The first leadership course was held over three days. The opening day was delivered in Oxford, with days two and three held at DLA Piper’s offices in Central London. It was piloted with 19 Global Scholarships Programme Fellows from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Senegal, Solomon Islands and Uganda. Before starting, the Fellows undertook a psychometric assessment, which was discussed during the course. This gave the Fellows insight into their strengths and tendencies, which were further explored in the sessions.
‘The leadership course was beyond my expectation,’ says Semhal Fissehaye, a Global Scholarships Fellow from Ethiopia. ‘It looked at leadership not from a traditional sense of becoming a leader of an organisation, a company or a political party but rather from an intrinsic level of how one can attain leadership character. Importantly, it gave us practical exercises to build our leadership by pushing many of us outside of our comfort zones.’
Mwape Machaya, from Zambia, another of the Fellows says: ‘The course gave me a better understanding of what really constitutes leadership, a greater awareness of my own personal style, and how a leader needs to be confident in challenging situations.’
Ian Hagg adds: ‘The course is all about stepping back and asking yourself some very fundamental questions. It really challenges the Fellows to unpack what perhaps they think it means to be a leader. There are lots of different cultural perspectives about leadership, and Oxford brings a culturally diverse approach to the discussions.’