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UEB members witness Army officers put over 40 undergraduate business students’ practical leadership skills to the test as part of their course.
UEB members witness Army officers put over 40 undergraduate business students’ practical leadership skills to the test as part of their course.
The benefits of these practical leadership exercises extend beyond career prospects. These were some of the comments captured from the participating students:
Michelle Sundstrom: I've had a lot of fun today, and I have realised that I can be a leader. I've learned that my strengths are my communication skills and my enthusiasm, but I just need to work on my confidence.
Stuti Parmar: I now know how leadership works as I've been watching everyone come forward to show their leadership skills. I have enjoyed all the interactions that I've had, and I've realised that my planning needs to improve so that I can be a better leader.
Zach Thompson: The experience has been very enjoyable. I need to develop my time management, but I have found that I'm good at handling pressure, and I'm confident.
After the activities, students received feedback from supervising officers, helping them refine their leadership abilities for future roles. This feedback was highly valued by the participants.
Dr Andrew Stewart OBE, module coordinator and university representative on the Military Education Committee, said: “It’s great to see over 40 students all taking part in unfamiliar circumstances to lead a task which helps to build their confidence for their future careers. They then get feedback, which they can use for their assignment on how to develop their leadership skills.
“It is very rewarding to see students enjoying their participation and at the same time learning and getting constructive feedback. At the end, they all receive a personalised certificate which they can use with their CVs and at interviews.”
Officers in the University Officers' Training Corps have the opportunity to undertake their own training and personal development, too. Capt Fitzgerald added: “I get to develop my own skills too, particularly when we did the leadership brief last week, it was a great developmental piece for me to be able to stand up for two hours and run a workshop”.
