Alex Kosseff: Outdoor Leadership

1. When we talk about outdoor recreation, I don’t think that people understand even half the benefits they get while participating in programs that gets them outside and moving. Whether people do it to make friends, complete challenges, or exploring the world as well as their own limits, it can have a profound effect on their body and mind. I see outdoor programs as getting out of your comfort zone by trying new things. I believe people are always searching for their new hobby or fascination; which can bring excitement and wonder into their lives. As program leaders it is our job to keep people engaged and to keep coming back. We can do this by leading in a way that motivates the people around us. In Outdoor Leadership by Alex Kosseff He says,
This quotes makes me think back to the reason that leaders become so involved in people’s lives and that is the aspect of a true caring nature for others. Before becoming a leader you need to check your own personal motivation; if you are motivated only by money then you might have a hard time when it comes to communicating with participants or co-leaders. Yes you can have rules and regulations and program guidelines, but if you are a responsible and effective leader you will want to create a safe and unique program because you care for your participants and want to see them learn and grow. Alex Kosseff mentioned that a participant’s experiences and lives are largely in a leaders hands, so they rightfully expect a certain amount of care and safety will be put into an experience. You might start out an expedition with a contractual method of caring, but as the time goes on throughout your trip you could shift to a more natural caring mode when you get to know the people you are leading. Still the same amount of care should be brought into the planning of any trip to make sure people are cared for physically and emotionally. No matter what happens on your programs expedition, you trust that your leader has your best interests in mind. This is great knowing that you will learn and discuss options that will help you acquire and interpret different solutions with your leaders. While a leader is going to make sure that people are safe, they are also going to involve the risky
The three essential elements of a leader are a balance between technical, interpersonal, and judgment skills. It does no good to be great at two and lack the third, because your stool will not be balanced and will fall. All these skills need to play off one another to be useful in critical situations in the field. Technical skills involve trip planning, first aid training, crisis response, navigation, nutrition, and many more. These are essential in keeping your group physically safe and takes planning and risk management details straightened out before the trip ever begins. Interpersonal skills are about communication, leadership style, facilitation, ethics, as well as awareness of self. These type of skills comes with practice and applying that skill to understanding the people around you. You can have all the technical skills, but if you can’t communicate it correctly to the group members around you then you will still fall short and could cause harm in your party. The last is the judgement skills, which entails awareness of the environment, the group, and yourself. It can also cover how you react, keeping calm, and having the ability to envision the desired outcome. You will need to make snap judgement calls on your outings, and without the help of technical, interpersonal, and proper judgements skills you can cause a real problem with your team. Being able to communicate effectively with your co-leaders is also a huge contract and something that should be resolved