Illawarra Leadership Program turns ten with 101 successful participants so far

Participants described it as a life-changing experience, with them coming out as a whole different person at the end of it.

For MMJ town planner Natalie Allan, signing up for the program was one of her life's best decisions.

"It has been a fulfilling journey which has allowed me to sit back and work on myself as a project rather than working on everyone else's projects," she said.

Ms Allan was self-employed when she applied for the Leadership Illawarra Program and ended up getting a full-time job while participating in it.

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"I think the program gave me the confidence to put myself out there and apply for my dream job and I was lucky enough to get that," she said.

Ms Allan said she was able to focus on skills she already had, but couldn't identify, the program has let her bring them to the fore.

The Leadership Illawarra Program run by RDA Illawarra, The Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong and The Illawarra Connection has had 101 participants in the five cohorts so far.

RDA Illawarra CEO Debra Murphy said each journey is very different and successful in its own way.

"I have seen people's physiology change, just months into the program their stance changes in a way that speaks of their ability to easily command a room," she said.

The program, Ms Murphy said, has lots of different elements to it including learning about personal behaviour types, networking, interacting with people, motivating teams and developing several other soft skills.

"Leadership Illawarra program was developed a decade ago by leaders of our community saying that they wanted to invest in future leaders of our community and help them along on their journey and grow that talent," she said.

Warrigal Wellness and Lifestyle manager Shiva Gopalan who was part of the 2016 cohort, spoke highly of the program.

"It gave me more confidence to believe in myself and sometimes take more risks, so for example, I put forward within my organisation some programs and opportunities which I probably wouldn't have otherwise done."

Mr Gopalan cited it as a great opportunity to meet like-minded people who are on a similar pathway.

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"I am grateful for all the networking opportunities, we learnt so much from each other."

Mr Gopalan said his mentor Ray Rogers from Flagstaff played a pivotal role in his professional development.

"Just knowing that he would have also handled certain work situations in ways that I said I would, gave me validation and confidence because I knew that I was on the right path."

Mr Gopalan is leading about 100 staff across the organisation and he believes he is only able to do it effectively because of the skills he developed in the program.

"I was also nominated for the IBA young executive of the year award and I've won a few awards for innovation within the company," he said.

The expressions of interest for the Leadership Illawarra Program scholarships for the next cohort are due by October 24.

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