Over the course of three days, the Year 11 leadership group of 2022 embarked on a journey. This journey - hosted at the Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens – helped us discover who we are and how we can build our skills in leadership, including how we can use these skills in everyday life… especially when leadership isn’t in a formal role.

On day one of the conference, we took part in an activity conducted by Mr. Ogden. Here, we determined the type of thinker we are in relation to the Herrmann Brain Model. These are the fact-based, form-based, feelings-based, and future-based thinkers - plus those few who sit in between the groups. More than this however, we grew to understand how our skills shift overtime as we go through life, growing as individuals. We then had the honour of having a discussion with Associate Professor Peggy Kern from Melbourne University. In this session, we explored what the mindset of a leader looks like as well as how we can grow and develop that mindset. Lastly, in a session with Mr. Lloyd, we worked on letting go and trusting ourselves, while also working on building confidence. These are important qualities of leaders, being true to who you are is an even more significant element of trust and confidence.

Day two welcomed a session with Edmund King. With him, we discussed teamwork and how it links into leadership. Knowing your role in a team is an important part of collaborating with others and performing accordingly is a big part of leadership. To practise, we were tasked in breaking a game record time of 0.52 seconds… we did! Little did we know, Edmund’s session was preparing us for a bigger activity later. An amazing race was to be held, sending us into the city to collect pictures, gather information and complete challenges. Learning about the relationship between leadership and teamwork came in handy here. Giving everyone a role made it easy for groups to communicate and return victorious… though not everyone found the task so easy. That evening, Mr. Lloyd returned for his second session. He encountered a room full of tired students, but he managed to put a smile on our faces and make us laugh. This session focused on public speaking in a more formal manner.

While shorter than the rest, day three was full of inquisitive minds. We had the pleasure of listening to Mrs. Ogden and Mr. Julian Hill MP discuss their own experiences with leadership and how they had used their skills to overcome challenges in this area of their lives. This discussion eventually opened the floor to students, granting us the opportunity to ask these individuals personal questions about their lives of leadership. We all had the chance to see these individuals for who they are: strong, intelligent, vulnerable, and hardworking minds. I say vulnerable here because it is an important quality for me. Knowing when it is appropriate and when it is not to be vulnerable in front of others is a challenging thing to determine. Often, the vulnerability never comes out.

Day three had the biggest impact on me. As a young person who has often experienced the push back of others as she tries to succeed through life, I found comfort in an answer Mrs. Ogden gave to the group. I asked her about her own experiences with discrimination as she made her way through education and careers. In response, she shared a personal story with the group which I believe a lot of individuals can relate to. Listening to her speak, I realised the power we have as young people to push forward when society tells us to step back.

I guess it makes sense now… I’m a future-based thinker, unafraid of using my leadership skills to pave my way through life.

Rachel B, 11B

Year 11 Leader

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