Final – Reflections of Class 41 International Seminar

Class 41 (with the exception of the five fellows that extended their trips in Europe) caught a Saturday morning flight out of Prague, with a connecting flight in Paris that delivered us to L.A.  Although happy to be safely home, we will spend countless moments reflecting back on this amazing trip we shared in Moscow, Kyiv, Krakow, Brno and Prague.  From our first day in Moscow, braving freezing temperatures as we toured Red Square to our final day in Prague, breathlessly keeping up with our enthusiastic tour guide, the collective memories of Class 41’s adventure abroad have already began to be shared with family and friends.  The trip has had a profound impact on our leadership journey.

Our final synthesis during our last evening in Prague provided a time for reflection, celebration, and much due thank you’s.  We greatly appreciate the effort, foresight and guidance of Dr. Michael Thomas in putting together and sharing in our tour of Eastern/Central Europe.   In addition, many thanks to Dr. Lester Young and Dr. Annie King for joining in our experience and providing encouragement and valued input throughout.  As Class 41 reflected back on the comparisons and contrasts of the cultural, political, and economical situations we learned of in the four countries, in addition to the trials and joys of spending 15 days together, we were able to pull out a range of leadership, “followership,” and life lessons.  

Some of the key themes and observations include the importance of tolerance and understanding the significance of perspective; the responsibility of both leaders and followers in cultivating relationships that fully embrace opportunity; the importance of resiliency and optimism in moving beyond fear; and, that life is always about learning.  People are people the world around.  Our individual experiences make us who we are, but our collective humanity unites us.  Recognizing the value, capacity and worth of others through the gathering of information, through stepping out of our own communities, through global awareness will prepare each of us to be ready for the situations when our leadership abilities are called upon. 

Our sincere gratitude is extended to the California Agriculture Leadership Foundation, the Board, and each and every donor that made this trip and our time thus far in CALP possible.  We are grateful to our family, friends, employers, and co-workers for picking up the slack while we were gone.  As we head into our final four months of the program, we will continue to build upon lessons from prior seminars. We found those lessons to be particularly important context for understanding and appreciating everything we experienced in Europe.  As we reflect on this trip, the leadership, followership and life lessons will continue to take root and help us grow as leaders who make a difference.