more people in outdoor sport, helping communities transform – these things only occur when we empower others as leaders. That’s why we’re once again opening up a summer internship opportunity for aspiring outdoor leaders. We believe when you put enthusiastic learners at the intersection of community and the outdoors, and support them with technical, interpersonal, and intra-personal development, transformational things can happen.
As the world around us continues to evolve, so too does our relationship with the outdoors and the leadership found there. Our goal at OSI is not to define outdoor leadership intellectually, but rather to keep exploring what it is practically. If you or someone you know is interested in joining us as part of this summer’s internship team, you can learn more here. The deadline to apply is March 8th.