A refreshing learning experience.
What is the Responsible Global Leadership (RGL) Seminar?
The RGL is a two-day course, and takes place at the beginning of Term 2 for all CEMS partner schools across the globe. This is a mandatory event that is required for all CEMS students in order for them to graduate! Furthermore, the main purpose is to unite Corporate and/or Social Partners, professors and students, and to provide an immersive and practical learning experience for all individuals.
UCD RGL 2020 Term 2:
This year we had the phenomenal opportunity to share the experience with Smurfit MBA students, making this a packed event with over 80 students attending!
If you are interested in responsible leadership, sustainability, or looking to make a positive change in whatever your passions are, this is an example of CEMS supporting you in that mission!
The topic for our cohort was: UN Sustainable Development Goals
We had phenomenal line up for some of the most influential Irish individuals working with and within the UN Sustainable Development Goals. What had surprised me the most was that many of these individuals were the Chief Executive Officers of their respective organizations, and actually took time from running their large businesses to speak with us.
Featuring:
Day 1
Jane Ann Mckenna (RC) (Head of Mission, Medicens San Frontieres, UCD Alumni in Business Award winner 2019)
David Donhoe (Permanent Irish Ambassador to the UN (2013-2017) and co-chair of the negotiations of the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Tara McCarthy (CEO - Board Bia, UCD Smurfit Almuni of the year, 2018)
Day 2
Martin Shanahan (Head of IDA Ireland and a=Adjunct Professor UCD)
Pat O'Doherty, CEO of ESB (Electricity Supply Board)
Dominic McSorley (CEO Concern Worldwide)
At the end of the two very exciting days, we had the opportunity as students to debrief and share what we had learned.
My three greatest takeaways from the seminar:
1. Patience and Resilience
Many of the individuals that spoke had been CEOS for over five years, and majority of them had over a decade to numerous decades in their specific field or organization. Additionally, many of them had gone through several downturns, especially during the 2008 economic crises. They had to act as leaders and mentors for their employees and made sure that their respective organizations could survive. It was also noted many times during the presentation that there is not always one specific way to get to a certain role or goal, you have to be dynamic and patient.
2. Shoot for the stars, land on the moon
This was truly an inspirational wake up call for me because recently I felt that I had not been dreaming as big or crafting new goals. Each and every leader during the RGL stated that it is actually advisable to dream big and have difficult goals. If you can not even believe or conceptualize the ability to do something, it is absolutely impossible to stumble across that success. For instance, if you wanted to participate in the Olympics (one of the speakers Deidre Ryan was actually on the Irish National team for high jump), the only way to reach that level is to always training and competing hoping to be number one. It would be impossible to compete at the Olympic level if you did not always strive to improve your results to be the best.
3. Trade-offs
Whether it is discussing the amount of money you had in your pocket, or the resources of a large international organization, there are always limitations and trade-offs. The CEO of Concern, Dominic stated that there are many times they are unable to undertake certain projects to help abolish poverty because they tend to always focus on the countries that are most affected by poverty. In order to be a responsible leader, it is essential to have guidelines and a proper structure in deciding your priorities and making informed decisions.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Jordan He