The Leadership in Practice course ran again this trimester with 15 regular physical attendees and many more choosing to watch the videos and complete the quizzes retrospectively. This extra-curricula activity of 6 sessions, delivered by Zoom, is designed to address the very practical issues of leadership. Leadership skills, by their very nature, are highly developed social skills, and therefore can be exercised in daily life, regardless of whether a person is holding a leadership position or not. During the course students explored a range of topics around the subject of influence, along with issues around difficult conversations, personal resilience, and discipline.
Many students on the course were especially interested in the topic of 'difficult conversations' as, by their own admission, they did not enjoy conflict and confrontation (who does!?). Also, a number of the students commented on how the resilience and discipline session had helped them manage their assessments more effectively, ensuring that they could get each one done in good time without experiencing burnout. The body language sessions were put into action the very same day, and all students were encouraged to practice a little bit of everything, often. Subtle changes in behaviour and habits add up to huge differences in outcomes. The quote from a student in the final session says it all...
"Thank you so much. I've really enjoyed these sessions. It's really helped me balance my personal life with my work life and university life. The resilience session was so useful."