Pochology Academy Conducts Leadership Training for Tabaco City SK Officials

On February 26, over 20 Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Officials travelled to the beautiful islands of Boracay in Aklan to attend a whole-day leadership training, held at Le Soleil de Boracay Hotel. The training was conducted by Pochology Academy, led by Filipino motivational speaker Pocholo “The VoiceMaster” Gonzales.

The morning session was facilitated by Ada Cuaresma, one of the trainers of Pochology Academy. Ada started the workshop with an icebreaker activity to prepare the participants for the learning for the whole day. She then proceeded to the workshop proper with her presentation called “REAL Talk: The Heart of Influential Leadership,” which centered around the leader’s primary role of cultivating an environment of trust. Ada’s “REAL Talk” provided an in-depth discussion of the topic by defining trust, understanding the reasons people trust, and the skills and qualities a leader must develop in order to become an instrument of trust.

After lunch, Pocholo came onstage to deepen the participants’ understanding of themselves. In his presentation entitled “Purpose Driven Leader,” Pocholo went back to the basics and unearthed the audiences’ mindset around their role as a leader in their community. Pocholo also shared the story of how, as a young teenager back then, he dreamt of serving his own hometown by being an SK official, a battle he unfortunately lost. He then revealed that losing the SK elections became a blessing as it led him to found his own youth organization Voice of the Youth Network, which earned him international recognition as a youth leader.

Pocholo shifted the discussion to the subject of PURPOSE, and gave the participants a set of questions for reflection in order for them to gauge their understanding and level of commitment on their role. He challenged the participants to evaluate their community and come up with projects that will empower the youth to contribute to positive change.

The afternoon session ended with a powerful activity, as Pocholo gave the participants time to write a letter to their “future self.” This visioneering activity empowered the SK officials to envision their accomplishments as leaders and as young active citizens of Tabaco City.