Delegates Tell All

Ryley McAndrew – COMM ‘20,
Delegate at QCLS 2016
QCLS 2016 was an amazing conference that outlined the strong components that make a great leader, and the power collaboration gives them. Though my experience as a delegate at QCLS I learned that collaboration in leadership means a team working together, joining forces, and building off of each other’s ideas to create something incredible. I discovered the true power in collaboration as each member’s contribution helps propel the team to new heights. I learned that when a team shares the same vision, values, and drive they are able to work together to achieve great initiatives. This year’s conference provided me with the opportunity to network with different professionals who provided guidance and understanding in terms of my own personal direction. I found the speakers informative and engaging, and enjoyed the different activities that allowed me to get to know other delegates. I was able to form friendships that I will carry forth, as well as a strengthened sense of what it means to be a leader. Thank you QCLS!
Devon Pearson – COMM ‘18
Delegate at QCLS 2014, 2015 & 2016
For each of the past three years I have had the opportunity to be a delegate at QCLS. Every year I look forward to that first week of October when I get to reunite with the delegates and exec I have met in years past. QCLS gives you the opportunity to engage with students in all parts of business and in other faculties, providing insights from many different perspectives. I really enjoyed being able to talk to fellow students during dinners and networking events about everything from the conference to their degree. The speakers provided a unique and innovative view on leadership from a broad range of backgrounds. From Sports to Entertainment to large Multinational Corporations, there were speakers from all areas of the professional world to give everyone something they could relate to and really enjoy. The simulations and workshops keep you thinking and working throughout the entire weekend, whether you realized you were learning or simply enjoying the challenge. QCLS is a conference for those who are just looking to step into the world of conferences or those seasoned in networking, it has something for everyone, and was truly a great weekend from beginning to end.
Paul Barber – BIO ’17
Delegate at QCLS 2016
Leaders should always be working on refining their skills and reaching a more nuanced understanding of how to best support their team and provide the best leadership possible. QCLS provides just that opportunity. It’ll challenge the way you think about leadership and give you skills and experiences that you can apply to your everyday life. Even if you’re an ArtSci, challenge yourself, go to this conference and leave inspired. You’ll be happy you did it.
Christie Crocket – COMM ’19
Delegate at QCLS 2016
For a lot of us, the term leadership can be a bit ambiguous. Coming into Queen’s Commerce, it can be easy to confuse leadership with a set of personality traits. My biggest take away from QCLS was that leadership is completely personal. Leadership isn’t a display of power, or about instructing those around you; leadership is quite often the contrary. It is taking a step back and listening to the opinions of those around you. It is about empowering your team members to share their ideas, in a way that is completely unique to you. Too often do individuals embody the type of leadership that they perceive to be the most effective, the type of leadership that dictates and commands, the type of leadership that quite often fails.
Throughout my experience at QCLS, I was surrounded by a team of four students from different faculties, different years, and completely different places. Together, we would take on fast-paced challenges that required an exceptional amount of teamwork. After just meeting the three other individuals, I can tell you that this is not an easy endeavor by any means. Our team began by failing, and not failing in one challenge, but failing quite evidently through the first three challenges. Not knowing our group identity, and not having a lot of time to figure that out, lead us all to lead through frustration. We began by all trying to dictate the decisions of the group, and as you can imagine having four people with four different agendas try and lead a group becomes very exhausting. It wasn’t until about the fourth challenge though, that our team realized our inefficiencies. This challenge didn’t allow us enough time to pretend to lead with a style that wasn’t uniquely ours. In this challenge, we lead with styles unique to us. No one overarching leader, no dictation, no frustration, just us: four individual students hungry for success. Through these challenges, I had the absolute pleasure of working with, and learning from Sarah, Nate, and James. Sarah lead every challenge with kindness, Nate with knowledge, and James with a spark and creativity; no leadership style better than the other, just unique to each person’s strengths. As we began to lead with our strengths and learn from the strengths of our team members, our team grew stronger with each challenge. With every success, our team became less like four individual agendas, and more like one team, with one common goal.
I think that the power of collaboration is even more than creating a better final product, the power of collaboration creates better individuals. In just one weekend, I was able to learn that leading through dictating isn’t who I am, and it isn’t the most effective way for me to lead a team. I may never be the most outgoing team member, or the most creative, but through the power of collaboration I learned that I can always be the most enthusiastic.