Learn to Lead Program
Learn to Lead is a free program that provides Western students with an opportunity to gain a wealth of knowledge that will help them become truly effective leaders.
Learn to Lead is a run out of Western University’s Student Experience, and is supported by our Transition, Leadership & Enrichment team. The goal of this program is to equip students by helping them:
- Develop skills for success beyond graduation
- Develop an awareness of self and build upon strengths
- Access professional development opportunities
- Develop core competencies (adaptable problem-solver, community builder, global learner, critical thinker, future focused planner)
- Develop skills to be an innovative leader
Learn to Lead’s curriculum consists of 6-10 workshops offered four times per year at “Summit” conferences.
These conferences will take place twice per semester (September, November, January, and March). Stay tuned for conference dates and times. You will receive an email notification when registration is open, and the information will also be posted here.
OPEN Registration for Learn to Lead (September 27, 2024)
The Learn to Lead Summit is a leadership conference that will allow you to build & develop vital leadership skills, while enhancing your resume! You can stay for the entire conference, or just for a few sessions.
This is an opportunity to build your very own adventure by selecting workshops of interest (out of 6-10 offered on the date) to attend.
Date: Friday, September 27th, 2024
You must register in order to attend the Learn to Lead Summit:
- Log in to www.connect.uwo.ca
- Click on Event Calendars
- Click on Learn to Lead tab
- Register for your workshop(s) of choice
Workshops
This year, Learn to Lead will feature the following workshops (not all topics will be offered at each summit):
Building a Dream Team
Have you ever been part of a team that just clicked? Maybe you thought it "just happened" that way. The right combination of people. But what if there was a way to turn that magic into more than just chance? What if you could rig the odds in your favour? Join us to explore what makes effective teams and what the academic literature says about predicting stages of group development. We hope you'll leave this session with some strategies to help your teams make the jump to the next level.
Career Design
This workshop will provide you with practical tools for making a successful transition from university to the workplace. You will be introduced to designer mindsets and the design thinking process and shown how you can use these to build the career you want.
Empathy and Leadership
Empathy has been identified as one of the most important leadership skills in all industries. It has also become more important during the challenging times of the pandemic, where those we engage with are experiencing multiple kinds of stress and have experienced great personal or professional disruptions. Join us to understand what empathy is, how to utilize it when working with others, and how you may lead with empathy.
Getting Involved on Campus
Gaining experience outside of the classroom can help you to develop the skills and confidence to lead.
This Learn to Lead workshop will explore opportunities to learn about your values, skills, and potential career paths by getting involved on campus. We’ll also talk about the ways that goal setting and reflection can contribute to leadership development and help you get the most out of your experiences.
Healthy Habits for Leaders
Effective leaders know self-care and personal wellness are important tools to achieving individual and team goals! Time management, being assertive, recognizing and managing stress, and staying motivated are all personal development skills explored in this workshop. Participants will learn about the sources of stress, strategies and methods to ensure their own needs are met while being a productive and supportive member of any team.
Leadership and Entrepreneurship
Something that many entrepreneurial leaders have in common is their ability to innovate.
But once you come up with an innovative idea how do you know if it’s worth pursuing? In this workshop,
we’ll cover some tools you can use to flesh out your innovative entrepreneurial idea including aspects of design thinking and the Business Model Canvas. If you are curious about pursuing an entrepreneurial venture or have some innovative ideas percolating in your head, this is the workshop for you!
Professionalism
We absorb a lot from those who lead us, especially when it comes to professionalism. Leaders teach their team what acceptable standards are on everything including clothing, meeting etiquette, communication methods, feedback delivery, and more. Unfortunately, leaders do this unintentionally just as often as they do it intentionally. In this session, participants will understand the "fishbowl effect" of leadership and how to think consciously about their professionalism, while also reviewing some best practices and key considerations.
Listening to People
Communicating with others is a crucial skill in leadership development. This workshop will highlight active listening, body language, and techniques for managing distractions. We'll explore listening to people in work settings, personal settings and in professional situations.
Managing Conflict Collaboratively
Learning how to effectively managing conflict can lead to less stress. This Learn to Lead workshop will help you to understand collaborative methods for resolving conflict and solving interest-based problems as well as identify which strategies are appropriate in various situations.
Practicing Equity Everyday
Practicing equity on a daily basis requires an on-going decision to unlearn internalized biases and discrimination to disrupt systems and practices which we have normalized. The goal of this session is to give you tools for your toolkit as an ally and leader.
Presenting with Impact
Leaders often find themselves standing up and speaking on a moment’s notice. It takes a lot of composure, some quick thinking, and a good dose of confidence to speak in an impromptu setting AND say something intelligent.
In this workshop, you will learn and practice frameworks for organizing what you say and how you say it.
You will also practice and learn techniques for controlling your nervousness so you can
give presentations with confidence.
Strengths-Based Leadership
Developing your own personal leadership style means leveraging your natural talents and successes.
This workshop will introduce you to a strength-based approach to uncovering your talents, and how you
can begin to apply them intentionally and successfully to meet your personal and academic goals.
Talking to People
Communicating with others is a crucial skill in leadership development. This workshop will highlight how to begin, maintain and leave a conversation. We'll explore talking to people in work settings, personal settings
and in professional situations.
Workshops will each be 50 minutes in length, facilitated by Western faculty and staff. Each session will include a balance of theory and application, as well as engaging case examples and activities.
Leadership Certificates
Learn to Lead is a two-tiered certificate program. When students complete four workshops, they earn the Learn to Lead Leadership Certificate. When they complete 8 workshops, they earn the Learn to Lead Advanced Leadership Certificate. These certificates are formally recognized on Western’s Co-Curricular Record.
How to download your certificate:
- Log in to connect.uwo.ca
- Select the Programs tab
- Select the Learn to Lead tab
- Select the "Certificate Tracking" option
- Review your progress and select Completed Certificate
- Select the round black button on the bottom right of the page
- Select "Print" to download your certificate
Learn to Lead - The Podcast
This podcast was built to highlight interviews with Western staff as they share how they lead, what they’ve learned and what they recommend for your journeys toward becoming better leaders.
You can find archives of past episodes of Learn to Lead - The Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, or RadioPublic.
FAQs
Do I need to take the workshops in a particular order to receive a certificate?
No. The workshops can be taken in any order.
How long after the Summit will the attendance be updated?
We aim to update the attendance within 3-5 business days.
Can I re-take the same workshops and receive credit?
No. In order to be eligible for the certificate, you need to participate and attend 4 different workshops.
When do you have to complete the workshops by to receive a certificate?
You can work towards your certificate by completing workshops across Summit dates and academic years. As long as you complete the necessary workshops before you graduate, you will be eligible for a certificate.
Contact Us
If you have questions about the program, or would like to learn more please don’t hesitate to contact us at learntolead@uwo.ca