An opportunity for Iowa State Students to build their leadership skills begins with the Leaders Workshop Series. The first workshop will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Gallery Room of the Memorial Union.

The series is made up of four workshops hosted at 6 p.m. each Wednesday for four weeks. The last workshop will be Oct. 9.

“All four sessions focus on leadership skill development,” said Erica Swanson, coordinator for Leadership and Student Organizations. “So each session focuses on a specific topic related to leadership and being a leader both on and off campus, and what that means.”

Each workshop will give the students a chance to engage in activities and discussions about leadership and how they can grow as a leader.

“The series as a whole is really an opportunity for students to come and hear from different experts around campus about different leadership topics and skill areas,” Swanson said. “Students can come to all the sessions, they can come to one, they can come to a combination of a few. It’s really up to them to make their experience what they want.”

Swanson said each workshop will be focused on a different topic with a different guest speaker.

“We definitely chose speakers who we knew would be able to speak to the topic of the week and really make the session their own, and we knew would be engaging speakers and interactive speakers and who had a lot of knowledge on the topic and could then in turn really facilitate a great discussion,” Swanson said.

The first workshop is titled, “Inspiring Action.” Kyle Williams, assistant teaching professor for Liberal Arts and Sciences Administration, will lead the first workshop focused on self-motivation and team empowerment.

“Inspiring Action” will be all about guiding the students to figure out why they are a leader and learn how to encourage others to think about it as well.

The second workshop, hosted Sept. 25, is called, “Overcoming Organizational Challenges.” The speakers for this workshop will be Swanson and David Garsow, residence life coordinator in the Residence Halls department.

This second workshop will be about self-awareness and team harmony, and those attending will discuss how to get themselves organized and work with others. The students will think about how they manage their personal conflict and the conflict of their team members when working in groups.

“Preparing For Your Career” is the third workshop, which will take place Oct. 2 and be led by Angela Wagner, program coordinator for Liberal Arts and Sciences Student Academic Services.

“Preparing For Your Career” is centered around self-confidence and team success. An emphasis will be put on students building confidence in their skills as leaders and how to use their skills to work toward goals they have for their career.

Lastly, “Living Your Best Life” will be on Oct. 9 and focus on self-care and team wellness. Peer Wellness Educators from Student Wellness will present the fourth and final workshop.

Students will learn how to participate in positive self-care and what to do when they feel overwhelmed with the pressures that come with being a leader.

This series is free and available to all Iowa State students. Students can find more information about the Leaders Workshop Series by visiting sac.iastate.edu/lws, which is also where they can register for the series and select the workshops they are interested in attending. If students have any questions they can email [email protected].