Leadership is often associated with decision-making, accepting responsibility and guiding people.
But at the Gondwana Academy, leadership starts somewhere much closer to home: with understanding yourself.
The Gondwana Leadership Academy is an intensive programme designed to challenge and develop the people who make up Gondwana.
The programme takes place over two five-day sessions, with a three-month period between them.
This gives participants time to take what they have learned back into their everyday lives, reflect on it and put it into practice before returning for the second session.
Three groups are taking part in the programme, and all three have now completed their first five-day session, with the second session coming up soon.
It is not simply a course where participants sit in a room and listen.
It is an emotional and, at times, intense experience that encourages people to look inward, ask difficult questions and better understand the person they are and the leader they can become.
Throughout the first session, participants explore self-awareness, personal values and mindfulness, while also developing practical skills in communication, planning and organising.
Environmental impact, professional and hospitality etiquette, Gondwana’s history guidelines, and the importance of team dynamics form part of the journey too.
Perhaps the biggest lesson is that leadership is not always about being the person at the front of the room.
It starts with knowing yourself, what matters to you, how you respond to situations and, sometimes, how your actions affect the people around you.
It is about being open enough to learn, to listen and to recognise the things you can still improve.
Now, with three months between the two sessions, the groups have time to take those lessons with them.
They have gone back to their teams, their work and their everyday lives, and had the chance to see things a little differently.
When they return for the second session, they bring those experiences with them.
And that is what makes the Leadership Academy so meaningful. You leave with more than just new skills.
You leave having learned a little more about yourself, and that is where real leadership begins.
