On February 12, Belmont Hill welcomed Mr. Ben Walden, a distinguished global speaker and Globe Theater actor, to the Hamilton Chapel as part of this year’s speaker program. Mr. Walden captivated students and faculty with his unique approach to leadership, emotional intelligence, and personal growth through Shakespeare’s stories. His visit provided an engaging and insightful experience, reinforcing the importance of storytelling in leadership development.
Teachers were first introduced to Mr. Walden last summer at the Harrow School in England at the annual International Boys School Coalition conference. There, he recited lines from Shakespeare’s Henry V that, according to Mr. George, comprised “a beautiful monologue about leadership, humility in leadership, and inspiring others.”
Nine months later, as part of Belmont Hill’s annual professional development day on February 10, Mr. Walden led a faculty workshop that explored the qualities of impactful leadership through a presentation of the same play. By closely analyzing King Henry’s journey alongside the works of Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung, the faculty reflected on the psychological components of leadership and how to hone a sense of purpose that best serves their students and community.
The following day, Mr. Walden gave an interactive speech in front of the student body that examined the type of education students need for building leadership skills and emotional intelligence. He identified the traditional school curriculum as “external education:” studying the outside world through history, language, math, and science. The study of one’s emotions and inner life is what Mr. Walden refers to as “internal education,” a topic that he stressed throughout his speech as having undervalued importance. Mr. Walden discussed the primary emotions that makeup one’s inner life—joy, fear, anger, and sadness—and allowed students to reflect on how each emotion’s presence in daily life.
The Belmont Hill community will look forward to continuing the Speaker Program on March 6 with Noelle Lambert, a former Division I Lacrosse athlete and Paralympian who persevered through a life-changing injury.