From January 25^th through January 27^th, the Naval Academy hosted their annual Leadership Conference, bringing together delegates from sixty institutions nationwide, both military and civilian. Three BRLI sophomores attended the conference: Chase Silverman, Molly Novak and Sam Chauvin. This year's theme was "Referent Leadership: Cultivating Relationships", and explored the challenges of building and sustaining relationships across different borders, cultures, and generations in a way that is authentic. After the conference, Chase, Molly and Sam provided a reflection on their experience:

Although only one of us had ever been to Annapolis before the Naval Leadership Conference, we were all eager to return once the conference concluded. Attending the Conference was one of the best experiences we have had at Cornell thus far. Even though the conference took us out of our comfort zones, the payoff was well worth it. The conference was smoothly run, and the Midshipmen couldn't have been nicer; not only were the speakers extremely engaging, but they had leadership credentials that were unmatched.
We learned a great deal by listening to the keynote speakers and panelists that spoke over the three days. Further, we were able to engage in 90-minute breakout discussion sessions with the other conference attendees to spark deeper conversation about the ideas raised in the lectures and panels. Among the subjects covered were the themes of leading across cultures, leading across generations and developing personal relationships with the other members of your team or organization. Although there was a large focus on military leadership, speakers frequently mentioned leadership in the corporate world. The phrase, "leadership is leadership" was often heard throughout the conference. We learned that the leadership skills absorbed in Annapolis can be applied to all aspects of our life whether it be on the track team at Cornell, in the workforce after graduation, or in the military.
The most constructive part of the leadership conference were the breakout discussions. We sat with the same group of people for all of these sessions, so we soon became comfortable with each other. As a result, there was no longer a need at the beginning of sessions to "break the ice". There were nine or ten people at each table, a mix of Midshipmen, ROTC and civilians. The conversations were gratifying because we discussed how to take leadership skills from one aspect of life and apply it to another. We appreciated the military perspective on leadership, and similarly, they appeared to enjoy hearing a sports leadership perspective. One of the most important lessons we learned was "There is not a single way to be a leader; a good leader is always attempting to refine their skills, use feedback and input effectively".
Midshipmen First Class Richard Ngyuen and Matthew Flores gave us a tour of the Academy, and answered our inquiries about their experiences. We learned new facets of leadership, but the most important lesson we learned from our short time there was: "We all have a profound amount of respect for the sacrifice and service of the midshipmen, and for that matter, all servicemen and women that serve our nation. Not only do they make large contribution to our welfare, but they do so with the utmost humility. They make us confident in our future as a country and proud to say we live in the United States of America".
We hope to effectively take and apply the skills we learned at the conference to better support the Big Red Leadership Institute. A big thank you to the Naval Academy for hosting the 2016 Naval Leadership Conference and to BRLI and Cornell Athletics for providing us with this experience!
-Chase Silverman, Molly Novak and Sam Chauvin