Medical student talks about time at NY Leadership Institute

Charlotte Askew attends the prestigious Goldman Sachs Global Leadership Institute - News

By Laura Gallagher
Monday 17 September 2007

Amongst the medical students returning to College today is Charlotte Askew, who spent a week over the summer at the Goldman Sachs Global Leadership Institute in New York.

Charlotte, who is now in her third year, was awarded her place at the Institute after being selected for a place on the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Programme because of her "outstanding achievements and abilities". The programme identifies the academic excellence and leadership potential of 150 accomplished second-year students from across the world.

Charlotte was competing with students of all disciplines at over 90 top-ranked international universities. She won a 3,000 USD prize and was then selected, along with 74 other student leaders, to represent the whole group at the annual Leadership Institute. Here, she talks about her time at the Institute.

Why did you apply for the competition and what were you hoping to get out of it?

I did not know much about the programme initially, but I liked the emphasis on life beyond pure academics, and was interested to find out more. It sounded like a fantastic opportunity. I did not have many expectations at the beginning, but I suppose my personal aim was to gain renewed enthusiasm and further resources for projects I was wanting to work on. In the past few years some of the things I am really passionate about have had to take a back seat slightly, so I was excited to get an opportunity to talk about them and get to work on them again.

What kinds of activities were you involved in during your time in New York?

Our first day at the Institute was dedicated to learning more about leadership. We had a day of engaging, fun workshops. These ranged from solving puzzles in groups to preparing and performing a scene or song about leadership – containing the word fettuccine!

We also started an activity which ran throughout the week called Open Space. This essentially involves people putting up signs indicating which issues they would like to talk about and everyone moving to the discussion group that engages them. It was a very powerful medium and we loved having so much unstructured time with which to talk to each other about things that really mattered to us, such as child health and education and climate change.

The next four days were structured so that we had lectures, seminars and presentations from 8am until approximately 5pm, where we went for dinner or a 'cultural' activity. My favourite of these was seeing Mary Poppins on Broadway – I highly recommend it! Others which were equally great were a gift exchange with another colleague from a different country, a picnic in Prospect Park and touring the United Nations.

How did you find the people you met while you were out there?

We were representing 21 countries, many different areas of study and each person had such a unique lifetime of experiences to bring to the Institute. Everyone had their own issue or project to which they had devoted a lot of time and effort, and we were all truly interested in each other's and in several cases, eager to get involved!

It was fascinating to talk to people about issues such as human rights or the war in Iraq and get such genuinely different points of view. It is one thing to read about different opinions in journals, but to hear them from another human being is very powerful and made me question some subtle preconceived ideas I did not even fully realise I held.

With 75 highly opinionated, passionate young people in one place, we had some heated and challenging discussions. From these discussions has come action and some groups are already moving forward with ideas that sprang from that week, such as a network working for sustainable living and a group focused on studying how business and market principles can solve global problems. Having contacts around the globe is one of the most valuable things we are all taking away from NYC. Apart from holding serious discussions, we also had a lot of fun together and I have made some amazing new friends, from all over the world. This is great when traveling, as accommodation suddenly becomes very simple!

What did you enjoy most about the week? What is the main thing you learned from it?

The entire week was a fantastic experience. The other students and our coordinators made the week worthwhile in and of itself, and being given the chance to meet them was definitely one of my favourite aspects of the entire Program. I learned a lot about how I interact with other people and how I lead a group – and I learned a lot about where I can improve.

We had lectures from very highly regarded, successful people working in many different sectors. Each session had several 'nuggets' of wisdom to impart, and I learnt so much. It sounds cliché, but one of the most memorable 'nuggets' came from S.A. Ibrahim, CEO of the Radian Group - that one should not be scared of failing, even failing spectacularly, for from that can come your greatest successes. As a room full of perfectionists, we were listening intently!

The speaker that touched my life most profoundly was Gégé Katana Bukuru. Gégé works with ex- child soldiers, particularly girls, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and campaigns strongly for change and protection for these children. She spoke to us at the United Nations about the horrific torture, sexual abuse and trauma that these children continue to suffer and the lack of rehabilitation that exists for them.

The children have a driven, passionate spokeswoman fighting for them, who demands that she be heard and heeded. After a week of talks focusing on business and corporate social responsibility, it was crucial that we all be reminded of the humanitarian crises of others. On a personal note, it is something I would very much like to be involved in helping with in the future.

There is so much that we are all taking home with us from this week – I feel it will take a while for us to digest it all and integrate into our lives, but I do not doubt that we will!

How has the week affected your view of the working world?

If it has changed it at all, I think it has given me hope! If the people I met at the GLI in New York, and those like them, are the people that are going to be in charge of banking, business, science, medicine, law and engineering in the future, I have some hope that they might use their positions of leadership and power to do what is best for the world as well as for their business and themselves. I think it reasserted for me that no one has to compromise their values to get ahead in the world – it is possible to make money and do your part for looking after your fellow human beings. I know that it is not where my heart lies personally, but I think it was important for me to accept the place of business and profit in the world we live in and in the struggle for change.

What are you planning to do when you graduate?

If you ask any of my friends this question, I feel positive that their answer would be 'Save the World'! I can't deny that I would love to be powerful enough to do that, and that my dissatisfaction with the status quo is one of my biggest driving forces. I have not finalised my life plans as of yet, but I would like to work in the NHS for some years, hopefully in paediatrics.

My dream is to return to Asia, where I grew up, and work particularly in Cambodia with children, public health and trying to improve the health care system there. Part of this dream would also be to work for an organization such as Médicins Sans Frontières or another dedicated to bringing about change and giving a voice to situations which deserve the world’s attention. I am often called idealistic, but I am very realistic in my view of the world – what I do with my life will depend on where I feel I can best help and effect meaningful change. Eventually though, I think I would like to work in a small village and live on a beautiful farm!

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