Experiencing Leaders Without Borders

Special guest blogger: Camilla Tapp, President of the University of Manitoba Students’ Union

Brendan Hughes, Director of Student Life at the University of Manitoba

November 17th, 2011 was the start of Canadian Conference on Student Leadership in Calgary, Alberta. The University of Manitoba Students’ Union and Student Life partnered to send eight students (and ourselves) as delegates from the University of Manitoba. This year's conference focused on the theme of "Leaders Without Borders." In attending a national conference bringing together more than 230 student leaders from across the country to discuss leadership, you have high expectations. Although there was a high standard to live up to, this iteration of CCSL at the University of Calgary exemplified the coming together of many different types of leaders, from students leading workshops, to established Student Leader Camille de Lacy, to dedicated international social justice advocates Craig Kielburger and Connor Grennan, to local businessperson W. Brett Wilson, and even to the Mayor of Calgary, Naheed Nenshi. Each of these leaders, some from across the city, some from across the globe, played an integral part in the experience of each of the student and professional delegates in attendance.

Nenshi discussed his past as a student leader as President of the University of Calgary Students’ Union, but related it to his current position by focusing on giving the work back to the people. A leader can accomplish a lot, but none of it will be successful without being followed by those motivated to work towards the same goals. Dr. Elizabeth Cannon, President of the University of Calgary, announced a $2.5-million donation from a local family toward student leadership development. Needless to say, it was clear how dedicated the University of Calgary is to the development of student leaders. This set the tone for the four-day conference, as it wasn’t just students talking about ideas, it was the empowerment of students to achieve and excel as leaders because of the support of institutions and other leaders.

W. Brett Wilson, famous for his stint on CBC’s Dragons Den as well as being the co-founder of First Energy Corp., took a different approach to explaining leadership. His experience in the fast-paced Calgary business world was dependent upon partnerships; it is not sufficient to be a leader alone, but your success as a leader is dependent upon those whom you have on your team. The discussion regarding a balanced life as a leader was also raised, although we think it is more applicable to student leaders than some business people. Students have to balance school, volunteerism, work, family, personal life, as well as their tasks and duties as a leader. The life of a student leader can be extremely demanding, and it was Brett who raised the awareness of the importance of balancing all of these things. Camilla can relate to this -- as the President of the University of Manitoba Students’ Union, she often has to juggle all of the responsibilities associated with her title, but as well her duties as an academic, a community member, and a family member. This shed light on the balancing act that is going on in many students’ lives, but is also a key part to achieving success as a student leader.

Picking up on the theme that many students are leaders and do not even recognize it, Connor Grennan demonstrated that sometimes leadership positions fall upon us. It is often social injustices and inequalities that raise students to lead and to act. This is exactly what Connor did as a volunteer in Nepal when he recognized the injustices occurring due to child trafficking. He also raised the point that although it is important to find your passion, it is also important to not walk away from the problems in our society. As he says, he “walked people to the problem," which is often the job of student leaders: identify an injustice, raise the awareness about it, and then seek a reasonable solution. He didn’t mean to be a leader, he didn’t mean to travel to Nepal to stop the injustices of child trafficking, but he was presented with a problem and took the time to seek out a sensible solution.

The importance of conferences such as this is that it is invaluable to students -- not to teach them skills to become leaders, but to allow them to identify that they already are leaders. This stems from the vague and malleable definition of a “leader." If it is accompanied with a title or not, there are thousands of students across the country in every institution who are leaders. These individuals are the future of this country, and will grow as leaders with time. I can say that for the University of Manitoba delegates, this opportunity allowed each and every one of them to grow, learn and be engaged, but most importantly to fully understand that their horizons are limitless. It is hard to hear from 28-year-old Craig Kielburger and not be fully aware that you can change the world, just like he has been doing with Free the Children for the past 16 years.

As inspiring as the distinguished guests were, we have to say that we were most impressed by the peers in attendance. We learned the most from the side discussions, the questions, and the follow up conversations that the delegates participated in. A huge resource in this country is the knowledge, innovation and forward-thinking of our young student-leader population. The ideas raised by this group, will come to bring positive things on individual campuses, and have the potential to improve the lives of many across the world. This is a high task, but it was clearly demonstrated that it is within the realm of the students. The inspiration provided by the disregard of borders by these student leaders is something that will stay with us, and will allow me (Camilla) to become a better leader, and me (Brendan) to support student leadership development in my professional role.