Leadership at UCS
On January 08, 2018January 8, 2018
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Leadership at UCS

InGreat ResultsByColleen Lewis

Building Tomorrow’s Movers And Shakers At UCS

“A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realising that all along they are being directed from behind.”  – Nelson Mandela.

This quote from one of South Africa’s greatest leaders of all time will remain in their memories and hopefully inspires UCS’s 2017 LRCs (leaders) as they move to their next journey in life. And it’s all thanks to an important workshop which the newly voted LRCs must attend at the beginning of every new school year at UCS.

The LRC Leadership Workshop is designed to inspire the school’s LRCs as developing leaders. UCS takes leadership very seriously. In fact, it plays into a fundamental part of the culture of success at the school.

This year the workshop was hosted at the iconic Lilies Leaf Farm in January because who better than to learn from and be inspired by than South Africa’s liberation leaders. The UCS LRCs took a journey through the farm’s meaningful history and in so doing learnt about their own leadership abilities; what it takes to be a real leader.

At most schools in South Africa leadership is encouraged and learners clamour for the prestigious role. The Department of Education believes the development of learner leaders in schools forms an integral part of shaping the future of the tomorrow’s leaders. For learners to be chosen as leaders they must exemplify and embody qualities and virtues of leadership such as:

  • Diligence
  • Accountability
  • Reliability
  • Good manners and respect
  • Team player 
  • Willingness and enthusiasm

There are some incredible benefits gained from children competing to become leaders at their schools. Here are the 5 most important reasons why leadership should be encouraged in our young people:

  1. Gives learners a voice – When there are student leaders, it provides a sense of safety and confidence to the other learners because they have a group who will represent them.
  2. Encourages community service – This is essential in South Africa where community service is a necessity and children should learn from an early age to give to the various communities in need. Community service promotes a sense of goodwill and builds a culture of awareness and caring.  
  3. Creates dedicated, committed, responsible and hard-working learners – To become a leader, learners must embody a good attitude. They must earn the respect of their fellow students and the staff at the school. They also need to have the best interests of the school at heart. This makes them worthy role models and citizens.
  4. Builds confidence and self-esteem – The achievement of becoming a leader builds self-esteem. When learners are voted into leadership roles at school this tells them they are liked and trusted by their peers and their teachers. This builds confidence. To represent the school and become the responsible voice of the students at the school takes a lot of confidence.
  5. Builds a good reputation – Universities and future employers take note of past achievements such as leadership roles. They form an opinion about the person they are interviewing based on their success at school.