MA Cultures and Organisational Leadership student Charline Collard reports on her time at the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative (GRLI) General Assembly.

My journey started in October 2012 when Jonathan Smith, Senior Lecturer on the International Leadership module, encouraged me to apply to the GRLI Ambassador competition 'Africa Leads: Responsible Leadership for Africa and the World'. I was one of the winners and the prize was an all-expenses-paid trip to the GRLI General Assembly at the Spier Hotel in Stellenbosch near Cape Town.

The Assembly involved 60 Young Ambassadors from 13 countries gathering together with 75 members of the GRLI from Higher Education and business for three intensive days. I met anthropologists, business leaders, deans of business schools and politicians and was able to fully engage in fascinating conversations with them about such subjects as leadership, the impact of migration, self and identity, common good, economics, systemic thinking and Africa.

With some wonderful facilitators from Leadership Beyond Boundaries (LBB), (part of the Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL), which works to unlock human potential through leadership), we worked towards the following objectives:

• Learning about making globally responsible decisions
• Promoting knowledge of self for a better society
• Thinking systemically about the challenges future leaders will face

The conference taught me that leadership starts within you. A deep understanding of our own life principles is crucial if we are to live in harmony, communicating with and understanding others. John North (2012), associate of the Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, illustrates this very well:

"Before students or managers can embark on becoming capable leaders they must take a close look at themselves and carefully consider what they find (warts and all). Leaders need to identify their inner core, or higher self, which can help guide them through turbulent periods. An integration of body, mind, heart and soul is an important pathway to strengthening such an inner connection."

I believe our world needs a new economic and social system in which many new social organisations can be created to decrease unemployment and promote sustainability. As a result of being a GRLI Ambassador, I will never forget what my life principles are. I realised that as much as others can impact on me, I also leave a print of myself on them. If we all live in respect of the 'common good' we can change the world, even if we start with baby steps. Or, as the Ethiopians proverb says: "When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion."

The GRLI is a global coalition of businesses and Universities, such as Anglia Ruskin, who all work at the cutting edge of sustainability and leadership development and are focussed on creating a new generation of globally responsible business leaders. GRLI Ambassadors work under the umbrella of 'GRLI NGO'. Their role is to engage diverse individuals to share their unique perspectives through dialogue with the ultimate goal of fostering interconnectivity and their responsibilities are to support collaboration, share and learn from different perspectives and create a culture of globally responsible leadership.

The GRLI society at Anglia Ruskin University is open to all students who are willing to learn, engage in critical thinking, have a passion for global knowledge and are open to challenges and change. To find out more visit the Anglia Ruskin Student Societies website or our Facebook page. Registration with the society costs £3 per year.

Charline Collard
Chair of GRLI Ambassadors Society at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge

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