Leadership Club Contributes to Graduate Student Professional Development

By Guest Blogger: Juliana Jardim, Forest Biomaterials PhD Candidate

Dr Jameel created a Leadership Club for his graduate students in order to engage them into the work environment. The core goals are to prepare the students for job interviews and to help them develop the skills needed to be a leader; however, it goes beyond that! It has been a unique and highly interactive experience for the whole group, which has truly changed us. The Leadership Club has been effective on our performance and engagement at work.

Personally, I really value these meetings mainly because baby boomers are reaching retirement age every day, which means more leadership roles are ready to be filled by young – and sometimes inexperienced – professionals. Therefore, it is more important than ever for job seekers to demonstrate strong leadership skills besides just specific knowledge (hard skills).

The dynamic of the club is based on reading books such as, “Wooden on Leadership” by John Wooden and “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. During the meetings, which occurred every two weeks, we discuss hot topics addressed in the books. I believe this club has been valuable in improving our “essential” (soft) skills, such as communication, listening, attitude, work ethic, teamwork, networking, empathy, and others. In addition, we have heard very positive feedback from students that were previously involved in this club. They credited this experience as crucial for being comfortable during job interviews as well as pursuing and executing jobs.