The student leadership workshop is a regular feature of the Study Hall Education Foundation, it is designed particularly for the student cabinet bodies of all the units of SHEF i.e. Study Hall School, Prerna girls, Prerna boys, Centre for Learning, Vidyasthali and Study Hall College. The various cabinet members meet to interact, discuss and learn what an ideal leader is. The students come as amateurs with fresh energy and inquisitiveness regarding their duties and leave as responsible, conscious and determined leaders who are ready to represent the students and serve their institutions. This year the workshop was taken by our founder Dr. Urvashi Sahni, principal Mrs. Meenakshi Bahadur, vice principal Meenakshi Shah ma’am,the spearheaded director of youth leader@SHEF Zarine ma’am, DSH director Anand sir and our alumni Aditya Shukla and Aman Arun.
The workshop was distributed over two days,the first day started with Felipe sir taking an ice breaker session in which he grooved to a tune while the young leaders followed him,relaxing everyone. The learning began with Urvashi aunty speaking about servant leadership which focuses on serving, it is the ideal form of leadership. The students went on to name their ideal leaders like Nelson Mandela, Gandhi Ji, Jyotiba Phule, and several other notable ones and how they inspire the world.
Aditya Shukla then took over to discuss the modern psychological stance on leadership where he talked meaningfully about the several theories under it. It substantially enhanced the theoretical knowledge of the audience about leadership. Then the discussion shifted to inclusive and exclusive style of leadership exemplified by Mahatma Gandhi and Adolf Hitler respectively. Obviously the former was agreed upon as the desired form by the participants.The history of leadership was also presented right from the early ages and the shift from physical to intellectual superiority in a leader.
The consequent session was taken by Meenakshi Bahadur aunty. She spoke about pseudo and authentic leadership, building a team and turning passive presence to active participation. She was greeted with questions regarding the same which she embraced to the students’ satisfaction. Aman Arun then took over to discuss leadership and self awareness. He presented the audience with knowledge on components such as a leader’s wisdom, ethics, identity and brand to explain the link between leadership and self awareness. Essentially talking about the ‘why’ factor to leadership—why the person stood up to lead others.
The meet then witnessed a panel discussion with Urvashi aunty. The panelists were Nidhi Kanaujia, Renu Yadav, Divya Pal and Kunti, they are all alumni of different units of SHEF and former cabinet members. Listening to them students learned about how a badge given in school can help in individual growth, in the development of a disciplined self and is a notable character in bigger institutions.With the sharing of their precious experiences,the first day came to an end.
The leaders in training again met the next day with the same enthusiasm and readiness to grasp new things. The day started with participants recalling take aways from day one and a bit of body stretching before investing themselves in a long and productive day. To discuss the inclusive style of leadership, Zarine ma’am started by asking for definitions of diversity and differences.Her questions were met by wide ranging responses from students of all the units. What followed was an activity where questions were displayed with scores indicated to measure the diversity present in the group despite the common factor—leadership potential. The differences were vested in age, gender, religion, socio-economic factors, beliefs, etc. Subsequently, the meet headed towards producing solutions on how to make every individual feel like a part of a bigger picture using the strategies of inclusive leadership. Again a huge wave of responses presented steps like eliminating preferential treatment and how the privileged ones should extend an empathetic hand.
Anand sir introduced a third dimension to the scenario of equality and equity. Equity might benefit immediately but a long term solution requires an altogether change in the system. The scenario today needs a shift from equality to equity in short term and restructuring the administration system in the long run.
For the next session the students entered into breakout rooms of their units with their unit heads to discuss a vision and mission for their institutions. Some devoted the time to discuss immediate measures, some a long term solution and structure for the students to be able to self organise. Almost all of them mentioned social service initiatives, giving opportunities to everyone, skill development, talent clubs and building a universe of care. Moving towards the final panel discussion, the panelists were Mr. Syed Raza-LGBTQ rights activists,Ms. Laxmi Nishad-Prerna alumni and former Head girl and Mrs. Disha Kaushal- an associate of the global shaper foundation. Urvashi aunty talked to them about the obstacles they faced, strategies they chose to overcome them, building a leader and once built, maintaining the zeal. Some described the why factor of the youth leaders in them as the need of the hour and others as their conscience. Mr. Raza talked about owning failures and distributing successes, Disha ma’am gave insights from her personal life and taught everyone that personal problems should not be a veil to social duties. Laxmi di insisted upon heading with self efficacy and not accepting any and every advice coming from society. All of them invariably believed that the youth posses flexibility of thought, the risk taking factor and innovation,hence, empowering them to lead is the essential in making a better society. On this wise note,the panelists, organisers,teachers and the young leaders dismissed with determination to continue and contribute in possible ways.
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