Leadership is Influence

“Leadership is Influence” a quote from John C Maxwell, was the thread that ran through our second ever Step Leadership Conference. We gathered 70 sixth formers from 6 different schools, to help them learn more about how they each carry influence, and how they can lead from a place of authenticity and confidence if they know who they are, what their values are and what lights them up.

It was such a brilliant day, with three incredible sessions led by some very experienced leaders.

Jon and Andrea Taylor Cummings from The4Habits led a session called “Discovering the Leader within.”  They taught about four main personality types: otter, beaver, golden retriever, and lion, before exploring the strengths and weakness of each one. As the students thought about which animal they most identified with they also learnt that to build a strong team, understanding others dominant style can be really helpful. They finished with a brilliant, and often competitive Kahoot quiz, which got all the students focused, and generously gave out copies of their book to the winners. (https://the4habits.com/.)

Trevor Withers from Network church also got the students fully engaged and chatting in his “Communicating with Confidence,” session. He challenged the students to talk with someone they didn’t know using a series of fantastic questions as prompts. He then looked at how to tell your story in just two minutes, before giving them a go at this too. It was great to see how well the students stepped up to this challenge!

And lastly, Helena Croft, MBE, from Streetlight – a charity that seeks to end sexual violence and exploitation, (http://streetlight.uk.com) did an incredible job in her session called “Influencing the Influencers.” She took the students through some challenging material, which they handled with great maturity and sensitivity. And by telling her story with authenticity, Helena helped the students realise that we all can influence others, no matter what our backgrounds, and that as we tap into our passions, we can channel that to make a difference.

The day was topped and tailed by some thought-provoking talks too, one by our very own Chris and the other by Ruth Robb, from Azaela. Chris shared a powerful story about bangers and mash and how one person can change the direction of your life through a simple act of bravery and kindness and Ruth explored how our values can be the moral compass for our lives.

It was an enriching, thought provoking day, interspersed with fun, bingo and prizes, delicious sandwiches and a lot more! Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and when asked about what was their one take away from the day, comments included.

“You can influence the influencers,”
“That we are all born as leaders, but we need to lean into different characteristics we have to reach our full potential in leadership.”
“Sometimes working with people who have a very different personality leads to the best results. “

And when asked about any suggestions on how to make it even better, one lovely student wrote “Nope, it was perfect!” Very encouraging indeed!

 Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen and to all the students who participated with such enthusiasm. I am looking forward to next year already!

Amy 

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