LEAD Blog

Are you an effective networker?

When did you last add someone interesting to your professional network?  How many people viewed your Linked-In profile in the past 7 days? Call yourself a networker?

I remember the exact moment when I became a networking convert. I was at a climate change event. I looked across the room and saw a tall blond with an empty wine glass. We exchanged banter and then business cards. I discovered she worked in cultural diplomacy and that she was looking for projects to fund. I converted to networking there and then.

In October 2011 LEAD Canada hosted the annual LEAD International Session (IS) in Ottawa. Approximately 125 LEAD Associates and Fellows from around 40 countries gathered to examine Canadian sustainability challenges through the lens of ‘Leadership, Learning and Technology’. LEAD International Sessions are a wonderful opportunity for observers of group behaviour to see how culturally diverse teams from different sectors can learn together in a collaborative way.

During the International Session, participants used a poetry wall to express their feelings about the green economy and sustainable development issues. Here are their creations!

Notes on speeches by Terry O'Reilly and Bill Teron on day 3 of the LEAD International Session 2011 - Brian Smith, LEAD Canada Cohort 3

Notes on the 3rd morning of the LEAD International Session 2011 - Brian Smith, LEAD Canada - Cohort 3

LEAD IS 2011 Session 3 - Notes by Brian Smith, LEAD Canada - Cohort 3

Hi,

My name is Sam Gillick and I work as the Network and Communications Coordinator at LEAD International. As part of my role, I will contribute to the LEAD blog from time to time about our activities. On this occasion, I want to share with you the experience the LEAD International team had with StrengthsFinder.

Hello!

My name is Juliane Nier and I am Programme Manager at LEAD International for LEAD Europe. The week before last saw the completion of the this year's (Cohort 16) LEAD Europe London Module. The Associates wrote blogs over the course of the week and I would like to share an exceptional entry here on this website:

It is so important to us to have a website that is interesting and attractive for Fellows and partners.

This is an exciting time for LEAD. Thanks to a partnership with Shell Foundation, we have the opportunity to increase dramatically the numbers of Fellows who go through the LEAD programme.   The partnership is initially focused on Africa, and our goal is to have 500 mid-career African leaders going through the programme each year by 2014.

In January 2011, the Trustees of LEAD International met in anticipation of the 20th birthday of LEAD. We asked ourselves, ”how can we tell our story differently in order to bring out the timeless truth that LEAD contains”.

That truth is that it is people across the globe who can decide a wiser future for nature and humanity; and when some of them are brought together to practice shared values, vision and information about sustainable development, they can become powerful leaders. To answer the question, we found that the universal myth of Phoenix best expresses our vision.