2012 FISU Forum: Overview of day 5

TAIPEI CITY – To conclude the plenary sessions of the 11^th FISU forum, four CESU members addressed the delegates on the topic of leadership development skills on Friday morning. Ms. Elena Rudaya of Russia, Bingshu Zhong of China, Anthony Davis of Jamaica and Sami Garabadian of Lebanon each gave a short presentation on a different aspect of leadership, before leading workshops on the topics they spoke about.

Ms. Rudaya was first, discussing psychological aspects of leadership. She stressed that in today’s world leadership must be global and that leaders must start thinking in a global context. “In order to compete in all spheres we deal with, we have to be global. In our features, in our activity, in our communication,” she said. Though there are challenges such as language barriers and cultural differences, Ms. Rudaya believes good leaders today must be able to think in terms of a worldwide impact.
 

Ms. Elena Rudaya (Russia) 

Mr. Zhong then presented on the different types of leaders, which he broke down in to the categories “charismatic” and “transformational”. Charismatic leaders, Mr. Zhong said, rely on a belief in themselves, while transformational leaders rely succeed through a desire to help the group achieve its goals. Mr. Zhong also mentioned the importance of carrying one’s self like a leader.
 

Bingshu Zhong (China)

Situational leadership was the next topic of the presentations, with Mr. Davis discussing using different styles of leadership in different situations. “Leadership style depends on persons being led and the activity that needs to be accomplished,” Mr. Davis said, referencing the Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership model, which says there is not a single “best” way of leading.
 

Anthony Davis (Jamaica) 

To conclude the presentations, Mr. Garabadian presented on leadership, influence and power. Leadership, according to Mr. Garabedian, is influence because leaders must be able to influence others to follow them. However, he argued that forceful influence is not the most effective means of leading and that above all else, passion breeds good leadership. “If you don’t have passion to do what you are doing now, you won’t be getting the job done,” said Mr. Garabedian.

Sami Garabadian (Lebanon)

These presentations were followed by the habitual workshops guided this time by the mentioned CESU members addressing the theme under discussion – leadership development.

(Source: Paulo Ferreira Diacounda Sene, Natasha Campos and Justin Fauteux – Students Committee)

Workshops on leadership