One hundred and twenty leaders from across the Canada and Bermuda Territory gathered at Booth University College in Winnipeg in September for a Leaders' Summit.  

This gathering brought together Cabinet members, divisional leaders, area commanders, College for Officer Training leaders, divisional youth secretaries, divisional secretaries for business administration, department heads from territorial headquarters, divisional secretaries for public relations and divisional directors for employee relations. 

The focus of the weekend was leadership development. Thus, delegates were given the opportunity to identify immediate and future leadership needs and concerns, which will become priorities for the territorial leadership development department. Divisions and departments also had the chance to share about leadership development initiatives in their areas.

A significant component of the Leaders' Summit was the opportunity to react to a proposed capability framework which will guide the territory forward.  

"As an organization working in a world of constant change it is imperative that The Salvation Army adopt a framework to stay focused, and be consistent and clear in what we are trying to achieve and how we are going to go about achieving our mission," says Major Brian Armstrong, territorial leadership development secretary. "A capability framework is a set of detailed and behaviourally specific descriptions of the key behaviours, skills, knowledge, abilities and attributes that are required for successful performance for different roles in the Army."

The recommendation from the Leaders' Summit was that further research needs to take place before the Army can adopt the capability framework that was proposed. This recommendation was received and will be followed through by the leadership development department.

In addition to leadership development discussions, Majors Owen and Sandra Budden, corps officers at Heritage Park Temple in Winnipeg, gave their testimony of living and working through mental health challenges. This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Cole Cohen about mental health in the workplace.

Along with the Leaders' Summit, several other events took place that week, including the welcome of the Messengers of the Gospel Session of cadets and the installation of Booth University College's new president, Dr. Marjory Kerr.

"The dialogue, discussions and feedback from the Leaders' Summit will be a catalyst for the ongoing work required to develop a comprehensive territorial strategy," says Major Armstrong. "The summit was an opportunity for the whole territory to speak and co-create this strategy. We now move on to the next phase of looking at the feedback, making recommendations and then re-engaging the territory in further dialogue."