Churchill Alumnus James D’Rozario, Natural Sciences BA, MSc, (Matriculation year: 2013) was recently shortlisted as one of eight national Future Leaders of the Year at the Tech Leaders Awards. James was one of 24 Churchill undergraduates who benefited from a Future Leaders Development Programme run by the Møller Institute, and he was quick to acknowledge this inspirational programme as an example of “how amazing Churchill is at supporting students”.
The Churchill Students – Future Leaders programme is run by the Møller Institute to develop students’ self awareness and self belief with the aim of developing their leadership potential in their future employment whilst enhancing their presence and confidence in tutorials, presentations and examinations. By giving students a sound understanding of effective leadership and self management/care and the behaviours associated, the programme opens up new possibilities for students’ future career pathways.
James explained; “At the beginning of my third year of study, Sally Boss (Director of Studies) and Barry Phipps (Tutor) both encouraged me to participate in a new initiative being run by Churchill College in collaboration with the Møller Institute. The College was sponsoring a cohort of students on the Churchill Students – Future Leaders programme through the internationally renowned executive education programme run by the Møller Institute. I completed the course alongside my studies with the encouragement from the College’s tutors and the Møller Institute’s educators. Modules in the course included effective communication (I have used their presentation advice in every single presentation I’ve done since!), leadership and management, as well as confidence building. What surprised most of the educators was how little self-confidence Cambridge students have(!). As a result of what I learned I was able to enter professional situations, which I would have previously found intimidating, with confidence and an ability to execute my roles to an exceptional standard. I truly believe the world-class support I gained from Churchill College and the Møller Institute during my time in Cambridge has been responsible for my successes in my employment.
“I graduated with my BA and MSc in Natural Sciences from Churchill College in 2017 and joined the Vodafone graduate scheme shortly after. Above-and-beyond my day job I’ve been selected as an LGBT+ Role Model (also put forward for Stonewall’s Role Model of the Year award 2018), the only graduate worldwide to be recruited into Vodafone’s life-saving disaster response team, and helped raised over £30,000 for charity. The Møller Institute taught me to have fearless confidence in my abilities and organisational skills, and I’m certain the above wouldn’t have been achieved without it.
“Within six months of my employment I was recognised nationally as a Future Leader, being selected as one of eight young professionals for the Future Leader of the Year accolade at the Tech Leaders Awards. What made this more special, was that the criteria for the accolade extends to exceptional demonstration of leadership within the last five years, so to have been selected as a finalist after just six months of employment was astounding. I exercise the skills learnt during the Churchill Students – Future Leaders programme on a daily basis to interact with stakeholders, customers and peers and it is evident that what we were taught by Churchill College and the Møller Institute was world-leading.”
Gillian Secrett, CEO of the Møller Institute, who designed and developed the leadership programme for Churchill undergraduates was delighted to hear how James has embraced the learning on the programme and to hear of another positive account of the practical impact of the programme, “James was a delight to work with and took full advantage of this opportunity and I see him as a true trail blazer with his amazing achievements and I wish him the success he deserves . The success of this programme is underpinned by a close collaboration with Sally Boss, Richard Partington and the Senior Tutor team to deliver a leadership programme that is unique in Cambridge, giving Churchill students a leading edge in the job market by equipping them with practical, transferable skills and approaches to confidently lead in the competitive and unpredictable working environment they enter on graduating.”
The key modules of the Churchill College Future Leaders programme, which is run during twilight hours includes leadership; self-discipline and goal setting; self awareness and purpose, developing personal narrative, self belief and confidence presentation skills; decision-making and influencing; assertiveness and resilience; leading with purpose; networking; negotiation skills; career/life planning; self-awareness and social styles and the essential differences between leadership and management and how to motivate and develop high performance teams.