AMC Guide to Outdoor Leadership

I've been working as an outdoor leader and whitewater guide for three years, first with kids on summer programs and currently with a variety of age groups year-round. This book helped me to evaluate the way I work with trip participants and co-workers. It opened my eyes to new ideas and has greatly expanded the bad of tricks I use in the field. I appreciated the safety-first focus and the author's friendly tone. Also, the stories, some of which are classics, made the book entertaining. It is unfortunate I didn't read this book a couple of years ago when I was launching into this line of work. If you don't have a lot of education in this field (I was a biology major) but you're involved in some outdoor leadership role this book can be a great help to you. Personally I'm loaning it to all the guides I work with.

Alex Kosseff's AMC Guide To Outdoor Leadership is a solidly presented and thoroughly "user friendly", 280-page instructional guide to being a competent leader for outdoor excursions, up to and including activities with the potential to be life-threatening. Emphasizing necessary qualities in leadership and character, and taking into awareness the importance of group cohesion, balanced decision-making, keeping a cool head in a crisis and more, the AMC Guide To Outdoor Leadership is an excellent interpersonal guide offering principles applicable to all walks of life, not just the walks through a wilderness.

Alex Kosseff has written a fine guide to all aspects of outdoor leadership, with outstanding sections on risk management and the consensus method of decision-making. An important purchase for trip leaders whether new or experienced and definitely worth the wait caused by the delay in publication.

Alex Kosseff's Outdoor Leadership is a thoughtful and thorough review of the leadership qualities required for safe, fullfilling outdoor adventure. The book presents a balanced emphasis on the leader's need for hard or technical skills and soft skills such as dealing with group dynamics and caring for the participants. I read this book from the view of a parent who led his family on many wonderful wilderness adventures for which we were not completely prepared and found innumerable ideas that would have made the trips even more rewarding. Kosseff's use of stories from his own experiences and those of others tranforms a potentially dry subject into thoroughly enjoyable reading. The stories clearly illustrate the major points of the book. Outdoor Leadership has a wealth of knowledge that will benefit an audience from adventuresome parents to professional guides.