Each year, Dads4Kids hosts a Men’s Leadership Summit to equip men to be the best version of themselves.
Helping Hands joined Dads4Kids and over 60 men from across Australia to see how fathers and sons of all ages, cultures and nationalities are being given the tools to make the world a better place.
“Our core principle is building men, growing fathers, changing generations,” says founder, Warwick Marsh. He was inspired to begin the work of Dads4Kids when he realised the unresolved pain of broken relationships in his childhood continued to impact him into his adult years.
Warwick’s son, Nathaniel, is Operations Manager of Dads4Kids. He programs the annual Summit to provide support to men and fathers, who, he says, have many roles and responsibilities in life and want to execute every single one of them well.
“They travel here (to the Summit) to really learn how to be better men, better dads, better husbands, partners, better leaders in their communities and businesses. It’s all about bettering each other and being the best versions of ourselves that we can be.”
The Men’s Leadership Summit is an opportunity for men to share and be real; to learn about themselves and how they relate to loved ones; and to be challenged and grow new relationships with other like-minded men. Attendees are challenged to take home all they’ve learned, apply it to their everyday lives and be excited about the positive change they can orchestrate in themselves, their families and communities.
“It’s so important for a man to have a sense of his purpose, identity and self,” says one of three guest speakers over the weekend, Brett Davis. “Everything we do, ideally, shouldn’t just come out of our sense of responsibility, or guilt, or ‘what I should do’, but really flow from who you are.”
Over the weekend, attendees benefit from participating in challenges that aren’t a usual part of everyday life, such as archery, taking a ride on a giant 20-meter swing, and writing letters to loved ones.
These experiences are just as important as listening to the keynote speakers, Nathaniel says, because life brings many difficulties and challenges for men to overcome. To triumph over a challenge within the safe environment of the Summit builds confidence to take positive steps in life as challenges come.
“We hear stories from past Summits of a ripple effect through peoples’ families, positive changes in their community, business, lives; reconnecting, learning, growing, sharpening each other,” Nathaniel says. “Dads have incredible impact on their kids, and on their families. And healthy masculinity can do great things for the community.”
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