Our Vision

Becoming a good leader requires more than an impressive resume and a strong personality: there must be something in you that justifies the loyalty and commitment of those who follow. This speaks more to your character than it does to your abilities or achievements.

As Members of Parliament, we have found just how challenging it is to be good leaders. It is easy to begin with great idealism but to become disillusioned and cynical in the face of adversities and disappointments.

That's why our faith and values are so important: they are the inner resources that we draw from to become the right kind of leader and to keep our original vision alive. Our faith and values shape our sense of purpose and determine how we treat others. They act as a defence against our own self-centredness and the cynicism this tends to produce in followers.

Jesus of Nazareth introduced the concept of servant leadership when he said to his followers that, unlike the leaders of the day who "lorded it over" the people, "it will not be so with you. Instead the greatest among you must be the servant of all." We have adopted this idea of servant leadership as the broad theme of the Forum.

Being a servant leader cuts across the grain of personal pride and ego and none of us find it easy. In political life we often feel that we fail as much as we succeed! Nonetheless, it is so important to come back to these "first principles".

The National Student Leadership Forum is an opportunity to discuss the significance of faith and values as foundations for effective leadership. We do not intend for this discussion to overtly religious or sectarian and we value the participation of young people from a diversity of intellectual, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Each year we have young adults attend from many different backgrounds- Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Muslim and Buddhist and a large number with no religious background at all. We have found that this diversity enriches our time together enormously.