April 2026 | 1521 words | 6-minute read
The scene: Somewhere in the Uttarkashi mountains. As part of their company orientation, a group of employees has gathered for its first rappelling experience. They are set to descend a steep rock face using a rope and some specialised gear. Most of them are nervous and anxious, unsure about whether they will be able to make it.
Eventually, the group does rappel down successfully, with a huge sense of relief and accomplishment, thanks largely to the support and guidance provided by the instructors of the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF), the outdoor leadership institute set up by Tata Steel in 1984. These instructors, adept at mountain climbing and surviving in the wilderness, are particularly skilled at pushing people to face their fears, trust in their peers, and learn critical life and leadership lessons.
Peak leadership
No one can teach leadership skills, but everyone can learn them. This belief is at the heart of TSAF’s journey since 1984, when Bachendri Pal, fresh from her success as the first Indian woman to summit Mount Everest, was appointed to head it. After her historic climb, Tata Steel honoured her and announced the setting up of the Tata Youth Adventure Centre (later named TSAF) under her leadership. With this support, Ms Pal crafted a unique learning programme that took the classroom to the great outdoors, using adventure sports to impart valuable leadership and life skills.
Back then, Ms Pal explained, “There are many ways to learn about leadership, but how do you learn to be a leader? We believe that adventures and expeditions call for skills that can help, whether you’re climbing Everest or starting a new business. It’s a formula that applies to the wilderness and to life.” Ms Pal and her team mapped the adventures to seven core leadership skills: competence, communication, judgement and decision making, tolerance for adversity and uncertainty, self-awareness, vision and action.
Initially, TSAF’s programmes served ~100 participants a year. Since 2015, it has hosted 3,000+ participants annually, rising to 5,000+ participants a year after the pandemic. Each of them will attest to TSAF’s catalytic role in fostering leadership skills and a growth mindset. Over the years, TSAF has also trained and supported hundreds of climbers, including 14 who successfully scaled Mount Everest.
In the early years, TSAF offered a 10-day orientation programme in Uttarkashi to graduate engineer trainees at Tata Steel. The outdoor leadership school was compulsory for trainees, many of whom rose through the ranks to assume senior leadership positions at the company.
One such trainee was Hemant Gupta, a metallurgical engineer from IIT-Bombay who joined Tata Steel in 2011. Drawn by his passion for mountaineering, he moved to TSAF in 2013 and later trained at the National Outdoor Leadership School in the US. Here, he learnt how to draw out and instill key leadership and life skills from wilderness-based experiences. The learning became personal when he scaled Mount Everest in 2017.
In 2020, after Ms Pal retired, Mr Gupta took over the helm, ushering in a new chapter focused on expanding the outdoor leadership development programme beyond Tata Steel and the Group.
Back to school
Since TSAF was registered as a non-profit dedicated to leadership development within Tata Steel, the company registered another organisation, the School of Outdoor Leadership (SOL) to offer the service to other companies. The creation of SOL enabled TSAF to build more capacity, invest in better infrastructure and equipment, and cater to large numbers of people.
The offering was beautiful in its simplicity: take participants out of the familiarity of the corporate world and give them an experience of adventures designed to help them tap into their inner strength. Craft the programme in such a way that learning becomes fun, and participants, though exhausted, and even a little scared, keep coming back for more. All this against the backdrop of some of the most picturesque surroundings.
The curated adventure activities teach entry-level participants teamwork, resourcefulness, communication and trust. For participants in middle management and senior leadership, the focus shifts to strategy, decision-making, influencing, and leading with purpose.
The core philosophy was to take people out of the four walls of the classroom. Mr Gupta says, “We want to put them slightly out of their comfort zones, where the learning zone lies. We push them, while providing a safe learning environment.”
Putting people at ease is key. For many participants, the leadership programme is a first-time experience. “Often, participants aren’t sure that they will be able to complete an activity,” says Mr Gupta. “We build their confidence and explain that their safety is our prime concern.”
TSAF’s attention to detail and mindful curation enriches every aspect of the experience. Participants come away moved, often describing it as life-changing and transformative.
Adrenaline rush
There’s something about stepping out of the confines of the workplace that enthuses participants. Each day is packed with activities such as rock climbing, river rafting, rappelling, trekking, etc, out of a possible selection of nearly 50 activities, matched to the learning outcomes required and the capabilities of the participants.
Once participants grow past their fears and insecurities, their capacity for learning greatly expands. Divided into small groups, they pitch in to do chores, like cooking simple meals and doing the dishes. They sleep in tents and become entranced by the theatre of nature unfolding before them. Above all, they learn to rely on one another and discover deep reserves of strength and resilience.
TSAF organised one such programme as part of the Tata Motors Women’s Leadership Development programme in June 2025 at Nishi Camp in Pune district. “The instructors planned a great experience for us,” says Amrita Ganguly, Chief Diversity Officer and Internal Communications, Tata Motors, and one of the participants. “The terrain was out of our comfort zone, and there was no phone network. One activity required us to navigate a raft on the lake. At first, we were afraid; some of us didn’t know how to swim. We learnt to trust the TSAF team and completed that activity. Next, we had to make our own raft using bamboo, drums and a rope. The challenge was that we could strategise among ourselves beforehand, but the actual raft had to be built in complete silence. We not only ended up making the raft, we also took it to a certain point in the lake and brought it back. The experience bound us together and enhanced collaboration between us. I would definitely recommend the experience to all leaders.”
From risks to rewards
The experience consists of activities specially curated to enable participants to glean lessons their organisation wants them to learn. Every element of the programme, including the duration and the takeaways, is attuned to the needs of the group. The day’s activity ends with a debriefing and reflections.
Before long, participants learn to enjoy themselves without the urban luxuries they once relied on. The final breakthrough is the inspiration to push past their own limitations. The hallmark of a TSAF experience is that it guides participants to view every challenge as a path to transformation, a mindset that the organisation applies to itself as well. Over the years, TSAF has worked hard to keep its programme dynamic, incorporating learnings and countering challenges to make it better.
Custom built
Mr Gupta says, “Today, we have honed our offerings and enabled customisation. It’s not a one-size-fits-all concept. We customise the duration, activities and learning as per the needs of the client. When one of our clients wanted a programme specifically for women employees, we built a programme with female instructors.” This put the participants at ease and presented a model of female empowerment amid tough circumstances.
In order to provide the best learning experience to participants, TSAF instructors keep learning continuously. TSAF invites facilitators from the US- and UK-based Outward Bound and National Outdoor Leadership School to conduct training programmes for its instructors, which help increase their confidence and enable them to encourage participants towards the learning outcomes that their organisations wish to instil in them.
Today, TSAF conducts programmes at multiple locations across the country. If required, it also conducts short-term programmes at clients’ premises. Besides B2B courses, TSAF conducts treks to Everest Base Camp, Annapurna, Leh expeditions, cycling trips, and more.
“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees,” wrote American naturalist, poet and philosopher HD Thoreau, speaking of nature’s infinite capacity to heal and enlighten, strengthen and comfort. Over one lakh participants can attest to the TSAF experience and its ability to help them emerge from the leadership programme as stronger, better versions of themselves.
— Cynthia Rodrigues
