YWLC Let’s Connect & Play
- Young Women's Leadership Connection
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
What happens when you swap standard leadership workshops for an interactive board game?
That's the question we walked away with after our Let's Connect & Play event - a small, intimate afternoon curated by our Member Engagement subcommittee in collaboration with Almost Peaceful.
Most of our community events are built around connecting with one other. This session offered something unique: a chance for our members to connect with themselves before connecting with others.
We kept the guest list small, hosted at *SCAPE - the White Space, we kept the gathering small to foster deeper, more meaningful conversations. With good food, warm interactions, and a quick pre-game survey, participants settled in before the real reflection began.
Turning Off Autopilot
Before diving into the game, our host for the day, Ariel Tan from the Member Engagement subcommittee, posed a question to the room: How many of you have ever nodded along in a conversation while secretly thinking about dinner plans, or an email you forgot to send?
It's a feeling everyone instantly recognises: the "autopilot reflex," the habit of giving safe, polite answers while staying comfortably on the surface. The event was our attempt to turn autopilot off, allowing curiosity to replace small talk, so that we could learn more about ourselves in the way we engage with others.
Leading Self, Before Anything Else
Our Director of Member Engagement, Evonne Li, opened the session by spotlighting recently refreshed YWLC's Leadership Competency Framework 2.0, developed by our Leadership Development subcommittee. As she put it to the room, today invited us to pause before connecting with others first - it was "a reflection on how you show up for yourself first, before showing up for others."
The framework itself has three layers:
Leading Self — self-awareness, confidence, resilience, emotional intelligence
Leading Others — trust, influence, inclusion, decision-making
Leading With Impact — innovation, sustainability, purpose-driven strategy
Leadership goes beyond a title or a promotion. Ultimately, it's a way of choosing to be present, even on the days that aren't rosy. It starts from within, expands through the people around us, and eventually grows into something bigger and with meaningful impact.
How the Game Worked
The board game titled Unscripted Us, brought to life by Almost Peaceful's Angela and Zhi Shien - turned that framework into something our participants could actually feel and reflect on with each round.
Scattered across the table were chips built around curiosity, active listening, and showing appreciation: little tokens that players could hand to one another in response to their answer, as a way of saying I heard that, or tell me more!
Each round of the game centered on thoughtful questions tied to the Leadership Competency Framework. Players took turns at writing out their answers to share within the group. To finally close off all the rounds, each participant was provided with a Vision Board sheet, for them to fill in and map out who they actually want to become across all three leadership pillars.
What We Walked Away With
The game illustrated the framework, while also giving our members the chance to put it into practice through reflective questions, starting right at the foundation. Each of the prompts brought us back to the concept of Leading Self: the choices we make when no one's monitoring us, the instincts we find ourselves falling back on, and the innermost values we cherish.
The afternoon reminded each of us of strengths we don't always give ourselves credit for, and served as a reminder that before we can lead others or drive true impact, we first have to know how we show up for ourselves.
As our emcee, Ariel, closed the session with a thoughtful reminder that meaningful connections are unlikely to happen through rehearsed elevator pitches. Instead, connections can unfold organically when we give ourselves permission to be curious, open, and take our conversations off the regular script.
Thank Yous
A massive thank you to Member Engagement Subcomiittee, Evonne Li, Ariel Tan and Vanessa Lee as well as Angela and Zhi Shien from Almost Peaceful for facilitating the day's magic, and to *SCAPE, The White Space for generously hosting us in such a beautiful space. We also got to surprise our facilitators with handmade gifts from 'Journey', a community supporting artists with disabilities - a small way of paying the day's spirit forward.
Get Involved
Curious about YWLC's Member Engagement community, or want to help shape experiences like this one? Member Engagement subcommittees are always looking for people who want to build moments like this alongside us. Reach out at engagement@ywlc.org.sg, we'd love to have you at the table next time.
Member Engagement Director: Evonne Li
Organising Committee: Vanessa Lee, Janani Nadarajan, Ariel Tan, Jerika Sia, Jovy Teiw, Ann Chai, Hon Liang Yi, Tan Zi Wei, Tan YangTing
Venue Sponsor: *SCAPE, The White Space
