Leadership Retreat in Burkina Faso

Photos courtesy of Florian Villaumé, EWB

The Leadership Retreat in Burkina Faso took place on December 17 – 18, 2011. Leaders of various ages worked together to find systemic innovations to address the challenges their countries experience.

Goals

The goals of the retreat included building trust and connections among the participants, as well as evaluating and developing each participant’s unique leadership style. Another goal was for the participants to learn about the different tools they can use to create systemic change. Some of the leadership techniques explored in the retreat were creative problem solving, human centered design, and other collaborative processes that can create solutions.

Activities and Outcomes

The 2-day leadership retreat featured various sessions, including “360 degree feedback,” a leadership survey. It was used to highlight the skills and attitudes that are necessary for leaders to possess. Participants came up with their own ideas of the skills and attitudes that are important, which was shared in a larger group.

One of the outcomes of the activity was that it helped the leaders to understand their own strengths and opportunities for personal development.

The participants also took part in constructive brainstorming to expand the range of possibilities. They were encouraged to think creatively to craft desirable, feasible and viable solutions. At the retreat, leadership was presented as one’s personal approach to interactions with others, not a specific role or position. Therefore, the participants tried to dissociate from their roles and the organizations they work for, and to represent only themselves that weekend.

Peer Facilitation

Several of the participants who were delegates at the 2011 African Leadership Program presented a session on community development. They summarized for others what they had learned at the Coady InternationalInstitute when taking part in the training sessions there the previous year.

The delegates are currently applying these community development techniques to their farming-based organizations, as well as participating in local debates and discussing how to diffuse these techniques at the national level.

Other activities were aimed at inspiring the participants to take their leadership skills to the next level, and in turn to be able to help facilitate the professional development of their peers.

To conclude the weekend, the group took part in a 3-hour design session on how to create systemic innovation. The topic they focused on emerged from the conversation the previous night and centered on how leaders can increase the analytical skills of university students.