This is me. Richard Tiplady. I was once told that I’m ‘creatively subversive’. I like that. Hope it’s true.

I’m an experienced adult educator and leadership development coach. As well as being a qualified Mountain Leader, I am training to be a Winter Mountain Leader and an outdoor adventure therapist. I have over 25 years of senior leadership experience, including 13 years as chief executive for two different charities. I have a PhD in leadership development in charities and social enterprises and an MSc in charity management. I have taught on leadership at Masters degree level since 2006. I’m very interested in the art of leadership, trying to understand it and trying to do it well, and helping others to do the same. I’m also trying to follow Jesus wherever he leads.

My coaching and leadership philosophy is the same; being attentive to people and place, so that I can anticipate and know what to do in any given situation. And that’s what I’d like you to learn too. I want you to know all the things you’ll need to know to have fun and be safe in the hills, reading the conditions and understanding yourself, walking with the rhythms of the day and of the land.

My priority is to create the opportunity for you to have further experiences of your own (“moving beyond limits”) and to help you to ‘tread lightly’. We all leave footprints; what kind of footprints do you want to leave (on the land and throughout your life)? What does responsible and ethical adventure look like in the Scottish hills? How do we walk with the land, not just on it?

There’s no end to the process of becoming skilled on the hills. Even with lots of hill experience, I can coach you on your way. And, if you have none, I can help you to get started.

These paragraphs that you just read aren’t just about the hills, of course. They’re about life and living it well. Which is what we can learn in the outdoors, if we go looking.

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