Developing Young Leaders

On Sunday 19th July the Kilmore Swimming Club sent Tamara Bess, Cassidy Page, Jay Finn and James Boland along to a Developing Young Leaders course hosted by Swimming Victoria. The four swimmers were joined by 71 athletes from across Victoria in Port Melbourne to take part in the program presented by Carol Fox.

  • Limiting stories and how the self-talk impacts on performance and outlook;
  • Re-framing tool for when you are feeling negative about yourself or others;
  • How we communicate – body language, gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice;
  • Communication and learning styles (Visual, Kin-aesthetic, Auditory, Data Digital);
  • Understanding that conflict and overreactions can sometimes triggered by someone’s ’baggage’ and is not always about you;
  • The power of the words that we use – how they can demotivate and disempower or motivate and empower.

Below is the the four swimmers perspective on the day.

James Boland

On the 19th of July, myself and the three Club Captains attended a program, called ‘Leadership Beyond the Pool’, led by Carol Fox.
We covered things such as different learning styles, and how to approach people of any the four styles of Auditory, Visual, Kin-aesthetic and Data Digital. As well as this, we worked on how to build rapport with others, and gathering an understanding of reasons for conflict.
My favorite part of the talk was about ridding yourself of negative feelings, or doubting yourself, by thinking of all the positive things that have lead up to this moment, or will be achieved after this moment. Carol used an example of posture on the blocks to show this. A person with slightly shrugged shoulders, was someone who thought that their preparation was poor, and didn’t think there was a chance for anything good to happen out of the race. However, a person who was standing tall with their shoulders back, showing perfect posture, was someone who was ready to race, and was looking forward to the outcome, what ever it may be. This example was very powerful, as it showed me how something little, such as your posture on the blocks, can influence your feelings about a race. This is something that I will use in the future with my own racing.

I would recommend anyone who is interested in developing their leadership skills, to give this conference a go.

Cassidy Page

A few weeks ago Tamara, Jay, James and I attended the ‘Developing Young Leaders’ program held by Swimming Victoria in Port Melbourne. The program was taken by Carol Fox, and she taught us some very valuable lessons in positive communication, building rapport, empowering ourselves and solving conflicts. It was great to meet other swimmers from around Melbourne, and everyone I met was great. I found that not only did the day help me as a club captain, but as a student, a friend, an employee and in so many other areas of my life. I would highly recommend the day to anyone who gets the opportunity to go, it’s so well worth it!

Tamara Bess

On Sunday the 19th of July 2015 Jay, Cassidy, James and myself attended the annual Leadership Beyond The Pool conference. The conference was held at Life Saving Victoria along with other club captains from across Victoria. The key speaker for the day was Coral Fox of life performance. Throughout the day we attended workshops on communication, behavior and conflict. I enjoyed the presentation on communication and learning styles such as visual, kin-aesthetic, auditory and data digital. It was interesting understanding the different ways people learn and how to assist them in their learning.

It was an enjoyable day out with my fellow Kilmore team mates.

Jay Finn

On Sunday the 19th of July, 4 of the senior swimmers from our club including myself were able to be involved in a very worthwhile seminar on leadership. This was held by Carol Fox, a swimmer from her younger years and now the figure head of Carol Fox & Co. During this seminar, she talked extensively about the downfalls we encounter in everyday life as we come up with excuses, or negative stories as Carol referred to them. These can be as simple as “I am not good enough” when detailing why we didn’t preform out best. Or they can be about others, and the story we have that someone dislikes us makes it so that we act accordingly and they in turn do. Carol described a way to avoid this problem as the ‘re frame’ tool, by which you look at the situation in a different light or way. Because if you feel someone doesn’t like you, you often disregard anything that shows that they do. By listing things that they do that you like or are positive, it makes the story you have of them seem false, and allow you to view them differently. This I found to be a very useful technique and one which I shall aim to apply in my own life. Overall, it was a very insightful and worthwhile experience.

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