Across two days this week, 23rd and 24th March, I attended Leadership Development training along with the rest of the Durham 2025 Laidlaw scholars cohort. The subject matter covered and the activities partaken in were broad-ranging, but the unifying aim of the training was to prepare us for our LiA projects this summer. 

We spent the most time under the guidance of Graeme Taylor, whose character-focused workshops we had participated in last summer. The training provided by Graeme was macroscopically structured according to the tripartite 'Performance Pyramid' aiming to: 'Raise Awareness' 'Generate Responsibility' and, finally 'Facilitate Performance'. Moreover, each these aims were pursued in the context of preparing for our LiA projects.

In our first workshop of the course, Graeme encouraged us to 'Raise Awareness' about ourselves. We were encouraged to do a mental 'check-in' with ourselves with the following prompts in mind: "Where are you now? Where have you been? Where are you going?". Graeme encouraged us to recall our entire experience of the Laidlaw programme from first getting accepted, to the week of training we received last summer through to our 6 week research projects, the Laidlaw conference in October and all of the Oxford Character Project sessions we had attended thus far. In this period of self-reflection we were split into three groups and each asked to summarise where we had developed the Laidlaw 3 C's (Character, Change-maker values, Capacities) in the various sections of the programme. My group were assigned to discuss the Oxford Character Project, which we all agreed had made us much more self-aware of our own identity, our strengths and weaknesses and how virtues within our character are neither fixed nor independent but can be toned up or toned down and consciously complemented by others in order to facilitate performance in all and any tasks as a leader. Being encouraged to reflect on the OCP in this way, in conjunction with Graeme's mantra (Where are you now? Where have you been? Where are you going?) which he repeated throughout the two-days, made me recall a phrase that Corey Crossan, who runs our OCP sessions, is partial to saying: "Who are you becoming while you are busy doing?". In light of the busy lives we all lead, the demands of academically demanding degrees and the extensive preparation required for the LiA, a plan for which we devised in the next workshop, being required to spend time reflecting on our personal values was both extremely important and useful. The most pertinent way in which we were able to ‘come back to ourselves’ in terms of recalling our values was through completing a ‘Values Assessment’ devised by Brené Brown. Out of scores of values we had to select our top ten and then whittle this down to six then three and finally one. To close of the section of Raising Awareness, and segue into the next workshop, focused on ‘Generating responsibility’ we were encouraged to compose a values ‘statement’ in which we incorporated as many of our top ten values into pledge of how we would aim to conduct ourselves over the coming months, as we prepare for the LiA, and when we were on the LiA itself. 

The second workshop led by Graeme was focused on the aim to ‘Generate Responsibility’ in regards to our LiA projects. We all came into these two training days at varying stages of preparation for our LiAs and all knowing that there were tasks that we needed to do. Some of these tasks would require merely time allocated for us to individually get on with the tasks whilst others would recquire guidance from peers or our co-ordinator and more still were dependent on certain other tasks to be completed before we could proceed with them. In light of this, Graeme thought it most pertinent to open up a discussion as to what sort of training we thought scholars in our position would like, suggestions which he then took into account. The overwhelming consensus from us scholars was that we were in need of some time with each other and with our co-ordinator in attendance to complete some admin pertaining to our LiAs. In order to elucidate the specific tasks that we each individually needed to complete and to assess where our time would be best placed (in completing which task could we have the impact on our overall level of preparation) Graeme instructed us to complete a survey of our level of preparation in different aspects of the LiA using the ‘Wheel of Life’ model. Categories included: risk assessment, travel admin (visas, vaccines, flights), finances, networking, insurance documents, skills and capacities, plan. Each of these we ranked out of 10 and then we could see which areas required the most attention. Having each identified the area that would have the most effective impact if we dedicated time, attention and effort to it, we were then encouraged to make a SMART target to generate responsibility for completing this individual task, under the umbrella of the entire workshop which was to generate responsibility for fully preparing for our LiAs. Following this, Graeme then unexpectedly gave us back thirty minutes of time to work on our respective ‘priority’ LiA tasks. For some, their priority was needing to work on their risk assessment, others had to book their vaccines or apply for their visas, and a few wanted to put together a budget. Being able to work on these tasks alongside others who were doing the same generated an atmosphere of comradery and support that diminished the stress that came with facing head-on the large responsibility of the extensive LiA preparation. I think I can speak for all of us when we said that we were truly gratefully for this time given by Graeme.

