Along with today’s development, the need for student’s soft skill is also increasing. UGM has launched the development of soft skills since year 2003, emphasizing on leadership. The leadership values developed by UGM include vision, insight, common sense, decisiveness, belief, courage and teamwork. By implementing those, UGM students are expected to be successful learners who are competitive at work and can even create jobs.
Although UGM has launched the development for the students since 2003 through the Due-like Batch IV program, the development has not succeeded optimally. Currently, leadership development is not intensively conducted because of the change of management, which eventually affects the budget.
“The biggest obstacle is the imbalance of human resources between lecturers and students who need leadership assistance. The need of lecturers who have leadership competence is increasing in line with the student’s increased awareness to develop their skills,†said Abdul Razaq Chasani, S.Si., M.Si, Head of Sub-directorate of Sub-directorate of Qualified Leadership Development and Improvement (PPKB) during the Training of Trainers (TOT) for lecturers, Tuesday (27/4) at Faculty of Biology UGM.
Abdul said that more intensive efforts are needed on this at UGM by forming a group of lecturers who have interest and the spirit to do it. Initially, the, Directorate of Student Affairs UGM held TOT training for UGM lecturers.
The TOT aims to create synergy among lecturers. The training was followed by 40 lecturers. They were given the basics of leadership, training method, and leadership development material for a day. The training presented three speakers; UGM Rector, Prof. Ir. Sudjarwadi, M.Eng., Ph.D., Dra. Budi Andayani, M.A., and Haryanta, M.A., Psi. Â
Under the theme of Leadership That Is Developed By UGM, Sudjarwadi expected that the TOT can produce UGM graduates who can fulfill their parents’ hope. Besides benefiting the country, the graduates are expected to be able to contribute to their family and religion. “Therefore, we ask the facilitating lecturers to help students in becoming successful leaders in the future,†said the Rector in his speech.
A leader, said the Rector, does not necessarily have structural position in an organization. They do not have to become chairman, secretary, treasurer, etc, however, they are hoped to become trendsetters, that is individuals who can build the group so that its members can have top skills to reach the aspiration of the organization.
The success to become a leader can technically be passed on through organizational management. People are expected to interact with each other well. “We should be willing to see and make contact with the world in general. The key word is that people can not work alone. They should work in team because success can be gained together by the team,†he ended.