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A Leadership and ADHD Training Intensive Built On Evidence And Results
This March, a small group of 8 to 12 leaders will trade their inboxes for the red rock canyons of southern Utah. Each one will lead a real team for a full day, debrief with a Board Certified Nurse Coach every night, and come home with leadership skills that finally stick. The roster locks before departure.
Building strength that bends, so it never breaks.
Why This Course?
Most leadership training assumes a brain only works one way.
We built one that doesn’t.
An estimated 20% of people are neurodivergent. On your team, they’re often the most creative, highest-energy leaders you have. They’re brilliant in a crisis. They see the big picture before anyone else.
And they’re tired.
The same wiring that drives their best work also drives burnout. They look fine at work and run on effort. They’ve read the books, bought the planners, and sat through the ballroom workshops. They leave with real insight. By Monday, most of it’s gone.
That’s because ADHD is rarely a knowing problem. It’s a doing problem. Most leaders with ADHD already know what good leadership looks like. The gap is doing it in the moment, with forty things pulling at their attention.
So we took the distractions away.
Forged in Flow is a 7-day leadership and ADHD training intensive, built in partnership with NOLS, the National Outdoor Leadership School. The classroom is a backpacking expedition through the red rock canyons of southern Utah.
NOLS doesn’t allow phones in the field. No inbox. No notifications. No back-to-back meetings. Just a route, a team, and real decisions with consequences you feel by dinner.
Every participant leads the team for a full day. Every night ends with a debrief: what worked, what didn’t, what changes tomorrow. And every day, Seth Rotman, Board Certified Nurse Coach, is in the field coaching each leader on what their brain actually did.
Why Seth built this
At 18, Seth spent a semester with NOLS in the desert Southwest. He had ADHD, refused medication, and ran entirely on effort and vibes. Heading into the rock climbing section, he left his sleeping bag on the bus and spent a week of below-freezing nights kept warm by his tent mates.
That week taught him the difference between support and accountability. Support catches you after you fall. Accountability keeps you from falling. It became part of the foundation of the 8DHD Method, the coaching framework he now teaches leaders and organizations.
Twenty years later, he’s going back. And he’s bringing a small group with him.
What To Expect
Three pillars. One week.
Leadership Under Pressure
- Learn the NOLS leadership framework: four leadership roles and seven core skills
- Practice communication, group dynamics, and decision-making with real stakes
- Learn when to step up and lead, and when to support the team as an active follower
ADHD Mastery
- Evidence-based, hands-on coaching from a Board Certified Nurse Coach, every day
- Daily lessons from the 8DHD Method: Accountability, Knowing Yourself, and Resilience
- Work with your strengths, like hyperfocus, creativity, and risk tolerance, instead of fighting your wiring
Resilience and Regulation
- Seven days off-grid, where exercise and nature give your nervous system a reset
- Build the steadiness to lead through cold, heat, long days, and uncertainty
- Practice tolerance for adversity, one of NOLS’s seven leadership skills, for real
Your 7 days
- Day 0: Meet near Salt Lake City. Gear check, goals, and orientation with your NOLS instructors
- Day 1: Pack up and head to the trailhead. Learn the basics: camp stove cooking, shelters, map and compass, Leave No Trace
- Day 2: NOLS instructors lead. You watch how experts plan, communicate, and decide
- Days 3 to 7: You lead. Each day, a few participants take over as leaders of the day while instructors step back
- Every night: Group debrief, an 8DHD lesson, a journal entry, and coaching with Seth
- Day 7: Hike out, final debrief, and graduation
A typical day in the field
- Morning: Wake up, cook breakfast, pack up camp, and review the day’s plan
- Day: Navigate and backpack through the canyons, break for water and snacks, set up camp, and join group classes
- Evening: Cook dinner, debrief with reflections from the day’s leaders, and plan tomorrow
You’ll eat well
Backcountry cooking is part of the curriculum. NOLS instructors teach every participant to cook full, nutritious meals on a camp stove, from rice, pasta, and beans to cheese, summer sausage, and trail mix. There are even desserts. Dietary restrictions can be accommodated, though not every preference.
Where you’re going
You’ll hike the red rock canyons of the Colorado Plateau: mesa tops with sweeping views, then narrow, deeply carved canyons below. Red sandstone, green junipers, and some of the most striking landscape in North America. This is a real expedition. Expect off-trail route finding, rocky terrain, and the occasional wade through cold canyon water.