The final part of the Leadership training provided by Graeme centred on the aim to ‘Facilitate Performance’ within our LiAs. The self-reflection of the raising awareness workshop and creation of a to-do list and plan for our LiAs in the generating responsibility workshop on the Monday set us up well for being able to facilitate performance both prior to and during our residential projects this summer. However, this was complimented by activities explicitly focused on allowing us to be the best, most authentic and most effective versions of ourselves when we are abroad working on our various programmes. One of the exercises thus aimed to facilitate our successful performance in the LiA was a team-building task: building the tallest free-standing spaghetti tower with a marshamallow on top with only 20 pieces of spaghetti, a roll of tape, some string and a pair of scissors. This task, besides being a lot of fun, was extremely useful in getting us to practice our communication, collaboration and creative skills, all of which will be crucial in the everyday of our Leadership in Action projects. We all learned the importance of speaking candidly yet compassionately in a timely manner (for instance if we foresaw a potential problem with the building of the structure or if we had a new idea to contribute) yet sharing our views also had to be carefully balanced with listening to the ideas of others so that everyone in the group felt heard and valued. It is clear to see how such skills would be highly applicable to our LiAs, where we, although students, would be required to show confidence, initiative, dedication, enthusiasm but also open-mindedness and humility to a project that we would be assisting on for 6 weeks. This last idea, that of humility, makes me recall a key phrase that came up in the workshop led by Dr Nikki Rutter on the morning of the second day of the training. When discussing potential difficulties with volunteering abroad for 6 weeks, as we would be on our LiA, one of the key ideas was that we would have to be conscious of overstepping in any way. This might be by coming in with too much bravado and asserting our opinions on what would be best without having properly understood the aims and workings of the pre-existing project or perhaps by unintentionally offending someone because of lack of cultural knowledge (i.e. wearing an inappropriate piece of clothing or saying something untoward). The key phrase to which I was referring above, in relation to the importance of humility, is: “You don’t know what you don’t know”. In this way, from the conjunction of guidance covered in these two workshops, I derived the crucial idea that I must be open to the idea of my own ignorance, accepting it to an extent (i.e. being prepared to go make mistakes though definitely apologising for them) but more often trying to mitigate it by being very open to learning from the moment I arrive in India, even perhaps before this (i.e. attending the sessions run by my LiA which share important knowledge for the project). The final activity which aimed to facilitate our performance on our LiA was scenario based. We were split into three groups and each tasked with coming up with a response to a potential issue that we might come up against whilst on our LiA. The scenarios included: what to do if you felt a lack of purpose of sense of direction on your LiA; what to do if you felt a lack of motivation during your LiA; what to do if you were put in an uncomfortable position during your LiA. The most unilateral reaction to all of these situations was to talk to somebody, whether that be a fellow volunteer, your LiA supervisor, or your co-ordinator back home. Once again there was cross-over between the message learned here and on in Dr Rutter’s workshop: on your LiA you are not alone. Even though many of our scholars have organised independent projects and may be not only the sole Laidlaw scholar but maybe even the sole student working temporarily on their given project, there are still many points of contact and a great support network to fall back on if we are ever facing any issues. Facing struggles on the LiA is an inevitability, and understanding this is crucial to facilitating performance because it means we can be both realistic and thereby prepared to be resilient when we go away, which will allow us to bounce-back from set-backs more quickly. However, I also learned that whilst we might perceive ourselves as the primary drivers in facilitating our own performance, the support network which we surround ourselves with are just as important. In fact this is a message I took away from the training implicitly because Graeme, Nikki, Kamil, our co-ordinator, and Chantelle had all dedicated dedicated the time and effort to helping us succeed on our LiAs by conducting these training days. Moreover, every conversation I had with my fellow Durham scholars similarly showed the interest, support and hopes we all have for each other to thrive during our LiAs. This goodwill renewed in me great excitement as well as confidence to embark on my own LiA this summer and gratitude to the Laidlaw programme for such an incredible opportunity.