Compassionate Leadership

Compassionate leadership – meeting Dr Jane Goodall

Dr Jane Goodall is one of the most inspirational people in the world because she leads with her heart and always displays compassion, allowing her to leave a lasting impact on the lives of those she influences.

On 27 May this year, we had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet Dr Goodall at the Youth Leaders’ event at Kristin School. This event was part of an ongoing project where compassionate youth leaders from a variety of schools collaborate and share their passion for the environment, animals and people. On this day we heard the wise words of Dr Jane and spent time with her in a workshop, listening to stories of her experiences and heard about her journey of making an impact on the lives of animals, people and the environment. In particular, She imparted some of her wisdom about leadership and how to get people involved and caring about global issues.

One of Dr Goodall’s biggest talents is her ability to tell stories, and by doing so, she makes a connection to the hearts of those listening. This allows her to inspire people to care about issues like climate change, and to take action. We learnt about her Roots and Shoots organisation, which provides opportunities for young people globally to come together to help the environment, people and animals, and to make positive change for a better future. We gained a lot of knowledge from this experience, particularly around the aspect of how today’s youth needs to be optimistic and hopeful for the future. Dr Jane said that one of the main reasons she began her Roots and Shoots programme was because she was meeting so many young people who were not hopeful for the future, and she wanted this to change. She believes that change does start with young people being hopeful and actively doing something to help the planet. Dr Goodall was incredibly inspiring and empowering, and from her style of leadership we learned the importance of sharing your passion and empowering others to help tackle big issues facing the world today.

At the event, each school presented a project that is currently being carried out by the school to benefit the environment, animals or people. The project that we presented on behalf of Dio was the Fiji Service Trip, a people-focused project. We focused on how Dio strives to give in a way that truly benefits people, through asking the village elders what the village needs. Often this is playgrounds to be used by the village children. Dio has always tried to make this trip as environmentally friendly as possible and this has been done by sourcing local materials and cutting out waste. Building

Dr Jane Goodall