One small, good deed a day
Simon Tecleab
20 Apr 2008
The tools of the InterAction Leadership Programme are simple, yet empowering. They appear obvious, yet are very effective tools of change, writes Simon Tecleab.
When I applied to join the InterAction leadership programme, I expected to learn some complicated terms, sophisticated concepts, theories, modules, etc. of leadership. I thought of that as an opportunity for another certificate or one more paragraph in my CV. The story turned out to be completely different. The programme made quite an impact on me. I was most impressed with the tools of the InterAction Leadership Programme - they are simple and yet empowering. I love them because they seem obvious but at the same time are very effective tools of change. I teach in a college and together with my colleagues, we share a big office with many computers. The other day, I noticed that one of my colleague's computer was full of dust. As it happens so often, our town was hit with a dust storm few days before. I was cleaning his computer when he showed up and asked what I was doing. "I decided to do one little good thing every day and for today I am doing this" was my reply. Mussie, my other colleague asked, "Is this part of your ILP programme too?" he asked. My first reaction was to laugh. But I would think back to this incident a lot later on. I don't know whether Mussie was right or not. Maybe the programme has an effect on the very small thing that I did that day. But one thing was clear to me. Mussie was associating anything that I do with the programme and obviously he was impressed. I was happy to be able to reflect the impact of the InterAction Leadership Programme in such a positive way. He was part of my twinning exercise and there was no question that he was eager to join in future programmes. Not for the certificate or other benefits that he would get, but for the positive impact he witnessed.
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