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Leaders of the future praise challenging leadership programme

Sussex students who benefited from a challenging leadership programme, now in its fifth year, have praised the experience.

Learning to lead dinner participantsSpeakers at the Learning to Lead dinner were (L-R) programme participants Thomas Irps, Kit Bradshaw and Kelly McBride, as well as Linda Buckham (Director of the Careers and Employability Centre and Stuart Maddocks (Director of Clemorton consultancy).

Speaking at a dinner to celebrate the end of the 2013-14 Learning to Lead programme, Engineering PhD student Thomas Irps said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the programme and I now feel more comfortable leading new team members as we expand and grow our business start-up.”

Thomas is one of the 300 Sussex students who have been offered the opportunity to take part in this programme and gain an understanding of the key skills, personal attitudes and experience that leaders need to develop.

Each year the Careers and Employability Centre has teamed up with international management-training consultancy Clemorton to offer the intensive programme, which uses a mixture of group and individual exercises, role play and experiential learning.

Kelly McBride, now Students’ Union President, was a Learning to Lead participant in 2010-11. At the celebration dinner on Thursday (8 May), Kelly recalled: “The programme made me seriously consider the implications of my actions, the key relationships I was building with the people around me and the impact this eventually has on long-term goals.”

Sussex graduate Kit Bradshaw, who took the programme in 2011-12, demonstrated in his talk at the dinner how using social media was a catalyst for him in applying successfully for a graduate role in communications with the NHS .

The programme itself features contributions from Sussex alumni, drawing on their experiences as senior leaders in different sectors of the economy.

It aims to challenge and motivate the participants at each of its four stages – with the aim of replicating some graduate recruitment processes.

Learning to Lead kicks off with an intensive two-day training programme, which covers topics such as the difference between management and leadership, delegation, decision making, and presentation skills.

Of the original 120 students from this year’s cohort, 78 then submitted a leadership selection form, which asked them to reflect on their learning and promote their leadership skills by answering competency based questions. They also described how they intended to use and develop their leadership skills in the future.

For the next stage, 60 of the group were chosen to be assessed for their potential as a leader and on their presentation skills by a panel consisting of Sussex alumni and leadership professionals.

Thirty of the students who had given presentations were then selected for the final stage, which involved additional training and one-to-one coaching from Clemorton.

The programme culminated in the celebration dinner last night - hosted by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Farthing – when the students who completed the course gained affiliation to the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and received Sussex Plus certificates.

The Learning to Lead programme is funded by the Sussex Fund with the generosity of Sussex alumni through the Development and Alumni Relations Office. It is part of the Sussex Plus initiative, helping students to develop their skills and employability.

Applications for Learning to Lead 2015 will be opening next academic year. Sussex students can register their interest by emailing careersevents@sussex.ac.uk.