Re-LEAD Women Leadership School

Women’s Democracy Network of Georgia in cooperation with AEGEE-Yerevan and with the support of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic has launched the project: Re-LEAD (Regional Leadership Education and Advocacy Dialogue) which will provide series of trainings and seminars on Women’s leadership and political participation to 90 selected participants from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Women’s Leadership Schools (WLS) will take place in all South Caucasus countries with a same methodology, taking into consideration political environment of each country.
In Armenia, 2 Leadership Schools will take place in June (27-28) and July 2015. The target group of participants are young women (20--35) involved or interested in Politics, members of Political parties, Governmental Organizatons or NGOs.
The Working languages of Leadership Schools will be Armenian and English.

During each WLS, 2 delegates will be elected for representing the country in South Caucasus Women’s Forum (SCWF) which will be organized in August, Tbilisi, Georgia. The SCWF will establish a network of women leaders from South Caucasus for sharing information on political situations, women’s active participation and the impact of the project on their professional development and future plans.
The mission of the Re-LEAD project is to create a unique platform for the South Caucasus Women Leaders to tackle the regional challenges through equipping 90 women with hand on experiences and strengthening communication among them.

Women’s Leadership School Agenda Overview

The WLS covers a variety of theories and concepts on how to develop effective leadership skills including: characteristics of a great leader, motivating others to lead, appropriate use of assertiveness, gaining trust and building influence, team building, conflict management, delegating responsibilities, goal setting and action planning.
During the two days of Leadership School the participants will gain knowledge about the following topics.

Session 1: The Leadership Connection: Students explore the characteristics of a great leader and the connection between a leader’s actions and the success of an organization. Students consider how leaders are developed. Are they born great leaders or are they made?

Session 2: Motivation to Lead: Motivating others is at the heart of leadership. We must first be motivated to motivate others. Students will discover ways to maintain or increase their own motivation level. They will develop a personal mission statement as an expression of their values and a plan for action.

Session 3: Appropriate Use of Assertiveness: Women need confidence to assert themselves in public and political activities. Assertive behavior alone does not make one an effective leader, but it is highly correlated with leadership, as nonassertive people rarely become strong leaders.

Session 4: Gaining Trust and Building Influence: Trust is the very foundation for leadership. People who lack the trust of others cannot lead. To build trust, leaders must be trustworthy and fully aware of the value of both being able to trust others and being trusted by others. Students explore ways to gain trust and build credibility among teams and in organizations.

Session 5: Team Building: Participating women engage in a group problem solving activity to learn team dynamics and characteristics of a high performing team.

Session 6: Conflict Management: The Conflict is present when working in teams and in all organizations. While it can be prevented to an extent, leaders must learn to anticipate and manage conflict rather than escalate or ignore it.

Session 7: Delegating to Others: Multi-tasking is a woman’s strength. For this reason, it can be challenging for women to delegate to others tasks for which they are responsible. However, delegating is one of the most powerful leadership skills.

Session 8: Goal Setting and Action Planning: Goal setting is critically important to leadership development. Students who plan for development position themselves to take initiative and act with a sense of purpose and self-determination. Barriers to growth and development are explored. Students develop a plan of action based on their personal development needs.

Apart from the main sessions, panel discussions will be organized with invited speakers: women leaders from Political parties and NGOs holding high position in society, who will share their own experience and skills with the selected participants.