Written by current course participant Nicholas Olafare-Abiwon
I’m not someone that’s usually very good with reviews but to aid a reader’s quest for real knowledge and understanding I will do my upmost to provide an honest and concise account of what was for me one of the most influential weekends of my life.
After checking in we preceded to dinner; fantastic as usual, good food, stimulating conversation. The group was then introduced to the events and topic of the weekend and the guest speaker Ms Audrey Curry.
The next day started bright and early with breakfast and was followed by the first session of the day ‘Leadership Matters’. This session essentially highlighted the importance of leadership; People matter and you matter. We took an in-depth look at the differences between management and leadership and explored the relationship model. Leadership is about relationships; how you form them and how you maintain them.
The second session “Model the Way and inspire a shared Vision” was probably for me one of the most influential sessions. We were shown the importance of clarifying your own personal values, setting the example for your team and “DWYSYWD – Do what you say you will do” acronym. We looked at the ‘iceberg’ concept, which was such a powerful and insightful model to explore and looked at what happens in the conscience and subconscious regions of the mind. The second half of the session looked at inspiring a shared vision and that was based upon envisioning the future and enlisting others in a common vision.
The third session titled ‘Challenge the Process and Enable them to Act‘. This was my favourite session of the weekend, it encompassed everything I feel a good leader should have and that is the ability to influence others. We were taught the importance of fostering collaboration and strengthening others. Audrey really came into her own in this session, her passion really shone through and it was very well received. Audrey exemplified all that she spoke about and her personality and real life experience helped to understand the concept.
There is so much more I talk about but I really wouldn’t do it justice. The weekend was truly life changing. To put it simply we learnt leadership skills and lessons for life. I hope to keep myself accountable to all the things I have learnt this weekend. I will be a better and more effective leader because of the topics explored.