Forty-nine almost strangers filed into the lecture room for our first face to face session in the Oxford Executive Diploma in Organisational Leadership. I say almost strangers, as the programme team had provided early opportunities to connect - an online meetup, a WhatsApp group, and a few enterprising souls had connected over drinks or dinner in the lead up to the course.
Walking to my first day of 'school' was a pinch me - I’m actually at Oxford moment. I deliberately took a path that led me by Radcliffe Camera, and despite my minimal social media presence, took a quick selfie for posterity. Our lecture room at the Saïd Business School, was well equipped, comfortable and set up ready to go with name tags and some Oxford merch. We were served a smorgasbord of frameworks and concepts over the next four days, covering decision making, power and influence, organisational change and motivation. I’m surprised how quickly we became a cohesive group, but the design and structure was clearly engineered to encourage group bonding - shared meals, small group chats, work groups in breakout rooms, and opportunities to tell personal stories that related to the topic areas.
As a leader, it was valuable to see how the style of our programme leader, Sue Dopson, motivated, engaged, and encouraged us to work as a team. Simple actions such as noting the birthday of a cohort member and getting us to sing happy birthday, showing data about our demographic similarities and differences, and gentle humour made us comfortable and connected. It’s hard to describe how fun it is to be presented with new ideas in the company of bright curious people, some well equipped with a wicked sense of humour. This humour made our team debates in the Oxford Union a hilarious experience, despite the freezing temperature.
Witnessing the noise, the conversation and the camaraderie you would never believe that this was the same group that started out as strangers five days earlier.
I’m here in the airport waiting to fly home, reflecting on the week. I wish that, prior to attending, I had written down what I expected, vs what I experienced (note the appropriate use of the Oxford comma). Memorable experiences include:
- The bewildering volume of administrative and procedural information, necessary but overwhelming and luckily all on Canvas to review later
- The formal dinner at our college, Pembroke
- The anticipation, slightly edged with anxiety of debating in the Oxford Union
- The laughter and discussion over quality meals (catering was fabulous)
- The opportunity to hear diverse cultural solutions to the same problems (e.g. legal action vs hug it out).
Those of us staying in Oxford on Saturday night ended up at the Turf Tavern for drinks and a meal. Witnessing the noise, the conversation and the camaraderie you would never believe that this was the same group that started out as strangers five days earlier. I was originally worried about fitting in at Oxford - that critical thinking might translate to critical individuals. The reality cannot be further from the truth. Our tutors, the support team, and the cohort were warm, inclusive and helpful.
It was a fabulous start to our learning experience, and I know we are all looking forward to the next session in May.
Find out more about the Oxford Executive Diploma in Organisational Leadership programme.
