Mueller College had the amazing privilege to host the annual Captains Breakfast this week. It was a great continuation in developing the relationship between leadership teams of the colleges and high schools on the peninsula and North Brisbane. The aim of the Captains Breakfast was to build working and supportive relationships between students, as well as, develop a network where ideas, practices, models of student leadership within different school contexts can be shared, compared and developed.
The morning program provided us with the opportunity to talk about our schools leadership programs and how they are run. Mr Mark Broadbent was the influential speaker of the morning. He shared his life story about his insecurities and how he overcame them, and that they have shaped the person he has become today. In the first session, Mr Broadbent spoke about the Four Levels of Leadership. A controversial conversation that was had between the students was whether people only follow you because they have to or do they follow you because they want to? We came to the conclusion that people will follow a leader who values the people around them and their successes.
A big take away from the second session was on delegation. Mr Broadbent demonstrated delegation in a very interactive and fun way, chocolate. He gave four students a slab of chocolate each and told them ‘the first to get all your chocolate eaten wins.’ The point of this demonstration wasn’t for the students to eat the chocolate but it was for them to practice delegation by giving their chocolate way to other students who helped them eat it. All of us learnt that delegating helps to boost team moral, improve efficiency and productivity, and promotes enthusiasm which are all very important skills to have as a leader.
Although the sessions were great, my favourite part of the morning was the company and the food. We shared a delicious breakfast cooked by the year 10 hospitality students. It was amazing meeting so many new people who all participated in the event and told stories from their schools and how they run their leadership teams.
By Michelle Pieters
