The Best Outdoor Leadership Programs for Adults (Review)

Having spent 12 years in the military, I never really thought that the learnings and experiences I acquired there would ever become useful to me again in my daily life. However, as I dove deeper into being a Logistics and HR Manager, and as I currently forge my way through entrepreneurship, I find that I keep leaning back on my training as an Army Officer. Indeed, outdoor leadership training has played a big role in shaping who I am today. 

The best outdoor leadership programs for adults seamlessly combine adventure and environmental awareness with fostering leadership values, like responsibility, self-awareness, resilience, and adaptability. NOLS, Outward Bound, TASC, and Sancus Leadership, are among the best.  

Let’s dive deeper into what outdoor leadership programs are really all about. I’ll briefly discuss what each of today’s leading experiential training organizations offer, and how each of them can work with you toward achieving your unique objectives and goals. You’ll find that outdoor programs are undoubtedly useful in shaping your future and helping you reach your full potential, whether in business or in your personal life.

What Is Outdoor Leadership?

Outdoor leadership is all about enhancing the technical skills involved in various activities, such as rock climbing, whitewater rafting, biking, and camping. You might think it’s all about enjoying and making the most out of life in the outdoors, but it’s really so much more than that. 

Outdoor leadership is actually a form of experiential training where individuals learn and develop life skills through firsthand observations and experiences. These include:

• Communication skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Empathy
• Self-awareness
• Creative thinking
• Critical thinking
• Problem-solving skills
• Decision-making skills
• Assertiveness
• Resilience

By enriching these competencies in the wild, you’ll smoothly translate your learnings and experiences into your tasks in the workplace and in your daily life 

Outdoor Leadership Programs for Adults

Here are some of the best outdoor leadership programs for adults and some basic information on each of them: 

1. National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)

The National Outdoor Leadership School is known for its exhilarating wilderness expeditions where they immerse you in nature’s beauty and magnificence, as well as in its capriciousness and brashness. They are also one of the few outdoor leadership groups that offer classroom-based courses on wilderness medicine.

NOLS’ roster of expert educators will offer mentorship and training on various aspects that you can seamlessly translate from wilderness to boardroom. Their various outdoor programs will help enhance your skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and risk management.

What piqued my interest in NOLS is their Gap Year Programs. They have a refreshing take on making the most of what the outdoors has to offer in terms of enhancing life skills pivotal for both the wilderness and daily life. Participants get to travel to amazing destinations, too — a great way to improve self-awareness, cultural engagement, diversity, and responsibility.

When you emerge from a NOLS Outdoor Leadership course, you’ll feel more empowered in your leadership role in your business or community. 

2. Outward Bound

Outward Bound promises to tap into your full potential as a leader and provide you with a solid leadership foundation that you can leverage in your daily life. They believe values and skills are better absorbed when experienced concretely rather than when taught hypothetically. They focus on enhancing an individual’s compassion and resilience. 

Having been founded in 1962, Outward Bound boasts a long history of offering courses and programs for both men and women that will help enhance skills that will make a significant difference in how they live their daily lives. They promote inclusivity and diversity, and work on becoming financially accessible to all in an attempt to break down barriers and create transformational learning experiences for all.

3. Pacific University Oregon

Pacific University’s programs are designed to produce dynamic leaders adept in risk management and equipped with top-tier decision-making skills. Participants are engaged to try and solve complex challenges and problems within their teams in unpredictable, dynamic, and unfamiliar outdoor environments. 

Individuals emerge from Pacific University with a deeper awareness and understanding of themselves — their unique strengths, weaknesses, characters, and aspirations. They’ve also developed a stronger respect for nature and are more cognizant of the value of caring for their surroundings. All these contribute to how an individual is better able to cope and skillfully rise up to the challenges encountered in various aspects of life.

4. Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards, and Certification (TASC)

TASC aims to develop leaders who are self-aware, able to function efficiently in a team, and capable of employing various leadership techniques in leading their teams toward success. They also promote respect for the natural environment and inspire others to participate in efforts to protect and preserve nature. 

Their programs are designed to allow participants to learn different leadership concepts and styles through experiential training. In an outdoor environment where teams are thrust into situations that are unfamiliar to them, one’s interpersonal, critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills will undoubtedly be put to the test.

TASC hopes that when participants emerge from their programs, they can communicate more effectively, devise innovative strategies, and arrive at sound, inclusive decisions that will help them become better equipped in dealing with their personal and professional challenges when they return to their normal lives. 

5. The International Wilderness Leadership School (IWLS)

With over 20 years of experience in outdoor training, IWLS offers practical leadership-enhancing experiences to its participants while immersing them in some of the most scenic wilderness explorations around the globe. They also pride themselves on their rescue training courses, which foster adaptability, trust, and resilience in their participants. 

6. Wilderness Leadership Institute (WLI)

The Wilderness Leadership Institute centers around their core values — education, leadership, environment, challenge, and community. These vital concepts are what they promote in their diverse activities and programs, all of which are conducted in some of the most remote yet alluring locations where participants can appreciate and enjoy nature to its fullest. 

WLI places a premium on environmental stewardship by designing activities that have minimal impact on the natural environment. They also promote social responsibility and diversity, all of which can better equip tomorrow’s leaders in making our world a better, safer place. 

7. Canadian Outdoor Leadership Training (COLT)

Canadian Outdoor Leadership Training offers various activities and programs designed to cater to participants’ varying objectives and goals. If you want to improve your outdoor skills because you’re interested in a career in the adventure industry or outdoor education, or perhaps you simply want to develop your personal competencies, their immersive experiences can help you achieve your target.

If you aim to reconnect with nature while fostering trust and camaraderie in your business team, their wilderness programs definitely won’t fall short of your expectations. COLT makes sure to keep its participants challenged, energized, and committed to achieving the goals they’ve set for themselves. 

8. Outdoor Outreach

Outdoor Outreach takes advantage of every opportunity to develop leadership, volunteerism, and responsibility to their participants, particularly to the youth. Although they cater to different industries from all walks of life, Outdoor Outreach puts a premium on youth development and workforce enhancement, rounding it out with the inculcation of outdoor advocacy and environmental responsibility.

9. Sancus Leadership

Led by an avid outdoorsman who has taken on quite a number of challenging roles in his lifetime —including being an Army Officer, Explosive Ordnance Disposal team leader, HR Manager, instructor, sports coach, and entrepreneur — Sancus Leadership will take you to some of the most captivating wilderness locations in the world where you can learn more about yourself, particularly your limitations, strengths, and untapped potentials. 

Sancus Leadership focuses on developing small-team leaders so they can respond more effectively to the obstacles and challenges thrown their way. You will appreciate the emphasis on building team trust, forging first-rate decision-making skills, enhancing critical-thinking competencies, and strengthening crisis management ability. 

When you emerge from our deliberately designed outdoor programs, you’ll better understand the value of responsive, efficient leadership. You’ll be better equipped to handle the challenges you’ll encounter in the workplace and your personal life, especially in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world where adaptiveness, resiliency, and proficiency are the keys to success. 

When you’re ready to take your leadership skills up a notch, book us a free leadership call. We’ll set you on the right path toward being among the most effective, innovative, and authentic small-team business leaders today!