The girls at the 2007 Harriet Braiker Leadership Retreat were asked:
What was the most important skill you think you learned this weekend?

Following are some of their verbatim responses.

"There is a time to lead and a time be be led."

"Everything! This was one of the most productive weekends I've ever had, and one of the best experiences!"

"How to go about getting things done."

"That I have more leadership skills than I thought."

"Being able to put personal problems aside and channel personal hardships toward benefiting others."

"How much I can make a difference."

"Asserting myself at times and stepping back and listening at other times."

"To listen more.  I'm usually the girl who talks and offers ideas, but sometimes I need to be a follower, too."

"Confidence in speaking."

"Stay true to yourself."

"How to be yourself and act naturally."

"I often dominate conversations so this weekend helped me to learn to monitor how much I speak and to monitor my intensity level."

"Trusting other people and being confident in other people.  I feel like I could tell any girl in here about anything with the confidence that they've got my back."

"Dealing with conflict."

"Learning how to take a step back, study the knowledge that was given, make my own opinion, and apply it to everyday life."

"Friends will always be there, and don't judge people so quickly."

"The best thing I learned was how much gets accomplished when you communicate, listen, and think logically."

"The 'Power and Influence' topic was incredibly helpful in learning how to get people to follow you."

"It is bad to be perfect and I should be happy with who I am."

"You need to communicate in order to be successful."

"How to work together, and why that's important."

"To just be myself."

"Working together with others to achieve a goal and spreading the leadership."

"To be confident in myself and my abilities."

"I learned about teamwork and trusting."

"Letting my peers lead and listening as opposed to taking charge and being bossy."

"Learning when to step up."

"Being able to collaborate with people and how to compromise."

"Confidence."

"The types of power people convey."

"Friends are your family."

"Assertiveness."

"Communication."