A series of leadership seminars “Group Leader – Leader of the Future” took place in the KTU Santaka Valley on the 12th of April. The purpose of the seminars was to further develop the competencies of Academic Group Leaders and Substitute Group Leaders. The idea behind the seminars was to raise a generation of cooperative professionals in their field who inspire others to work and improve together.
Three speakers have been invited to share their experiences and competencies with the new generations of group leaders: the former KTU SU Central Office Social Affairs Coordinator Karolina Sokelytė, Dean of the faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design Andrius Vilkauskas, and the KTU SU Central Office Academic Affairs Coordinator and former group leader Joana Jasilionytė.
The first speaker Karolina Sokelytė detailed the interpersonal competencies as well as the characteristics of communication with the group. She shared ideas on how one should approach and communicate with a group in such a way that every member of the group would feel comfortable speaking their mind. Sokelytė also invited the participants to play a game called “Psychologist”, during which the group leaders and their substitute leaders had the opportunity to get to know each other better.
Dean of KTU FMED Andrius Vilkauskas shared his thoughts on taking initiative and its importance in the pursuit of being a leader in the future. The speaker discussed the importance of the role of the group leader at a personal and university level. Vilkauskas placed a particular emphasis on how much it means to take initiative and communicate well while aspiring to become a professional in your field.
Afterwards, all the participants and speakers were invited to enjoy the break with some pizza and discuss their experience.
The last speaker of the seminar was Joana Jasilionytė, who is known to many as the KTU SU Academic Affairs Coordinator. Having been an academic group leader herself, she discussed potential issues that might arise, as well as solutions for them. Jasilionytė also invited the participants to apply this information in practice, providing some examples of real situations which the participants had to find the solutions for.
Once all the lectures and workshops were over, the seminar series concluded until the next year.
