ILead is hiring Student Leadership Facilitators for the 2016-2017 school year! Student Leadership Facilitators facilitate, promote, and give feedback on a series of leadership development workshops for both undergraduate and graduate students (ILead Leadership Labs). They will leverage their experience as student leaders to engage others in skill development.
We asked the 2015-2016 Student Leadership Facilitators for their perspective on their role and leadership. Take a look at Noor Shaikh‘s (Eng Sci 1T6) answers below!
What inspired you to get involved with ILead’s leadership labs?
I was inspired to get involved with the leadership labs primarily due to my past positive experiences with ILead. I initially got involved with ILead in my second year through the ILead EngSci division group and last year I was a participant in the Game. I had a great experience with both – the unique learning, activities, and personal growth – and I also enjoyed being a part of the ILead community. Therefore, when I heard about the new ILead Leadership Labs initiative I was immediately interested and applied to be a facilitator.
What have you learned about yourself by facilitating the labs?
Through facilitating the labs, I have learned to trust myself more. I am not a natural public speaker, and typically prefer to have presentations completely planned and basically scripted beforehand. However, one key component for the Leadership Labs is promoting and leading (large) discussions among students. Though questions can be prepared ahead of time, this is not something that can be completely premeditated, as you have to respond and lead the discussion based on what participants bring forth. I have had the opportunity to practice this throughout the labs and have noticed an increasing comfort level in myself with these discussions. Overall, this has helped me to trust myself more that when going into a variable situation I will be able to adapt and respond accordingly.
What has been your favourite moment or experience as a facilitator?
One of my favourite experiences as a facilitator was the full day Leadership Lab on Teams Skills we ran in January. It was our first full day Leadership Lab where we were all facilitating different sessions throughout the day based around the theme of teams. We initially helped design the workshops (which was a new experience), then we had the chance to facilitate with a larger group, see each other facilitate, and participate in other sessions. It was also a challenge in stamina to be able to facilitate multiple times during the day versus one session which we are used to. Overall though, it was a great experience and learning opportunity.
What does leadership mean to you? Has your perspective changed since being involved as a facilitator?
For me, one of the key elements of leadership is effectiveness. In this sense it is knowing how to use skills, apply problem solving, and motivate team members in a way to achieve an end goal in an optimal way. However, the styles of leadership and how leadership is approached can vary greatly depending on the situation, individuals or other factors. My experience as a facilitator has helped highlight these varying leadership styles and techniques. For example, in workshop facilitation there is a fine balance between directly presenting material, observing from the side, and “gently” facilitating. It is knowing when it is better to allow students to work though problems on their own versus when it is better to step in to facilitate or assist students more directly. This balance is all with an eye to the overall goal of ensuring students have the most beneficial learning experience from the workshop.