Who guides you
- NOLS instructors, trained to the gold standard in outdoor education. Every instructor holds Wilderness First Responder certification
- Seth D. Rotman, BSN, RN, NC-BC, ADHD-CCSP, Board Certified Nurse Coach, creator of the 8DHD Method, author of There Is No Box! Going From Failing to Thriving With ADHD, and a NOLS alum who has lived with ADHD since age 5
What you take home
- A personal leadership plan built from what you actually did, not what you read
- The 8DHD companion workbook
- A copy of There Is No Box! Going From Failing to Thriving With ADHD
- Lifetime access to the private Forged in Flow alumni group
- Register by December 15, 2026, and get 3 private follow-up coaching sessions with Seth after the trip
Who is this for?
Built for leaders.
The leader with ADHD
- You’re a manager, executive, or founder with ADHD, diagnosed or self-identified
- You look like you have it together at work, and you’re running on effort
- You’ve read the books and tried the apps. You’re ready to see how you actually lead under pressure
The leader of a neurodiverse team
- You manage people with ADHD or other neurodivergent strengths, and you want to get the best out of them
- You want tools that help your whole team: clear handoffs, honest debriefs, and accountability without micromanaging
- What helps your neurodivergent team members helps everyone. That’s the curb cut effect
The organization investing in its people
- You’re an HR, L&D, or ERG leader with a rising leader to develop, or an intact team to send together
- You want leadership training with outcomes your people bring straight back to work
- Seth invoices your organization directly
You don’t need:
- A diagnosis
- Outdoor experience. NOLS teaches every skill from day one
- To be an athlete. You do need solid baseline fitness, and the guides below show you how to get there
This isn’t the right fit if:
- You’re looking for a vacation or a retreat. This is a real expedition with real work
- You’re looking for therapy. Forged in Flow is leadership training and nurse coaching that works alongside any care you already have
- You can’t be fully offline from March 19 to 26, 2027
Logistics And Details
The essentials
- Dates: March 19 to 26, 2027 (7 days in the field)
- Location: The red rock canyons of the Colorado Plateau, southern Utah. The group meets near Salt Lake City; full meeting details come after your discovery call
- Group size: 8 to 12 participants, individuals or an intact team
- Led by: NOLS instructors and Seth D. Rotman, Board Certified Nurse Coach
- Investment: $6,500 per participant, plus airfare
- Pack weight: about 45 to 50 pounds
- Registration deadline: December 15, 2026. Register by then for 3 private follow-up coaching sessions with Seth
How to register
- Book a discovery call. Every participant talks with Seth first to make sure Forged in Flow is the right fit for you and for the group
- Reserve your seat with an $800 non-refundable deposit
- Pay the $5,700 balance in 4 installments of $1,425. Seth invoices you or your organization directly
Included
- NOLS instruction, risk management, and the leadership curriculum
- Daily coaching with Seth in the field
- All food, in town and on the trail
- Group gear: shelters, stoves, cookware, maps, first aid kits, and emergency communication devices
- Transportation during the course
- Lodging the day before and the night after the course
- The 8DHD companion workbook and a copy of There Is No Box! Going From Failing to Thriving With ADHD
- 3 free follow-up coaching sessions with Coach Seth
- Lifetime access to the Forged in Flow alumni group
Not included
- Airfare and travel to and from the meeting point
- Health insurance for the course dates
- Personal gear. NOLS sends a detailed list, and you can rent or buy what you need from NOLS or your local outfitter.
Good to know
- Phones stay home. NOLS doesn’t allow phones or communication devices in the field. Instructors carry satellite phones and emergency beacons. Want photos? Bring a dedicated camera
- Weather swings fast. Expect warm days, cold nights, and the chance of rain, wind, or snow. You’ll learn to manage it, and to thrive in it
- You’ll be remote. NOLS instructors hold wilderness medicine certifications and carry well-stocked first aid kits
- Taking ADHD medication? Bring it as prescribed and talk with your prescriber before the trip. NOLS handles medical screening
Get expedition-ready
This course is designed to challenge you. Heavy packs, tough terrain, and long days. Start training now with these NOLS guides:
Seats are capped at 12. The roster locks before departure.
The canyons are waiting. Your team is waiting. Take the first step today.
