Albury-Wodonga is blessed with many young people doing great things for the community, not just in academia but across a range of industries and interest areas.

On Wednesday 29th August 2012 I was invited to give a presentation to talented local young people in the Wodonga Council Youth Leadership Program on the topic of influencing large organisations as an outsider. The talk covered the concepts of power and leverage, the pro’s and con’s of trying to influence an organisation from within as opposed to from outside, contrasting the different levels of leverage and freedom of action open to both.

Download Presentation: ‘Ben Habib – Exerting Influence as an Outsider‘

Audio (mp3) Slideshow (pdf)

Now in its fourth year, the Wodonga Council Youth Leadership Program focusses on leadership development through skills sessions, guest speakers, training opportunities, creating an individual development plan for each participant, one-on-one mentoring, community projects, developing new networks and support from the program co-ordinator.

The program aims to provide opportunities to further develop the leadership skills of participants, focussing on particular areas including…

• Decision-making;
• Leadership;
• Conflict resolution;
• Effective communication;
• Influencing others;
• Being an agent for positive change;
• Project management;
• Displaying initiative;
• Building relationships with community leaders, professionals and other members of the public.

My heartfelt thanks go to Wodonga Council youth services officer Anthony Nicholson for his invitation to speak to the Youth Leadership Program and all of his excellent work in nurturing young talent in the Wodonga area, as well as the group participants for their warm welcome and enthusiastic contributions during the session. The group have put together four well thought out projects that each fills an important niche in the Wodonga community.

For more information on the Wodonga Council Youth Leadership Program, contact Anthony Nicholson, Phone: (02) 6022 9703, Email: anicholson@wodonga.vic.gov.au.

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Dr. Benjamin Habib is a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at La Trobe University, Albury-Wodonga.