On Saturday, March 23, 20 MSFS students and alumni attended a one day Leadership Clinic. Made possible by a generous gift from alumnus Phillip Sachs with the goal of supporting programming in the area of student leadership, this clinic challenged students and alumni to test their assumptions of leadership. Since the real essence of leadership is about more than people with titles, positions, and power, the Leadership Clinic included a variety of exercises and scenarios to help students utilize their talents and develop their own capacities for leadership. Participants left the clinic with a new framework with which to view leadership.
Zibu Sibanda (MSFS ’02) speaks to students about leadership.
The sessions were led by three key speakers. Kathy Postel Kretman, Ph.D., organized the content of the clinic and modeled the day after her already successful 14-week course in Public Leadership. Dr. Kretman is the Director of Georgetown University’s Center for Profit and Nonprofit Leadership and Research Professor at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute and has devoted most of her career to the development of leaders in the public, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.
Dr. George Little, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and Pentagon Press Secretary, led a session on the importance of communications in leadership. Dr. Little shared insights gained from his experience in media relations, public information, and community relations.
MSFS students participated in multiple sessions about leadership.
The clinic closed with an inspirational address given by Zibu Sibanda (MSFS ’02), who oversees Internal Communications at the International Finance Corporation. The clinic was a wonderful opportunity for students and alumni to interact, reflect on their own leadership strengths, and learn leadership lessons from the field.