Hello everybody!

After hearing so many great things about the JCI UK Leadership Excellence in Action Programme (LEAP) I couldn't wait to get started and learn how to become a leader! The 3^rd Annual 'LEAP' academy weekend was held in Birmingham at the Thistle Hotel and the Birmingham BPP this year and it's sufficed to say it was one I will never forget!

I love the personal development aspect to JCI and I'm always looking for chances to learn, grow and develop both personally and professionally and this weekend was one where I learned the most about myself and others than I expected too! If I could sum up this weekend in three words I would say intense, interesting and exciting! The COC (Conference Organizing Committee) put us through our paces!

Throughout all of the sessions that followed all of us started to get a better understanding of ourselves and how we work with others.  I have learnt an invaluable amount thanks to the academy, things that I will continuously be using in my personal and professional life.  Full with seminars, group work, group exercises and discussions this academy continuously challenged me and made me perceive things a different way. Each step along the way making new friends and building connections. I love JCI anyway but this made me love it even more. It gave me a chance to work differently, think differently, discover new things and learn about me.  My favourite part (or at least one of!) from the weekend was the Insights Personality Profiling. This interested me, as it was fascinating to find out I'm actually really different to how I thought I was and learning more about it. It was also a great way to learn more about the other delegates, how they worked and how to work best with them by adapting my own approach and style.

A fantastic weekend and a great learning opportunity! Recommended to anybody who hasn't attended! It was also great to see some JCI Sheffield members and previous graduates of LEAP in other years on the training team!

Thank you!

Ryan Pilkington

JCI Sheffield member

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