Youths step out of your comfort zone

One of the primary and ever-increasing global challenges of this century is finding and nurturing future leaders.Many world leaders, leadership scholars, spiritual leader and mentors express concern about the need for developing, training and grooming the future leaders.

We are living in a world that is segmenting into antagonistic groups – racism, sexism, imperialism, homophobia, tribalism, terrorism, and ethnic cleansing. These thorny social issues are splitting the world apart.

The Americas and European are now divided by a culture of fear and uncertainty, while Asia displays a culture of hope; the Middles East- Muslim world is trapped in a culture of humiliation, and revolution, while Africa is trapped in a culture of corruption and bad leadership. We see a world of continuing conflict between ideologies, races and classes. Paradoxically, as conflict divides our world, scientific progress and technology innovation is linking people and nations together through social media such as Facebook, text messages, Twitter, etc. The more we communicate through these innovative means, the more we create a hellish world. It is also a world in which about 60 percent of the world population is under 30 years. Many leadership experts argue that the greatest need of this era is not doctors, MBA’s, lawyers, educationists, religious leaders, farmers, accountants, sportsmen and women, entertainers or even IT professionals but leaders. The greatest need of this century will not be finding cures for cancer, HIV, and AIDS, but finding genuine and authentic leaders.

There is not a doubt that the professionals and careers mentioned above have made significant contributions to our society and continue to do so. However, the greatest global change in this century is nurturing people for courageous and compassionate leadership, finding men and women who are capable of bringing lasting solutions to the myriad problems facing our planet through authentic, wise, courageous and compassionate leadership.

Today, there is a leadership vacuum in many nations and corporations around the globe and a widespread call for a new kind of leadership is paramount. Leadership scholars urge for the kind of leadership – transformational change leadership which motivates and inspires people to action and change. Prof. Rosabeth Moss Kanter at the Advanced Leadership Initiative, Harvard University, said that, “Leadership as the ability to motivate people to take action and create change.” Studies have shown that there is inadequate supply of genuine leaders aged 55 and above. Some leaders are emerging between ages 40-54, while there is a huge gap of leaders between 24-40, very small between 18-24 and non-existent between age11-17.

Bishop Christopher Lewis speaking at Bible Victory New Testemant Church Of God with the theme “This Generation”, said that “The youth are the world’s greatest asset.” He is absolutely right because the true asset of any nation are not natural resources, not even technology but human resources. There is no doubt then that the young people, the future leaders, inventors, scientists, engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, lawyers, philosophers, poets, writers, thinkers, etc., are Guyana’s richest assets.

The question one must ask is this, how are the politicians and business leaders harnessing its young manpower? I asked that question because I suspect that the cabals and crop of politicians, who had been managing the affairs of our nation especially for the last nineteen years, do not seem to comprehend the fact that the youth and those yet unborn are Guyana’s greatest asset and are face with numerous challenges.

One must understand that the problems facing today’s youth are not restricted to any one ethnic or religious group, but affect young people generally.Most discussions on youth have focussed on issues such as drug abuse, crime, violence, sexuality and poverty. In addition to these, today’s youth are afflicted by new challenges. These include: An Identity Crisis: Who am I? Lack of self confidence and low self esteem: I am worthless; A sense of hopelessness: Where am I going? Confusion and ambiguity concerning moral issues: What is right and wrong? The negative impact of the electronic media: Entertainment; Competitiveness in education: the uneven playing field: Excellence by whom? Not Me.

One may define the ideal youth as a balanced individual exhibiting a highly spiritual life informed by absolute moral values and whose behaviour demonstrates qualities such as righteousness, honesty, humility and conscientiousness in everything he/she does. Historically, the older generation has managed to transmit their beliefs, values, traditions, customs, worldviews and institutions to the younger members of their societies.

This was achieved largely because of the impact of agencies of socialization, such as the family, religion and the schools. Today the impact of these institutions has been challenged and undermined by new forces, particularly the internet and the television. Our present educational system has trivialized religious devotion and relativized moral commitment. Therefore, the youth of today does not have the moral guidance to be able to pursue the right course when faced with a moral dilemma.

I also have a suspicion, that the elderly politicians, and civil rulers of Guyana, do not know how to pass the mantle of leadership, which is a key measure of authentic and great leadership.

Our leaders must recognize the need and urgency to groom the young people for leadership and participation in global economy and information know-how. Albert Einstein once said, “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” I believe such dynamic, effective and bold communication skills are required for authentic and transformative leadership.The Guyanese youth must be trained, educated and prepared for 21st century leadership. The 21st century has been dubbed as “Gen–Tech.” which is the name they preferred to be called.

The high technology revolution – social media, wireless gadgets and broadband technologies will rule the world for major part of this century.

In fact, the century will not only be a century of conflict, crisis, chaos and demand for freedom, but will be a century in war for technology talents. This century will be defined as a high tech generation.  It is estimated that 75 percent of jobs in the global job market for most nations will be technical jobs, high tech, green IT and so forth. The world is changing at a rapid pace. While older folks favor the tried, the tested and the familiar, young people are used to flux and to change. We young people are aware of the changes going on in our lives and in the world around us. Sometimes, we feel powerless to deal with these changes and these difficulties. We feel buffeted by winds too strong for our sails. We even feel as if we are adrift amid these powerful currents that could undermine our identities, our skills and the foundation of our being.

The point is, however, we are becoming a really important force in the world. We are the movers of the world. Youth Leadership is a lot like a concert. Too often, people want to remain comfortable in the concert grounds as spectators—they enjoy the show but do not participate in the crazy job of organizing the concert. If leadership is like a concert, then the spectators and fans are followers, while the leaders are in the backstage and the center stage performing and helping make the concert a great one. A lot of young people are content to be spectators and part of the audience. They enjoy the show but they wait for others to put up a show for them. They wait for things to happen. A lot of young people are afraid to get out of their comfort zone; they don’t want to rock the boat. They remain as followers and spectators instead of becoming active participants in shaping their lives and the society they live in. Some young people also become spectators because they have no choice but to become breadwinners in their families—they work a lot, or they go abroad to support their family and get out of poverty. They can no longer find the time to pursue other things and become leaders in their fields.

It is with discrepancy that young people undertake more voluntary work than any other generation, and young people themselves are setting up new organisations such as Global Youth Movement, whose purpose is to challenge the traditional perception that youths are apathetic, lazy and disaffected and to create a link between developmental organization and youths.

But the many advances of the past few years highlight two big questions. The first is why does all this commendable activity have little or no impact on more traditional routes of political engagement? The answer surely lies in enjoyment and efficacy. Young people prefer relating to each other and doing stuff which is designed around how they want to work. They want to see a direct impact from their engagement. The second question is whether youth engagement will create the political activists of the future. This is a call for youths to step out of the comfort zone. Be more than just spectators. Do something. Pursue your dreams and your goals. Become a leader and help change Guyana