At the start of the new academic year, the Senior Prefect Team was delighted to welcome Old Birkonian, Ian Huntley, to deliver a day of hugely beneficial leadership training.
By Sophia C, Upper Sixth students and Head of School
After a quick review of Mr. Huntley’s extensive CV in the Royal Marines and Ministry of Defence, we immediately began to explore the mindset behind leadership, benefits of working as a team and ultimately what defines a ‘good’ leader.
The day assumed a practical approach, with the prefects undertaking tasks which required us to strategise as a group to stack cups using string and order numbers in record time. Watching back the footage of these challenges also allowed us to review where we could have improved our approach and benefitted from leadership during points of low morale, as well as capturing many amusing moments on camera! Above all, the tasks proved to be an invaluable bonding experience, allowing us to strengthen friendships within the team and see new qualities in different people.
However, the training also included much thoughtful debate around how leadership relates to popularity, morality and personality, as well as the distinctions between ‘leadership’ and ‘management.’ Similarly, short group presentations we delivered discussed the need for values such as accountability and compassion in an effective leader. One of the biggest takeaways for me was Mr. Huntley’s exploration of ‘psychological safety’ - the need to be able to speak up in a team without fear of humiliation or punishment, and how critical this is to a group’s effectiveness. I think it is safe to say that this is a quality which will have developed further within the group thanks to our shared experience on the day and new knowledge of successful teamwork.
On behalf of the whole team I would like to extend our thanks to Mr. Huntley for a fun and thought-provoking experience, as well as the new skills we can now carry forward when performing our roles within the school community.