More than 110 leaders, aged 18 to 35, attended the first of four leadership workshops organised by Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership in Penrith.
Delegates heard from Jon Turner, managing director of Siemens Electrification & Automation in Great Britain and Ireland on Leading into An Uncertain Future. Jon also provided his top tips for leadership now and in the future.
Respected academic Dr Eversley Felix discussed how leadership has changed through the ages and the importance of being adaptive and flexible.
Jo Lappin, chief executive of Cumbria LEP, said: “Developing the next generation of leaders is hugely important to Cumbria’s economy, given Cumbria’s declining and ageing working population.
“Our deep dive into productivity has identified that the two most important factors in addressing our productivity challenge is increasing innovation and growing our leadership and management skills.
“This programme helps address both by creating leaders that are innovative and have the necessary skills to tackle challenges and opportunities, now and in the future.”
The Futures Forum co-chairs Georgia Nield and Thomas Shaw, said: “We were delighted with the participation and contributions made at the event.
“The atmosphere in the room was excellent. There was real energy and excitement about Cumbria’s future and the role that the participants could play in shaping and leading this. We are really looking forward to the next session.”
Graham Hadaway, of the Futures Forum design team, said: “Day one could not have gone better. There was a buzz in the air, with plenty of networking and fresh conversations.
“Already we can see that the workshops will benefit, empower and foster a stronger community of young leaders, who can take this wonderful county forward in the years to come. Planning for day two now starts. I can’t wait to read the participants feedback so that we can build this into our plans.”
The LEP’s innovative four-day Today’s Talent, Tomorrow’s Leaders programme supports young people to develop leaderships skills to use now and in the future.
The programme, which is fully funded by the LEP, was designed by the LEP’s Futures Forum working with a facilitator.
Each of the events include a range of assessments, to help participants to better understand their own leadership preferences and their interactions with others.
The first assessment focused on mental toughness with each attendee being provided with their own report to take away, which helped explore their resilience and positivity. Three more workshops will take place in July, September and November.
