NSCC International Leadership Forum – Before attending the “Leadership Forum” provided by NSCC in late July 2014, I was wondering what I could learn and share with other participants. I was wondering how much I could learn about Leadership, which is a very broad topic, for such a very short of time of four days. I was wondering how much I could share  and contribute to the forum so that we could all get the best out of it. Finally, I ended up buying a thick book called Rules of Leadership at Hong Kong airport and tried to read it on the way to Halifax  so as to be able to grasp more information about what I was getting into.

Now looking back, I am so amazed by how much I have gained after the Leadership Forum. It was totally beyond my expectations. I am now not only able to identify my own strengths through the Gallup Report but also have learnt which particular areas I need to improve by listening to other participants’ leadership stories on both their challenges and success. I have realized that the flexible, informal and conversational approach taken at Forum had helped myself and others open up to share and learn from each other. Through dialogue circles and learning café sessions, I have learned that no matter where we are from and what we are doing, we have so much in common in the way we deal with challenges. More importantly, through our group discussion of fostering leadership learning culture, I have come up with quite a few ideas for better implementing the volunteering program that I am now working on in Vietnam and how to encourage life long learning and/or organizational learning within my team at work. I will also apply this approach to facilitate and/or deliver our workshops and seminars with local partner institutions in Vietnam.

Since I came home, I have been talking and talking to my colleagues and family how fantastic the Leadership Forum turned out to be. It was not only inspiring, informative but also super fun and relaxing. Without doubt, this is the best forum I have ever been to. Thus, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Claudine Lowry, Katie Orr, and the whole supporting team of NSCC for their efforts, hospitality, patience and time hosting us. You all rocks! XIN CÁM ƠN CÁC CHỊ RẤT NHIỀU (Thank you so much).

Hanh Minh Nguyen

Country Coordinator, Uniterra Program in Vietnam

World University Service of Canada (WUSC)