S01:E7 Out There Together: Leadership That Listens with Martin Foakes

In this episode of the Outdoor Education Podcast, Rob Carmichael is joined by Martin Foakes, Chair of the Board for OFFSEAS, a fast-growing community of outdoor educators across Asia.Martin shares how his love for being outdoors started in childhood, and how that passion evolved into a career in schools, expedition leadership, and ultimately regional governance. Together, Rob and Martin explore what good leadership looks like in outdoor education: leading with humility, listening well, and creating a culture where people feel safe enough to share both successes and failures.They also dig into how OFFSEAS has grown from a small roundtable into a major regional forum, the challenge of building sustainable systems beyond a single “passionate champion,” and why teaching risk management (not removing risk) may be one of the most important skills we can give young people.Key ideasLeadership that listens (and doesn’t “boss people around”)Building sustainable outdoor programs that outlast individualsOFFSEAS: growth, community, and collaboration across schools + providersRisk, resilience, and responsibility: “I’ve got you” in the outdoorsWhy belonging matters, and how culture shapes the way we handle adversity