Two years ago, when I applied to the Laidlaw programme, I described leadership mainly as service and empowerment. I believed that a good leader focused on the needs of the community, created inclusive spaces for participation, and helped others develop skills to sustain impact beyond individual involvement. At that time, I understood leadership primarily as inspiration. It was about motivating people, encouraging engagement, and nurturing potential. That perspective remains important, but my experience on the Laidlaw research project on EU energy policy harmonisation challenged and refined it. I learned that leadership is equally operational. It requires enabling others while making complex and uncertain work possible and coherent.
The project involved coordinating interviews and fieldwork across Brussels, Germany, and France. Low response rates, visa delays, institutional obstacles, and differences in disciplinary priorities meant progress could stall unless someone assumed responsibility for organisation and decision-making. I realised that leadership involves creating stability. It required establishing clear sequences, managing tension, and setting up structures so colleagues could focus on analysis rather than administrative difficulties. My understanding shifted from seeing leadership as primarily relational to recognising the need to protect the coherence of a project. I learned to balance intellectual ambition with practical constraints, to translate between different disciplinary approaches without forcing agreement, and to judge when to intervene and when to defer to others’ expertise. Influence emerged from reliability and clarity rather than formal authority.
Decision-making under uncertainty became an area of significant growth. Coordinating fieldwork across multiple countries taught me to act without complete information. I adapted the project’s sampling approach to changing circumstances, responded to stakeholder delays, and maintained analytical focus despite incomplete data. I realised that leadership often operates quietly through structures, routines, and practical problem-solving. The ability to stabilise a process while preserving its intellectual integrity became as important as motivating others.
Working in an interdisciplinary team combining law, geography, philosophy, and international relations deepened my understanding of leadership as interpretation. I translated between competing ideas of harmonisation, aligning legal frameworks with infrastructural realities and conceptual analysis with political considerations. Leadership involved shaping how problems were understood rather than merely dividing tasks. Bridging perspectives allowed the team to maintain momentum and coherence even when disagreements emerged.
I also learned to lead without visibility. Much of my contribution occurred behind the scenes through planning, follow-ups, and problem-solving. I developed skills in communicating with senior stakeholders, structuring collaborative work, and maintaining progress under uncertainty. Leadership became a form of stewardship: holding the project together so that collective work could function under real-world pressures. It required reducing uncertainty for others, protecting the integrity of shared goals, and recognising that progress is often procedural and negotiated rather than dramatic.
Beyond leadership, the programme influenced how I approach complex issues as a global citizen. The EU energy policy project made clear that outcomes are shaped by institutions, infrastructure, political trade-offs, and national context rather than by moral ambition alone. Conducting interviews across multiple countries made me more attentive to how power, inequality, and local conditions constrain what cooperation can achieve. This strengthened my commitment to approaching complex problems with evidence, patience, and careful consideration of competing interests rather than seeking simple solutions.
Academically, Laidlaw refined my research skills. I moved from theoretical ideas to fieldwork, from policy texts to practical implementation, and from interdisciplinary insights to coherent analysis. Designing interviews, managing qualitative data, and integrating stakeholder perspectives prepared me for advanced research and potential postgraduate study. Professionally, the programme gave me skills that translate across contexts. Coordinating international fieldwork, engaging with policymakers and industry actors, and maintaining analytical standards under constraint enhanced my strategic thinking, problem-solving, and capacity to operate in complex environments.
Overall, the Laidlaw experience transformed my view of leadership from something primarily relational and inspirational to something operational, adaptive, and responsible. Leadership is not only about empowerment but also about stewardship. It requires sustaining collective work under uncertainty, managing disagreement, and protecting the coherence and ambition of a shared project. Progress is rarely dramatic. It emerges through careful organisation, consistent effort, and practical judgment. This understanding reflects both personal growth and a deeper awareness of how complex challenges demand thoughtful engagement and collaborative effort, forming a foundation for future academic and professional work.