A blog from one of our 2020 Participants, Nat McLean
Well fellow Be. Leaders- we have survived another virtual session! These online sessions are tiring, and hard work. But what a great session it was, and on a fabulous topic- Global Citizenship.
As well as speakers, we had a workshop lined up- and of of course more time with our 2020 cohort. There is such a diversity in this team.
We were very fortunate to hear from two fantastic speakers.
Rod Oram was an outstanding speaker, for many reasons. His passion wisdom and knowledge leapt through the screen. There were so many key messages from Mr Oram. If I had to mention a few I would mention:
· The importance of Spirituality as illustrated through a discussion on Matauranga Maori
· The enormity of human impact on the environment
· The importance of empathy and integrity in leadership
· It is when we lead with empathy and integrity we can connect with one another
Our second speaker, Andre Lovatt, was another speaker where you could see how his personal and professional journey has evolved over the years. His self-awareness was outstanding- it takes great courage to be able to sit down and do deep reflection. Andre returned to Christchurch to make a difference after the earthquakes that impacted the wellbeing of Christchurch. This was a turning point for Andre to understand that the taonga of Christchurch should be accessible to everyone. He could see that disability is so easily left behind. This also has impacted his future vision for Auckland airport. For Andre, building trust is an integral part of leadership.
We finished the weekend with a workshop on Critical Thinking. We were asked, when it comes to critical thinking, how can we do this without all the information or facts? How often do we assume the outcomes? And also, in what areas can you apply critical thinking more? (Eg. Professional, personal, emotional, objectivity.)