When we see children of our alumni and fellows attend our Leadership Fiji programs we take pride in knowing that we have made an impact on families.
For the first time since its establishment Leadership Fiji saw a child of an alumni and fellow attend the 2018 program.
Takasa Panuve, who is currently foreign exchange and interest rates trader at Westpac Fiji was only 17 years old and in high school when her mum, Unise Cawaru LF2004 attended Leadership Fiji.
She said that she always looked up to her mother, and for all her life known her to be a committed and intelligent working mum.
She said “in all honestly I did not know that mum was doing Leadership Fiji at the time as she wore all her “hats” with a strong, smiling face and I was trying to get through my Fiji School Leaving Certificate.
While I now understand the commitment required by the Leadership Fiji program, we could never tell that mum was going through added responsibilities or having a bad day at work, because it never showed on her.
Despite the demands and the trips away, she always ensured that our home front (and all five of her children, might I add!) were well attended to and lacked nothing.”
While reflecting on her journey through the Leadership Fiji 2018 program, Takasa shared “what a journey LF was!
It stretched me out my comfort zone and I was able to experience being uncomfortable and challenged with people on a similar journey, but for different purposes.
Putting it simply, one must identify one’s purpose and take small steps towards fulfilling it.
The only way you can ever truly come out of your own boundaries is to give, whether at work, at home, or our community. Participate! Engage! Make a difference!” She went on to say, “as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”.
Takasa believes that we must continue to surround ourselves with people who share the same intellect and goals in life.
Once you are part of the Leadership Fiji family, you continue to be part of a community that is always on the move.
Whether it is in upskilling yourself through workshops, networking or participating in a common goal to help the community.
Her parents are always great examples of what “giving and being generous” looks like at the home front, while not on a grand scale of things, they continue to help those closer to home in their village in whichever way they can.
Now as mum to two beautiful and bright children, Leadership Fiji has also changed Takasa’s approach in instilling in them life values and lessons. She says that it is more about having a two-way conversation, building them up to be strong from a young age, and helping them to truly understand meaningful lessons.
Takasa’s mum, Unise, shared her thoughts on Leadership Fiji saying “it was an excellent development program for upcoming managers because what I learnt from it created a lifetime impact, both at personal and professional levels”.
She considered it a fortunate opportunity to be nominated by her employer to join Leadership Fiji, as it was part of their management development program.
On a personal level, LF2004 has helped Unise to associate herself with people outside of her usual bubble (family, work mates and friends) and it helped her gain the confidence to mingle and find grounds and interests whether common or uncommon, with other people outside of her comfort zone.
It is a great networking forum, both within the participants as well as with speakers from the private and public sector who provided insights on the various mechanisms behind their respective organisations and how they contributed to the Fiji economy.
The lasting friendships established, especially the comradeship among fellow participants was and still continues to be a special bond to this day for Unise.
Visiting various locations during the program were exciting experiences, some places especially, tugged at participants hearts, and left lasting impressions on the kind of contributions Unise has made personally in small ways to society and to her community.
Professionally, the biggest lesson she learnt was that the world out there is so inter-connected and that things happening in the world does affect where we are, whether in big or small ways (e.g. even in Fiji).
Leadership Fiji also helped Unise appreciate the broader perspective and view of the world instead of the tunnel vision she had before doing the program.
Four years later in 2008 the world went into an economic meltdown, and Unise was better placed in her personal and professional capacity to understand its impact, even to Fiji, which had to undergo a devaluation of its currency that same year.
She said “for me, that was the biggest benefit of Leadership Fiji. It helped me understand things from a broader perspective, how different organisations and sectors within an economy work together to benefit our local and foreign economies.”
What stood out for Unise when she did the program in 2004? “The Koroipita project which is attributed to the work of Mr Peter Drysdale and the Lautoka Rotary Club. It was certainly an eye-opener and simply admirable, because it changed the way I used to think about communal living. It is a story of sacrifice, of using one’s professional calling, their warm heart and willingness to do something good for someone else. That project also gave rise to the idea that we can all be good Samaritans and contribute even in small ways towards people or communities. Just seeing how families were accommodated within the community and creating and respecting rules and standards of living was really an impressive accomplishment. Hats off to all the individuals, groups, communities and organisations that have made Koroipita a huge success.”
