In 2021, I delivered a seminar on leadership, faith and young people to the Justice and Peace Commission, at which I cited the work of Journalist and Author Mary Judith Ress, and suggested that the past is a key developmental aspect for driving how we lead in the future.  

Two years later, the SPARK Social Justice Project - a community for young Catholics and anyone interested in social justice issues in and around Leeds - and I teamed up to deliver an event designed to help students understand how values and, potentially, faith traditions and wisdom shared from the past can help positively to shape our engagement in the workplace in the future. In short, inter-generational conversations can help to shape our leaders of the future. 

The event was opened by Professor Charles Egbu, Vice-Chancellor at Leeds Trinity University, who stressed that the University is a place where our inclusive Catholic values drive everything that we do. This means we wish to respect and develop the potential of every single person in our midst and provide hope for the future for everyone. 

I read from Mary Judith Ress’ article and stressed the importance of not disregarding what can be learned from engaging in inter-generational discussions about values, faith, diversity, leadership, stories and experiences that shape who we are today. It is important that we push back against any models of leadership, society or of the future which expect us to become a ‘throw away’ culture that ignores what can be learned from previous generations. Learning is everywhere and within everyone, so let’s ask ourselves ‘who shaped who we are, and who do we now wish to be because of what we learned from them?’ 

Kathy Shaw, SPARK’s Outreach & Engagement Manager, helped to design and deliver the day for our students which saw key leaders from across Leeds engage in inter-generational conversations about leadership, justice, faith, diversity, ethics and values. This included Dwayne Hutchinson, Racial Justice Lead at the Leeds Church Institute, Professor Andy Challinor, Professor of Climate Change at the University of Leeds, David and Teresa Jackson – a married couple who have worked in education for more than 50 years, and Sir John Battle, former Government Minister for West Leeds. 

During discussions, delegates were asked about the qualities they admire most in leadership, what inspires them the most, how far they would go to defend their beliefs and how much faith matters in leadership. They were also asked to consider whether they would take the risks that the world-renowned San Salvadoran Bishop Oscar Romero, who was outspoken about his views on human rights violations in El Salvador prior to his assassination in 1980, did as a leader. The questions challenged those in attendance to ‘dig deep’ and ask themselves some foundational questions about the values we need for the future of work and our world in general. 

The event was inspiring and left us with several key messages, those being that leaders need to learn and grow from other leaders; people lead in different ways and some people use their faith as a lens through which they gain resilience, guidance and strength; leaders should seek to develop others and shed light on the strategic path rather than dictating; and that leaders have limits, strengths and weaknesses, but should be driven by strong values and understand the uniqueness of their team members and work with all personalities, faiths, diverse communities and backgrounds. 

From the feedback gathered from students, it is clear that the opportunity to listen to and connect with like-minded people was an empowering and valuable experience. I would like to express my thanks to the conferencing and catering teams at Leeds Trinity who also helped to support the event and give everyone a heartfelt welcome, and to the SPARKS Social Justice Project for funding the catering and their hard work on staging an excellent and insightful event. 

Dr Ann Marie Mealey is Director of Catholic Mission at Leeds Trinity University.