In this blog we hear about two outstanding leaders, who have made a huge impact in their chambers in their roles as deputy president and president this year.

Most Outstanding Preparation by a Deputy President - David Khanna from JCI London
(Award sponsored by Patricia Davies, Senator #60159)

David has been thoroughly involved in all aspects of running JCI London in 2016, the best preparation for leading the chamber in 2017. He has developed partnerships, initiated a leaders training programme for the council team, attended JCI UK national council meetings, supported the president in dealing with various governance questions and been involved in high profile events, such as welcoming the World President.

He has concentrated on developing the skills necessary to lead the chamber as president, including public speaking, chairing meetings, mentoring, coaching, member engagement and financial control.

David has undertaken a significant amount of preparation for 2017 including:

• Spent time with the 2016 team reflecting on lessons learnt from this year which have been used in 2017 planning.
• Started putting 2017 events in the diary from August 2016. 
• Set up board team training in Q4 to ensure the team are ready.
• Developed a quarterly update framework to be used in 2017 to measure and manage JCI London's progress against financial, governance, membership and events targets.
• Created a theme for 2017 designed to enhance the JCI brand in the city.
• Consulted key stakeholds such as past presidents, senators, JCI UK national board members and partners to learn and prepare as much as possible for his year as President.

Most Outstanding Local President - Paul Widger from JCI Manchester
(Award sponsored by Charles Eder, Senator #69491)

In 2016, Paul set out to empower members to take on projects that would sustain the chamber, develop the skills of those members and provide opportunities to other members. JCI Manchester is a strong chamber, which Paul took to the next level by setting stretch targets and introducing new programmes to expand the areas of opportunity offered.

Under Paul's leadership, JCI Manchester has achieved the most number of attendees to its events in a decade, attracted new corporate partners and enhanced its reputation in the city. He is a president who has shown immense passion for the organisation, shared his own story of personal development and developed key relationships for the benefit of the organisation.

Paul has initiated new programmes and relationships in the chamber; introducing a series of public speaking workshops, helping to reignite a twinning relationship, passionately promoting the issue of mental health and contributing to the Manchester Council Youth Leaders Panel.

It was clear to the judges how well Paul understands JCI and the role of President. He identified and implemented key strategies for leading the chamber successfully and always focused on the JCI mission of providing development opportunities. Paul recognised that the chamber is more than the president and encouraged others to step up to the spotlight. He also has an appreciation of the importance of the role of the Immediate Past President and will no doubt do a superb job at this in 2017.