The Industrial and Organisational Psychology master’s degree students in the Department of Human Resource Management recently presented leadership development workshops to the students of the University of Pretoria. The workshops formed part of the Leadership module and was conducted with the guidance of the course presenter, Dr Henriette Malherbe. Four workshops were presented in total, covering a variety of leadership-related topics, such as confidence listening and communication, coaching, mentoring, self-leadership, negotiation, conflict, supra-change management, systemic thinking, and personal brand management. 

Topics covered in the workshops were selected to not only be applicable to individual leadership development in the working environment, but also to that of everyday life situations. Workshop facilitators applied adult learning theory in designing and presenting individual exercises as well as the workshops in general.  By incorporating the assumptions and principles of adult learning theory, facilitators were able to adopt an adult learning-centred approach to encourage and foster better learning in workshop participants.

To conclude the workshops, a ceremony was held where each participant received a certificate acknowledging his or her attendance and completion of the Leadership Development Workshop. The workshops proved to be a success with facilitators as well as participants learning new knowledge and skills. Feedback from workshop participants was positive as they indicated the value of new knowledge gained and the relevance of the workshop topics.