August 3rd, 2015 — KARAMAH’s LLSP Class of 2015 kicked off their second week of classes with a full day of classes devoted to developing participants’ leadership skills. Participants began their day with two sessions on “Powerful Speaking for Powerful Women,” taught by Ieasha Prime. Ms. Prime worked with participants to break down the everyday act of speaking into its elementary components, walking through the basics to rebuild participants’ speaking skills. The first thing anyone needs to know before they speak, said Ms. Prime, is “a purposeful intention…I need to know what is my purpose, my reason, my intention, why I’m here.” Next, she had students focus on strengthening their breath, as she said: “sound travels on air, which is the breath, which is my connection to Allah. So the first thing I want to do when I’m speaking is establish my connection with Allah.” As Ms. Prime worked with students one-on-one to deepen their breath, she encouraged them to find strength in their voices, encouraging students, “don’t be afraid of your own voice.” She then worked with students on enunciation and articulation, learning to adjust and speak confidently under pressure, without ever forgetting the intention of their words. Ms. Prime also had students mimic various expressions of body language, remarking: “body language isn’t just what you’re communicating to other people, but what you’re communicating to yourself.” Lastly, she had students split into groups to work on responding to statements with which they disagree using the word “yes” to encourage open discussions. At the end of her workshops, one student remarked: “I’ve always wanted to take a public speaking class, but thank you for showing us a lot of new techniques that I wouldn’t have learned elsewhere.” Another said, “I’m a strong advocate of speaking to people’s hearts, and it really touched me how you encouraged that as well.” During the second half of the day, students worked with Dr. Wasif Syed on how to develop the skills they need to be effective leaders in his course, “Innovative Leadership.” Dr. Syed explained the aim of his lesson, saying, “leadership is often predicated on this idea that it’s a mythical concept that you can’t give a framework for, but I’m going to try to break this down to show you some concrete ideas for leadership.” He broke his equation for leadership down into three ‘building blocks:’ strategic portfolio, value proposition, and brand equity. That is to say, every potential leader needs a portfolio that reveals their interests, a proposed value that they can bring to the table, and an established aesthetic and personal substance with which they can propel themselves forward in their career. He noted the necessity of a plan for the purpose of achieving one’s goals, describing the process as “traversing the globe.” He remarked, “every single day of your life is like exploring a new city, so where’s your map? You have to have some idea for a road map to guide you from point A to point B.” Dr. Syed described the essential tools that comprise that road map, including peer-to-peer learning, teamwork, recognition, and mentorship, noting, “you have to adopt this type of paradigm if you want to achieve something strategically. It doesn’t happen in a haphazard way.” Dr. Syed exemplified the necessity of certain skills through group activities, working with participants to strengthen their negotiation, teamwork, self-advocacy, and quick problem-solving skills. After students completed their last group activity, one student remarked: “it’s one thing to lecture, but it’s harder to see the bigger picture if you don’t actually engage. Even though [Dr. Syed] wasn’t here for the morning class I found myself implementing what I learned in the morning into this session.” Another left saying, “I feel very motivated somehow to implement the things you talked about and to change my perception of leadership. Thank you for also reminding me how important it is to have a long-term plan.” Students spent today exploring the different ways in which leadership is expressed and achieved, and left determined to apply these skills throughout the remainder of their courses at LLSP, as well as back home.
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