With just one week before the second residential of the Emerging Leader Programme takes place, we look back at the first and hear from one of the participants on how they found the experience.
Towards the end of March, 35 arboriculture and forestry professionals gathered in Ashorne Hill, Leamington Spa to undertake the first two-day residential element of the Institute’s Emerging Leader Programme.
Facilitated by Beth Goddard of the Clore Social Leadership team, the residential was based around Clore Social Leadership’s ‘Know Yourself, Be Yourself, Look After Yourself’ framework of leadership. The residential’s purpose was for programme participants to connect, reflect and develop action plans for their own personal leadership goals, with activities including a ‘programme buddy walk and talk’ and several focused group sessions. Day one also included a two-part focus on the Lumina Spark psychometric profiling method, which helps foster better self-understanding and helps people identify how to improve their working relationships with others.
Claire Wightman, Forestry Consultant at TreeStory, commented:
“The residential was very different from the technically focused training I am used to. The focus on personal qualities and leadership skills required me to reflect on aspects of myself that I do not normally pay attention to. It was quite mentally draining – like using a muscle you haven’t used in a while. But it was fantastic to work with such a wide variety of people, most of whom I had never met in person before.
One of the highlights of the two days was day one’s fireside chat with Mikayla Sinead from Bridge Network Group. Mikayla is known for leading with an inclusive intersectional mindset and combines her passions for gaming and leadership development with the flagship series #GameJoy. A patron of the mental health charity Safe in Our World, Mikayla has a wealth of experience in supporting diverse talent to reach positions of influence and leadership, and several participants commented on how inspiring this part of the day was.
Day two of the residential included the establishment of the Peer Innovation Challenge, a group-based activity requiring participants to approach specific sector issues with new viewpoints and approaches. The cohort splits into groups of five or six to tackle some of the most pressing challenges the sector faces – how do we attract people from more diverse backgrounds into the sector? How do we change public perceptions of forestry? How do we solve the skills crisis. The groups go through a process of human-centred design to develop solutions to these problems, which we hope might plant seeds for future sector activity and funding into the future.
Claire further commented:
It is a real testament to Beth’s facilitation of the group that despite this, and the healthy dose of scepticism natural to foresters, the group felt open and welcoming – a safe place to try new things. For me, the most impactful exercise was our first session of Action Learning. The discipline of only asking open questions and the amazing depth that such conversations can reach left a powerful, lasting impression. Roll on residential two – can’t wait to see what discoveries we make and what new ideas we can spark as a group on an epic learning journey.”
The Emerging Leader Programme is a six-month course designed to help emerging leaders in the sector build their leadership potential, strengthen their networks and drive both social and organisational change. It is a leadership development journey, highly subsidised through the Trees Call to Action Fund. Designed for those leading teams, projects, volunteers, and/or departments, the programme offers access to a wealth of leadership development activities designed to help participants build the skills, knowledge, and networks needed to drive change effectively.
