[www.inewsguyana.com] – New social change organisation, Blue CAPS, on Friday (June 6) launched its Youth Leadership Development Programme .
The programme, which will be conducted over four weekends (June 6 – 28), is based on the Blue CAPS Building Communities Through Leadership (BCLT) curriculm and the YES! (Youths Experiencing Service) Experience.
Participating youth leaders in the inaugural training programme incude representatives from Blue CAPS, Youth Action Network (YAN), Cuffy 250 Committee, UNFPA Youth Advisory Group, Come Alive Network Inc (CANI), Youth Ambassador’s Program, Global Shapers Community – Georgetown Hub, Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), and Global Youth Movement.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on Friday, retired Major General Joe Singh delivered the opening charge to the participating youths. Mr. Singh stated that critical thinking and education is important to developing young people to effect transformational change. He also urged participants to work conscientiously and cooperatively to make the change process meaningful to their organisations and to their communities.
Also speaking at the event was Floyd Haynes from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government who is the founder and Managing Director of Haynes, Inc., a 20-year old accounting and management consulting company based in Washington DC. Guyanese-born Haynes is also a former student of Professor Ronald Heifetz, the author of “Leadership Without Easy Answers.”
Haynes’ presentation explained the differences between ‘Adaptive’ and ‘Technical’ Leadership. He also examined and deflated the notion that leaders are born; rather, he submitted that leaders are formed in various situations. In his definition of Adaptive Leadership, Haynes suggested that exercising leadership involves mobilizing a group to solve a problem while elevating the group to a higher moral ground. He gave the example of Martin Luther King Jr. who rose as a leader during the US civil rights movement in the 1960’s.
The final presentation, Getting Things Done, was made by Blue CAPS founder Clinton Urling who discussed his experience serving as the former Chairman of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI). He outlined trust, honesty, attention-to-detail and openness as some of the qualities and strategies he employed as a leader of the 125-year old organisation.
