Upon applying for the Laidlaw Programme, I had a budding interest in the aspects of leadership, although my experience was limited. My view was very much influenced by the media in the sense that to me, leadership seemed to be about a person telling a group of other people what to do and it was all very direct. That person would be the one coming up with the ideas, taking all the responsibility, and ultimately, would be quite distant with their team. However, across my fantastic journey as a Laidlaw Scholar, I have had the opportunity to learn about the multi-faceted nature of leadership; in particular, how there are many different qualities that contribute to being a good leader.

To me an important aspect of leadership is effective collaboration. Rather than simply relaying tasks, I have learnt a great deal about working with individuals from a variety of different academic disciplines, of which I have absolutely no idea about. However, by discussing and collaborating with them in the various seminars and eventual research project, I was able how working in a diverse group can produce the most effective results. Being a leader isn’t about one individual’s idea. It is about a group of talented individuals, all with unique perspectives on approaching a task, working together to deliver a project that is more than the sum of its parts.

As an individual, across the programme, I developed into a more confident and assured person who was better able to network with other people to build on my leadership skills. With a great number of opportunities to meet my fellow scholars throughout a multitude of different seminars, I felt it was a great chance to really build on my collaborative skills. This is something I particularly wanted to work on as both my Leadership in Action (LiA) project, as well as my research project required working in teams so by developing this skill further, I would be able to contribute to my team in those aspects.

Initially, this seemed like a daunting task especially as I did not know anyone at the programme before joining. However, I can now say these are some of my closest friends without whom I would not be the person I am today. So, in some ways, I was positively surprised how much this Laidlaw experience has intertwined with my personal life, and how it was helped me achieve my goals in terms of teamwork within the programme, as well as outside of it as well.

Looking forward, I will take a lot from this programme, which has benefited me on a personal and professional level. In particular, the seminars on project management were especially useful. The knowledge and skills I learnt about effectively managing a complex project in a strict time frame is something I can take towards any professional setting where deadlines are of utmost importance. In terms of my academics, developing my analysis skills as mentioned, as well as the research methods will be very useful for a variety of modules, not least my dissertation (which has heavily drawn on my experience from the research project).

But overall, the part I will take forward the most are the friendships I have made along the way. From the earlier get togethers, to the Leadership in Action (LiA) project, to the eventual research project, I have had the privilege to work with a fantastic group of people who challenged me to achieve my goals to the fullest and inspired me to take account of my actions in a way I would not have had I not been part of the programme. It has shown me while there might be certain aspects of my life I will need to compromise on, on aspect cannot be my morals.