4.3.4 Peace building, Qualities and Skills required

Exercise 2

The Facilitator should break up the participants into two groups for an exercise and state the following directions:

1. Each group will select one leader.
2.  Each group’s challenge is to get all members of the group in calendar order of their birthdays quicker than the competing group.
3. Only the leader is allowed to speak; all other members of the group must remain silent.
4.  Once the leader of a group determines that all members are in calendar order of their birthdays, she will let the Facilitator know by saying “Done!”

Once a group leader calls out “Done!”, the Facilitator should ask the  group  members  to  call  out  their  birthdays  to  determine whether they have successfully completed the task.    If so, the Facilitator will give the winning group of participants their prizes. This activity should take ten minutes

The Facilitator should instruct participants to return to their seats and ask the following questions to stimulate discussion:

• How did your leader help you achieve your goal?
• Did your leader give you directions that helped your group?   If so, what were they?
• What was challenging in achieving your goal?
• What leadership qualities helped your group succeed?
• What other qualities would have been helpful in that situation?

The Facilitator should move this discussion to more general terms, and should ask the following questions to guide the discussion:

• What qualities/traits does a leader possess?
• What’s the difference between a boss and a leader?
• Are  you  born  a  leader  or  is  that  something  that  can  be learned?
• What makes you want to follow someone’s lead?

4.3.5 Qualities Required in Peace Building

•  Ability to inspire others
• Ability to understand human behavior
• Similarity with the groups
• Verbal assertiveness
• Willingness to communicate honestly
• Ability to inspire through example
• Willingness to take risk
• Willingness to assume full responsibility for the group
• Skill in the art of compromise
• Ability to tolerate criticism