Organising Committee consisting of Sparks Girls & GB Officers with LC speakers Gary Tan and Elisa Lim
This year’s Leadership Conference was truly an event run by GB Girls, for GB Girls, as tertiary GB Girls (Sparks Girls) produced and ran a live stream event for over 330 Secondary-3 Girls.
Why should leaders be humble? What does self-leadership mean, and why is that even important? Girls found such pressing questions answered by this year’s guest speakers, Gary Tan, Head Coach of the National Swim team, and Elisa Lim, Founder of inclusive fashion brand Will&Well.
LEADERS SERVE THE TEAM
LC2025 Speaker: Gary Tan, Head Coach of the National Swim team
Leadership is a responsibility, not simply a status. There is simply no room for self-glorification when you’re charged with the welfare of other people.
Celebrating team successes, and setting a good example by going first – if leaders can help their teammates feel valued and supported through such acts of humility, they can bring out the best in their team. Empowering a team rather than demanding obedience helps everyone to flourish in the long run.
But what about teammates who challenge authority? Coach Gary encourages leaders to engage them through conversations on how to work together to uplift the team. Teammates may disappoint us, but leaders must remain gracious, and ready to forgive.
“Never throw teammates under the bus. Recognize that everyone makes mistakes and be brave to point them out graciously. Your relationship with the team will be strengthened!” ~ Gary Tan
TRUE LEADERSHIP STARTS FROM WITHIN
LC2025 Speaker: Elisa Lim, Founder of inclusive fashion brand Will&Well
Self-leadership may sound odd to some – after all, aren’t leaders defined by the number of people they lead?
Not for Elisa Lim, who says leaders must lead themselves before they can influence others – beginning by aligning their strengths with their values.
After discovering her talent for fashion design, and a heart for serving the disabled, Elisa chose to pursue a design course to accomplish her dream of making clothes suited for the disabled. However, her mentors and the design industry were skeptical of her dream.
Even then, Elisa believed that her work could create positive change. She fought to overcome her negative self-talk, and overcame her fear of failure through reframing failure as feedback. This gave Elisa the courage to join different industries and acquire essential skills that would help her launch her inclusive fashion label, Will&Well.
“Many people think leadership is about doing something big, but real impact happens in small, consistent actions.” ~ Elisa Lim
Read on for Girls’ takeaways from this session!
I loved hearing the 2 speakers as it helped me get to know more about valuable things in life that will help me in the future, like how to think of failure from a different perspective- to see failure as feedback, and to push through as I believe in my work. Also, that real impact happens in consistent small actions that I can do every day. I will try to apply Elisa’s 1% impact rule – to take a small action that can make an impact, like smiling or waving at someone if I see them. It may seem small but it can brighten someone’s day and even lead them to pass on the positivity to someone else. The ripple effect I am creating with my small actions can create a chain of kindness, improve someone’s mood, and slowly make an impact on the world.
Jung Hamin
65th S Coy – Anglican High School
I will start to do more small yet consistent things to help others in my community, school, etc. I want to make a positive impact on others’ lives, no matter how small.
Koh Ker Cheah, Clarice
84th S Coy – Singapore Chinese Girls’ School
Thank you Gary and Elisa for these valuable lessons! We can’t wait to learn more at LC2026!