George spoke to the club for the third time in a year. (He has been an Exchange Student and attended this year’s RYLA.) He is currently studying law and politics at Otago.George attended the 2021 Aspiring Leaders’ Forum in Wellington with over 100 others from throughout NZ. Rather than learning leadership skills, the Forum is designed to get participants reflecting on leadership and where they want leadership to take them.
Lectures were interspersed with small group activities and George felt that he benefited enormously, especially in relating to the theme of the Forum – Faith and Values. Participants were challenged to consider what they actually believe in, and what values they stand for.
Speakers and small group leaders facilitated the theme. George particularly mentioned former PM Jim Bolger whose speech was a good example of this. Mr Bolger spoke not on his successes as a politician, but on the failures and what he learned from them.
George said he was also challenged by a Maori speaker who talked about his whakapapa and then asked, “What’s yours? Do you know it?”
His major takeaway was learning to ask what the law should be for maximum societal benefit, rather than what the law actually is.
