Leadership Workshop

To emphasize the ‘Academy’ part of the Future For Nature Academy, there is a wish to organize workshops exclusively for FFN Academy Members. In these workshops, participants learn practical skills that are useful for a career in nature conservation, but are not necessarily part of the university curriculum.

Leadership is one of those skills. Good leadership skills can significantly increase the chances of success for any nature conservation project. Therefore, the Academy was very grateful that Laurent Hendrickx was willing to share his leadership experience with us during a full day workshop. Laurent Hendrickx has nearly 40 years of experience at the Ministry of Defense, in particular at the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. Here, leadership is a skill that he needed to have good command of, because without leadership you will not get far in conflict and stressful situations.

During the workshop we were introduced to different aspects of leadership, such as different leadership styles, self-knowledge, and personal and group development. In addition, he told us about his experiences in the field of intercultural communication and skills based on experiences abroad. It was very informative and Laurent provided us with new insights about leadership and the necessity of these skills if you really want to get things done. Also, it was quite inspiring and at times impressive to hear about his experiences and stories in general and in the field of leadership. Some aspects of leadership and group dynamics were also illustrated through games and group discussions. All in all, it was a great, educative day that definitely influenced our perspectives on leadership.

By Marjolein Poelman