State president Dale Hayers said the group of 20 who met at Quercus Park, Carrick, comprised Rural Youth members from across the state, as well as Agfest volunteers and the public.

“They’ve come out to grow their leadership skills,” Mr Hayers said.

“Rural Youth works really closely with UTAS on collaborative training and engagement on different projects,” he said.

The two-day course covered working with different personality types, a leadership panel, emotional intelligence, trust and influence, communications skills, conflict resolution and the difference between managing and leading.

Agfest chairman Owen Woolley said the personality component would be useful as the event drew nearer.

“It covered how we can best communicate with the different personality types, so knowing how everything is acknowledged by the different personalities,” Mr Woolley said.

“Sometimes you need to be a listener or you might need to complement and provide advice, or you need to help them and provide a plan moving forward, or lots of different strategies,” Mr Hayers said.

University of Tasmania Community Engagement & Development coordinator Leanne Arnott said there was an alignment between the university’s social mission and Rural Youth’s work in regional communities.

“These are those up and coming leaders in those communities,” Ms Arnott said.

“One of the key messages is you don’t have to have a formal leadership role within an organisation to be a leader,” she said.

Working with such emerging leaders gives the college an opportunity to develop potential students for its degrees.

Mr Hayers said he had noticed how many new members were introverts, but developed empowering skills within the organisation.

“A lot of employers have told us that having Rural Youth as a community engagement tool on your resume is more likely to improve your employability,” he said.

“They’re skills that we can actually provide with our services and enable our members to achieve better things,” Mr Woolley said.

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