In the first weekend of September 2015 ESG Leadership Training and Seminar was held in Finland in YMCA Oulu’s campsite in Rokua national park. There were 36 participants from Finland, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary and Japan. The goal was to offer new and fun activities to participants and teach them about Finnish culture and manners. The program of this event was divided to two parts: Leadership Training (age 14 -18) and Seminar (over 18). We had also common programs like a hike to Syvyydenkaivo, swamp soccer, Finnish Olympics, bonfires, evening devotion and all the meals were eaten together.
In Leadership Training there was a theory part called Keys to Success. Keys to Success is a project of the Finnish YMCA association, it promotes health and holistic development of young people in team sports/or groups. It was kept by its head coordinator Pierre Jallow. In practical part participants played live size Angry Birds game where they build big slingshots and fortresses. They got to know different kind of Finnish tents and baked traditional Karelian pies.
Sara Miesmaa held the Seminar and its three workshops. Workshops were: From a Team to a Dream Team, From Gossip to Conversation and From Feedback to Feedforward. In the first one we discussed about different dysfunctions of a team and what to do as a leader. The second one was about how to handle and talk in difficult situations and third one was about the importance of feedback. How does it feel to give and receive feedback and we also did some playful exercises and after it we gave feedback to each other.
Seminar participants also took part to the ESG executive committee’s annual meeting. In the annual meeting Christian Ochsner (Switzerland) was chosen to be the leader for the next two years. Réka Soproni (Hungary) left so Kristof Lackner (Hungary) replaced her. Kristof Lackner also became the secretary for the next two years.
Our mornings started always by raising the Finnish flag and then eating breakfast. In the evenings we had campfire and sauna. In Finnish Olympics you threw Nokia phones and Nokia rain boots, played air guitar, tasted Finnish flavors and played basketball even though basketball is not Finnish it is important sport in many YMCA’s. Swamp soccer is a Finnish sport where you play football on a swamp, we also have the swamp soccer world championship in Finland every summer. In last evening on Saturday we had an evening devotion kept by Hungarian Kristof Lackner. After evening devotion we had a lovely international campfire with games, songs and delicacies from different countries. This Leadership Training and Seminar went well and we had a lot of fun! If you ask "How was that ESG Leadership Training and Seminar in Finland?" from someone who was there, they will probably say one of these liked things: sauna, nature, swamp soccer, Finnish Olympics or food.
The next ESG Leadership Training and Seminar will take place in Switzerland from 24 – 28 August 2016.
