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- 10.00am - 5.30pm
- FREE
- Chelsea, London
Finalists of the inaugural Leadership Essay Prize announced
Thursday, 18 May 2023
Today, the National Army Museum hosted an awards ceremony for the inaugural Leadership Essay Prize, a partnership between the Centre for Army Leadership (CAL) and the National Army Museum.
The awards ceremony was attended by staff from both organisations, as well as the finalists and their families. Major General Zac Stenning OBE, Commandant of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and Brigadier Justin Maciejewski, Director of the National Army Museum, presented the awards.
The essay competition, created in partnership between the two organisations, was open to short essays exploring the theme of leadership and emotional intelligence in both the Junior and Main categories.
Entrants were encouraged from both military and civilian backgrounds, and were asked to write about leadership and emotional intelligence from their own perspectives, and to draw on their own personal experience of leadership, whether that be a figure from their own lives or a historical role model.
The project’s first year was a huge success and builds on a long history of collaboration between the National Army Museum and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where CAL is based.
The National Army Museum's collection was originally housed at Sandhurst, where the Museum was founded in 1960. Today, the two institutions work together closely, and the Leadership Essay Prize demonstrates how important this relationship continues to be.
The winners will be offered the opportunity to publish their work in either National Army Museum or CAL publications. From over 100 entrants, four finalists were picked: a runner-up and winner for both categories.
Junior Category
Runner-up: Thomas Boyd
What Modern Leaders Can Learn from Lieutenant General Hal Moore’s Human Leadership: Emotional Intelligence and Leadership by Example
Thomas is 17 years old and studying History, Philosophy and Business for his A-Levels at King's College Taunton. He is in the Royal Marines Cadets.
Winner: Joshua Ralph
Emotional Intelligence Within Leadership
Joshua is a 2nd-year Economics student at the University of Southampton, Southampton UOTC, 1st year Ocdt.
Main Category
Runner-up: Andrew Fox
Leadership and Emotional Intelligence: The How to the What and the Why
Andrew is a retired Army officer and currently Senior Lecturer in Communications & Applied Behavioural Science at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Winner: Major Alex Paske
Courageous Conversations: An Essential Leadership Tool
A former elite athlete and a Commissioned Officer, Alex is currently employed within the Army Diversity and Inclusion Team.
Notes to editors
For more information, please contact the National Army Museum Communications Team at press@nam.ac.uk
About the National Army Museum
The National Army Museum shares the history and heritage of our soldiers and their service in the Army, across the globe and down the centuries. Through our collections we explore the history of the Army from its origins to the present day. We aim to engage and inspire everyone with the stories of our soldiers and how their service shapes our world; past, present and future.
About the Centre for Army Leadership
The Centre for Army Leadership (CAL) exists to champion Army leadership excellence in order to optimise the Army's edge and underpin operational success. The CAL is the guardian of the Army Leadership Doctrine, the codification of our philosophy. We act as the Army's leadership conscience, calibrating our thinking across multiple sectors and, through the CAL Research Institute, ensuring conceptual rigor. Furthermore, our persistent engagement seeks to stimulate debate, awareness, and critical thinking.
We are a small but dedicated team of theorists and practitioners, supported by advocates across the Army who share our passion for leader and leadership development. We are committed to the betterment of the Whole Army – all ranks, Regular and Reserve, through-life – and, altruistically, wider society.
