Slay Risk is a weekly publication about outdoor and adventure education, and the wider world of off-campus and youth-serving programs.
There are many names for the many types of outdoor programs and practices. I like to refer to them more broadly as “outdoor programs,” which make up a community of professionals who facilitate human engagement with nature. These are the outdoor educators, park rangers, wilderness and adventure guides, ski instructors, teachers, scouting leaders, experiential educators, administrators, risk managers, executives, and heads of school; anyone who is a part of leading others off-campus and outside to learn about the self, others, and the natural world.
The outdoor program community has always been siloed; we’ve been divided by our own identities and fields of practice. Online and in the social media space, the same is true. An algorithm hasn’t been to camp or gone on a field trip. It doesn’t know how to connect us so we can keep learning from and inspiring each other.
I started this newsletter as a free way to help connect an international community of outdoor program professionals. As a safety leadership consultant and coach, I’m concerned about how the risk landscape for these programs is changing. More specifically, I’m concerned that our community can’t keep up. I’ve seen this in my own work, as a program director and a national risk management director, and as a past chair of the Wilderness Risk Management Conference. I’ve seen it with my clients, who see the issues in their programs and struggle to steer their institutions toward meaningful change. And, I’ve seen the comments and concerns many other professionals have left in the survey data and research projects I’ve been a part of.
Everybody thinks their issues are unique, and it’s true that each issue has a certain shade to it based on program and organizational context. But at their core, they’re the same issues people in all these jobs are facing.
I hope you subscribe, so we can build community around these topics.
What I write about
Make the case for your program
We’ve always had to justify our programs, and it’s getting harder. Parents, schools, and boards accept less risk than they used to.
Stop selling your program as a vitamin. It’s a prescription.
How the risk landscape is changing
Climate change is impacting where, how, and when programs can operate. And as we learn more from larger, better-researched, and better-resourced fields, many of our traditional “sacred cows” are under revision.
Your program was designed for a different climate
The people who plan and lead programs
Organizational leadership, psychology, and engineering aren’t something most of us have formal training in. As a result, we learn through our own mistakes, and gaining visibility and influence can feel like an uphill battle.
‘Just speak up’ is not a safety management strategy
The best place to start is here. I’ve compiled and grouped more posts from my archive to help you get oriented to Slay Risk.
Who I am
I’m Stuart Slay. In my consulting and coaching work, I help schools and providers of outdoor and off-campus programs see risk clearly, address it effectively, and get everyone engaged in managing it.
I started my career in the field. In high school, a couple of climbing guides at my local gym pointed a kid who kept ditching drama class to go climbing to take a NOLS course. On that course, I stood on a ridge with my boots untied and asked my instructors whether this was really their job. One said yes. “And, you know, Stu, if you want to do this too, you should start by tying your boots.”
Years later, while head of risk management for a national non-profit program provider, an executive called me the “Department of No” in front of hundreds of my colleagues. I was mortified, because it’s not what I believe. I want programs to happen, and I believe in their power for good.
Safety leadership inside a school or organization is tough. It’s a lot of thoughtful and intentional work to gain the influence needed to initiate meaningful change in an organization, or sometimes, even to just move the needle. For a long time I thought it was about me. It wasn’t. These challenges are common, and they’re structural.
I bring a leadership and structural lens into every aspect of my work now. And, I’ll continue research and writing about these issues and their solutions. You can check out a full list of my publications and podcast appearances on my website.
Two free tools
The Program Risk Scorecard is a 12-question diagnostic that scores your program’s risk exposure.
The Safety Leadership Self-Assessment reveals your safety leadership strengths and blind spots.
Work with me
The most helpful thing I do is translate. Program people know safety, program operations, and curriculum. Heads of school, executives, HR, finance, legal, and business development each speak a different language. I find that when I’m able to truly listen, about 90% of the time I find more alignment about risk and safety with the program department than disagreement.
We all know that, working internally, it’s much easier to talk past people.
My consulting and coaching work helps everyone see risk more clearly and get everyone engaged in risk management. I do program reviews, consulting on policies and plans, and I coach safety leaders (directors, executives, and managers).
