LDI - Leadership Development
Mission of the Leadership Development Initiative (LDI):
To equip Harvard students with the skills and principles to practice leadership in the world.
We strive to achieve our mission through:
- Leadership development series of skill-building workshops.
- Biography speaker events with prominent leaders.
- Connecting students with leaders who have made an impact in their fields and the world.
The Leadership Development Series
The Development Series reaches out to all student on campus, from wide-eyed freshmen to seasoned seniors. The program offers a series of workshops for both individual skill development (including, public speaking, negotiations, sales) and team and organization development (including building and sustaining an organization, empowering members, and building capacity). Through a rigorously selective process, we bring experts to run workshops, panels, discussions forums, and interactive training sessions.
The Leadership Development series provide opportunities not available in the classrooms of Harvard. It is the first extensive leadership training program on campus and the only student group fully dedicated to providing invaluable training on skills that students need to be successful leaders in the world.
The Leadership Biography Series
Inspired by years of psychological studies demonstrating the power of stories to instruct and to provoke, the Biography Series invites distinguished leaders to Harvard to share their life stories and wisdom with students. By placing students and real-world leaders in intimate settings, LDI seeks to humanize the leadership experience and give dimension to the astounding feats of our greatest leaders. These sessions are all provocative, giving students the opportunity to pick the brains of those who have already made difficult decisions and achieved much success, and learn from their lessons. Ultimately, through these exchanges, students can begin to understand themselves better—their strengths, their weaknesses, their desires, and the paths they want to forge.
Connecting Students with Leaders
At LDI, we have recognized the great power in building relationships with real-world leaders. During all the programs we organize, we create an avenue for students to connect with and have face-to-face interactions with the accomplished leaders and experts. Through fostering such connections, students can begin to understand themselves better—their strengths, their weaknesses, their desires, and the paths they want to forge.
In the past, engagements with real-world leaders have inspired some students to be social entrepreneurs, they have lead to future job opportunities and affected career decisions, provided different perspectives on leadership, and empowered students to be leaders.
Sample LDI Programs
LEADERSHIP BIOGRAPHY SERIES
Guest speaker: Ray Mabus, United States Secretary of the Navy. (March 2010)
“Leadership in the Business World”
Guest speaker: John Clarkeson, Chairman Emeritus of the Boston Consulting Group. (February 2010)
“Leadership for Social Change”
Guest speaker: David Gergen, Director of the Center for Public Leadership and adviser to presidents for over 30 years. (November 2009)
“Everyone a Changemaker”
Guest speaker:Bill Drayton, CEO and Founder of Ashoka (March 2009)
(Co-sponsored with the Center for Public Leadership, Sociology Department, and the Office of Career Services)
“Leadership with High Stakes: Lessons from the Economic Crisis”
Guest speaker: Lew Kaden, Vice Chairman of Citigroup. (December 2008)
“Leadership in Combat”
Guest speaker: Seth Moulton, Marine Corp veteran in Iraq (4 tours), and Special Assistant to General Petraeus in Iraq. (December 2008)
“Leadership for Africa”
Guest speaker: Fred Swaniker, Founder and CEO of the African Leadership Academy. (February 2008)
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SERIES
Workshop on “Effective Delegation“ facilitated by John Hawkins, Founder and CEO of Leadership Edge. (September 2010)
Workshop on “Building an Effective Team Culture“ facilitated by Dale Carnegie Training Boston. (October 2009)
Panel on “Managing Organizational Transitions” with past and present presidents of student organizations at Harvard College. (October 2009)
Interactive discussion on “Organizational Sustainability and Growth” facilitated by members of the Leadership Development Initiative. (October 2009)
Training on “Sales and Elevator Pitch” facilitated by Jeff Hoffman, CEO of MJ Hoffman Enterprises and trainer to Fortune 500 companies. (April 2009)
Leadership panel and meet-and-greet with presidents of the fifteen largest student organizations at Harvard College. Event organized for prospective students. (April 2009)
Training on “Using Your Emotions as you Negotiate” facilitated by Daniel Shapiro, Director of the Harvard International Negotiation Initiative. (November 2007)