June 2010
Scotland’s First Minister and Presiding Officer welcome John Smith Fellows to Edinburgh
What is the essence of leadership?
How can we measure the impact of policy interventions?
How can we become better leaders?
The 2010 John Smith Fellows arrived in Edinburgh in early June and have been exploring these issues in a series of workshops and meetings with a number of key figures of Scottish public life. Their visit began with presentations and lively discussions on the nature of leadership with the former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, the Rt Hon George Reid, the Chair of Sport Scotland and architect of the successful bid by Glasgow to host the Commonwealth Games, Louise Martin CBE, and the former UK Ambassador to Georgia and Chief of the Clan MacLaren, Donald MacLaren. The Fellows followed busy working days during which they also began to develop their action plans to be implemented on their return home.
The 2010 Fellows were met at the Scottish Parliament by Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson MSP and his predecessors George Reid and Lord Steel
On Monday 7th June the Fellows were welcomed to the Scottish Parliament by the Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson MSP for a dinner and reception, also attended by the Rt Hon Lord Steel and the Rt Hon George Reid – all three Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament were present. The Fellows mingled with 200 leading figures from Scottish public life and met the Chairman of the Trust the Rt Hon Lord Falconer, other Trustees and members of the Smith family. On Tuesday 8th June the Fellows were welcomed to Bute House by Stewart Stevenson MSP the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change in the Scottish government, who has visited many of our Fellowship countries in the course of his career.
The 2010 Fellows at Bute House with the Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond MSP, Lord McCluskey, Rt Hon George Reid and Stewart Stevenson MSP
On his return from a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron MP, the Scottish First Minister the Rt Hon Alex Salmond MSP then joined the Bute House reception. He invited the Fellows to join him at the cabinet table where a lively seminar took place on Scottish government with the First Minister explaining the roles of different members of the Cabinet, the workings of Scottish government and the state of relations with the new government in London. In many of the Fellowship countries, Ministers have to stand when addressing the Prime Minister or Governor, so the Fellows were struck by the informality, friendliness and accessibility of both the First Minister and the Scottish Parliament.
First Minister Alex Salmond MSP talks to the group in the cabinet room about the Scottish government
The Edinburgh events continued with a reception and seminar at the Faculty of Advocates, and workshops with the leading Scottish political thinker, Gerry Hassan, the co-ordinator of the Scottish Constitutional Convention, Esther Roberton, the former Minister and now Professor of Social Change, Professor Susan Deacon, the Head of Oxfam in Scotland, Judith Robertson, and the Chair of Scottish Enterprise, Crawford Gilles. The Fellows then returned to the Parliament for a seminar on future thinking with the Scottish Futures Forum team.
Throughout the week they have been connecting the case studies in leadership presented to them by speakers in workshops with their own professional challenges and the action plans they are developing. One conclusion has emerged from the John Smith Fellows already: the quality of leadership in Scotland is extremely high, refreshingly open and facing difficult times with resilient good humour.
To read about the continuation of the 2010 John Smith Fellowship Programme click here
Photos courtesy of John McConville and Chris Watt Photography