Respect, integrity, communication, charism, responsibility…
A good leader has a lot of different qualities. It was the purpose of the training course in Vilnius, Lithuania from 14th to 20th of November 2016.
16 people from different countries were present and reunited to exchange and work on subjects like the leadership and the integrity.
The aim of this training course was to encourage them to discover what is the meaning of these two subjects but also to work on this and exchange their opinions about this.
They were encouraged to give their own idea of what is the personal integrity and a good leader. To express themselves, some tools were given by the trainers with some workshops about different subjects: empowerment, the steps and methods for a project and teaching.
But the most important was to reflect and to work in group during diverse activities.
Practical activities were also present to finally put in practice what they learned during the training course. Firstly, the participants were invited to simulate the creation of an NGO by electing a leader and by making different group with different functions like marketing or human resources. The goal was to involve them into a real example of a project.
At the end, they were able to present a structured project with missions for each departments of the NGO.
The participants also had a session to lead. Indeed, the participants were divided into groups and they had to work about what they are going to present during 45 minutes. The goal was to let them lead a creative session and improve their skills in leadership in the same time. It was also the occasion to let the possibility to every participant to talk and present a work in front of the others.
Moreover, different guest speakers were present to also give their point of view concerning the leadership and how it is present every day in their work.
Participants had the chance to hear the story of the bishop of the evangelical church in Vilnius. He was indeed invited to tell and explain how the leadership is an important part of his work. He explained why he get the chance to become a bishop at a young age and that leadership skills are important when you are responsible of a lot of people.
Another person who worked as a volunteer in a helpline talked about her experience. Indeed, she had to convince or at least exchange by phone with depressed people who want to kill themselves. A different kind of leadership is required in this situation. In fact, the power of conviction is the main quality required for this work and this is in the same time an important quality for a good leader.
Finally, the Lithuanian culture was also discovered during this event with some typical dinners and activities like a trip to Trakai, where an historical castle was visited by the participants.
The project was supported by the Council of Europe and the United Methodist Church.