In this year’s program we have two participants whose mums are alumni and fellows of the Leadership Fiji program.
Steven Buksh Jr is the son of Ida Buksh LF2008 and Aaron Ah Yuk is the son of Losana Ah Yuk LF2009.
Steven Jr shared his experience with us saying “I was 13 years old when mum participated in Leadership Fiji 2008.
Dad had also joined the Leadership Fiji program two years later, but unfortunately didn’t complete it.
It was evident from the beginning that mum and dad had made many new friends through Leadership Fiji.
I had also observed the close friendship they had with their fellow participants since each time they had encountered problems with business they would say, ‘why don’t you call so and so from Leadership Fiji … they might be able to help us?’”.
Steven himself has become close with his parents’ friends since being introduced to them at a young age and has business connections with them now. He said all these led to him to applying for this year’s Leadership Fiji program.
Since Steven joined Leadership Fiji 2021, he said “the lasting bond that was instantly formed at our opening retreat was evident.
I admired how diverse each one of us participants are in our individual fields of work”.
For him, the program so far has been thought provoking and very interesting especially with sessions on various sectors and industries and how each of these contribute and impact our beloved nation.
From the structure on how the sessions were set to the interaction with speakers who are prominent leaders in their own individual fields such as the government, private sector, youth and faith-based organisations.
The program has already given Steven confidence and enabled him to explore personal traits which he frankly thought he never had.
He has learnt fundamental leadership skills, effective communication, planning, listening and decision making that has enhanced his personal capacity to lead his team.
Despite the current situation with COVID-19 restrictions, we still managed to pursue on with the diverse sessions via Zoom and interact with the various leaders of Fiji. Steven and the rest of LF2021 are hopeful that we will be able to physically meet again and complete this year’s program on a high note.
Ida Buksh LF2008 had similar sentiments and shared that joining the Leadership Fiji program in 2008 was not just enjoyable and interesting but a very good platform for networking and making lifelong friends.
She said, “what stood out for me was the amount of knowledge I gained about the mechanisms of other organisations which gave me a greater perspective of how each one was intertwined with the other in our country and the entire world.
I managed to apply all the useful and interesting learnings in my professional life.”
Ida took the leap a year after completing the 2008 Leadership Fiji program and left her management position to run a family-owned hostel business, and in February this year was fortunate to start her driving school.
However because of COVID-19 she has had to put this on hold until she is able to continue again.
Aaron Ah Yuk was 25 years old when his mum, Losana Ah Yuk did Leadership Fiji in 2009.
He recalls observing his mum and her Leadership Fiji group having a lot of meetings at their home, usually to discuss their community projects.
He said “I remember they collected a lot of books for a book drive. These meetings were usually around the tanoa and I benefited from all the free grog as their official grog mixer.”
On his experience with Leadership Fiji 2021 so far, he mentioned that the speakers selected by the Leadership Fiji secretariat for the various sessions have been very thought-provoking.
Putting a picture together of the Fiji we live in currently and the possible way forward as emerging leaders has been an eye-opener.
He added “I love the fact that I can get to know all the participants doing the program with me this year and this has been very enriching for me both personally and professionally. I am more inclusive as a leader and that has resonated well in the workplace for me.”
Losana Ah Yuk LF2009 shared her reflections on her experiences from participating in the program.
She said “the Leadership Fiji program is an enabling environment and inclusive, regardless of a participant’s background (age, profession, interests, ethnicity, education level, etc). I gained empathy, after learning from, listening to and experiencing firsthand from speakers and from our outings. Prior to Leadership Fiji, I guess I did things by rote with my work and at home with my family. After Leadership Fiji, I applied empathy to my responsibilities at work, home and social responsibility, complemented by passion. For me, passion is a key pillar of my work ethic; it is a stand-alone standard of excellence which trickles down to all levels of one’s individual and collective responsibilities.”
- Sharyne Fong is the CEO of Leadership Fiji.
