“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”
Leadership is the process of influencing others to work hard and accomplish important goals. The capacity of individuals for leadership is revealed by the amount of influence one has over the behavior or performance of other individuals. If the influence is significant, they can be an effective leader; but if the influence is slight, they show little to no leadership ability.
Stepping Stones is a project initiated by the Rotaract Club of University of Colombo, Faculty of Management & Finance, with the objective of providing an opportunity for the youth to reveal the leader existing within themselves. It was held on the 31st October of 2018 at Royal Skills Center from 1.30 p.m. to 3.30 pm. This was a project for the year 2018/19 under the Professional Development avenue.
The event was conducted by Miss Bernadine Jayasinghe who is a professional trainer and news anchor for MTV/MBC channels Pvt. Ltd. She was the ideal person to train us step by step, using practical and amazing methods that aroused our curiosity to go further and grab ourselves to be unique leaders.
From the beginning it was an interactive session, that kept our consistent attention to what Ms. Bernadine said. It was emphasized that a leader has to be quick and sensible to react, should be more concerned about equality when treating people or subordinates, enhance equity and equality among every individual and should consistently take measures to develop communication skills, strategic thinking skills, along with the skill of managing people.
Ms. Bernadine also raised questions at participants and provided them with opportunities to speak and take part in some fun games during the session. She provided them with a balloon and needle each and requested them to entertain themselves by singing and dancing.
We were observed and used as examples in bringing out the characteristics that a leader should have. When one of the participants was constantly asking questions, she pointed out that questioning as to what is right and wrong is a strategy a leader should adapt. Always when asked to volunteer, one person was readily responding to it, then she said taking the first step is an obvious characteristic of a leader.
She also raised the question as to whether or not we consider ourselves leaders, which got us thinking. She addressed our yes or no answers by highlighting how people cannot be the same type of leader, but can have their own, unique way of leading which should first be recognized in order to be a better leader.
The program was concluded by explaining the depth behind engaging in fun-filled activities and stressing on the importance of happiness in our journey to succeed. She, in fact, took us through her journey, and how she overcame the various kinds of obstacles that threatened to swallow her whole. The best way to succeed is to proudly present yourself in front of obstacles, by taking a step back when it needs to be taken, and never taking your eyes away from your goals.
Both Rotaractors and non-Rotaractors who took part in the program would like to thank Ms. Bernadine for being our Guest speaker and taking us through her life story to help us rethink and reshape ourselves to be better leaders.
Written By:
M.W. Kavindi Bhagya (Member 2018/19)
