The first meeting of the “Leadership” training course was held at YSU Ijevan branch, initiated by “Community Center for Development” Territorial Cooperation NGO on October 15, 2018.
Three dozen employees and students of Ijevan Branch of “Yerevan State University” Foundation took part in the training course.
The training was conducted in English by the employee of the US Peace Corps “Community and Youth Development” program, teacher, trainer and tutor William Joseph (Jody) Dosher, and YSU IB employee Marieta Sargsyan provided simultaneous translation.
The president of the “Community Center for Development” NGO Hasmik Azibekyan delivered a welcoming speech. She introduced the trainer and emphasized that young people were future leaders, and it was of paramount importance for them to participate in similar programs.
Jody Dosher noted that he had 35 years of experience in teaching and leadership spheres since childhood, being involved in the work of his college, church and other organizations, working in different spheres ranging from restaurant business to pre-election campaigns of the US President.
For him, knowledge was an indispensible part of leadership.
He talked about the prevalence and influence of Twitter, giving a task to the participants to think of a Twitter account with an interesting name, address, and website, which they shared afterwards.
Then the trainer discussed the differences of people perception, gave examples and put forward that one of the important features of the leader was to take care of strangers.
He put forward the following steps of a true leader:
- be there,
- choose your attitude,
- make someone’s day,
- Have fun.
He also considered professional development as one of the key qualities of the leader
Speaking about Martin Luther King, he put emphasis on the spread of Christian values and the accuracy of the words and deeds.
Dosher also touched upon media tools, pointing out that leaders were looking for opportunities and apply their abilities.
Then he brought examples of a number of past and present leaders (Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Barack Obama, Nikol Pashinyan, Robert Kennedy, the Pope, Dalai Lama, Che Guevara, Donald Trump, Dak Prescott, Komitas, Yeghishe Charents, Henrikh Mkhitaryan), mentioned their characteristic features and presented their important deeds.
Summing up the characteristic features of the presented characters, Mr. Dosher highlighted the key features of the leader: the ability to negotiate, use the power wisely, inspire and empower others.
The second meeting will be held on October 22, 2018.
