A team from the Defence Academy’s International Section recently returned from Tashkent, having successfully delivered the first Strategic Leadership Programme (SLP) to the region.
Twenty representatives from the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and host nation Uzbekistan undertook the five-day course. Despite often being referred to as the ‘Central Asian 5’ (CA5), these countries use their respective armed forces in very different ways, ranging from Kazakhstan’s UN peacekeeping role to Turkmenistan’s constitutionally neutral (and doctrinally non-deployable) stance. As a result, individual experiences and views of leadership vary, which resulted in valuable discussions based on each country’s unique cultural stance and perspective.
The five-day programme was delivered by Wing Commander Elizabeth Seymour and Dr Caroline Micklewright of Cranfield University. It was conducted in English with simultaneous translation into the region’s common language, of Russian.
The specific aim of SLP Tashkent was to enhance the ‘strategic leadership performance of selected officers and officials from across the defence and wider security sectors’, with focused objectives being to:
- explore leadership at the strategic level
- identify qualities required of a strategic leader
- recognise differences between command, leadership, and management
- understand the strategic context, contemporary challenges, and the tools for analysis
- understand strategy development and implementation
- identify organisational culture and understand the challenge of change
- explore the ethics of leadership and the effects of toxic leadership
- understand the importance of leadership communication
Feedback from participants cited that they looked forward to sharing what had been learned on the course: leadership experiences, organisational change, leadership and ethics, and leadership communications being key highlights of the delivery.
International Section is one of the four departments within the Defence Academy’s International Group which also includes:
- Building integrity UK
- Defence Attaché and Loan Service
- Defence Centre for Languages and Culture
International Group is a main provider of UK defence engagement and language training.