This year marked the 40th anniversary of the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme. As part of the celebrations, Tracey Camilleri (Associate Fellow and Programme Director, 2012 – 2022) and Gavin Weeks (Associate Fellow and Tutor) conducted research with alumni, supported by Sue Dopson (Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Academic Director of the OSLP). Consisting of interviews with 20 alumni and a survey completed by 67 alumni, the research focused on the impact of the OSLP, the experience of leading through the COVID pandemic and future leadership challenges.
The particular challenge of sustaining energy was one of the themes that emerged from our interviews. In this paper, we summarise some of the existing research and thinking related to energy and introduce themes and insights that emerged from our interviews.
Our research builds upon an existing focus on energy and vitality on the programme in sessions led by one of the authors of this paper (Gavin Weeks). This focus is in keeping with the ethos of the OSLP, where global and contextual issues are explored at the same time as personal leadership challenges.