Leadership primarily about influence
MORE than 200 participants are attending a three-day symposium FMF Legacy Leadership Symposium 2024 in Denarau to meet like-minded leaders from around the Pacific and hear from renowned speakers and grow the network.
Participants include leaders from Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, PNG, Australia and New Zealand and from diverse backgrounds, including representatives from public sector, private sector, nongovernment organisations, civil society organisations and faithbased organisations.
Some of the highlights of the day one session included inspirational teachings and presentations from international speaker Ray Popham and Nacanieli Cawanibuka from the Fiji Drua Coaching Team.
The participants were equipped with the necessary tools to become effective and influential leaders in their respective spheres of influence.
Mr Popham emphasised that leadership is primarily about influence, and effective leaders must first learn to lead themselves before leading others.
“Leadership is not about titles or authority, but about one’s ability to positively influence and inspire others to achieve shared goals,” Mr Popham said.
He encouraged participants to recognise their capacity for leadership and embrace opportunities to make a difference in their communities, workplaces, and personal lives.
Sharing his experience as Head of Athletic performance for the Fijian Drua team and former Strength and Conditioning Coach for Fiji’s 7s team, Mr Cawanibuka shared great inspirations and stories from his accomplishments in the historic 2016 and 2020 Olympics.
He highlighted that he would encourage players that the mind is where the game is played first.
“We are what we constantly think and what we constantly do.”
He then posed a question to the participants: ‘As a leader what pictures do we draw? What messages do we give?”
Participant Rusila Saumaki said: “My key insight was the transformation from time management to priority management, reflecting the essence of values. By discerning my core principles, I am empowered to prioritise with purpose, guiding me to not only achieve outcomes but to do so with intentionality, positively impacting those involved.”
Both speakers touched on embracing problems and adversity.
“We get stronger though resistance and adversity,” says Mr Cawanibuka.
“Problems introduce us to ourselves, to problems and to opportunity. Problems make us better – they will help you lead change,” says Mr Popham.
The FMF Legacy Leadership Symposium ends on March 15.It is an annual convening of Pacific-based emerging and seasoned leaders drawing on people-centered values-based leadership principles with the objective to build and strengthen effective resilient leaders.
It is about building a leadership legacy that is intentional about the visions and dreams that are part of our leadership story.
The FMF Legacy Leadership Symposium 2024 (#FMFLLS2024) is supported by the FMF Foods Limited and Tonga Development Bank as its gold and bronze sponsors with support from regional development partner, the Pacific Community and Fiji TV as its media partner.