The Mandate of Youth Leadership

Title: Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: The Importance of Youth Leadership

In today's rapidly changing world, the need for effective and visionary leaders is more critical than ever. As we navigate complex global challenges, from climate change to social justice, it's the youth who often bring fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to the forefront. Youth leadership is not just a buzzword; it's a catalyst for positive change.

1. A Fresh Perspective: Young leaders approach problems with a fresh set of eyes. Unburdened by preconceived notions, they challenge the status quo and question why things are the way they are. This fresh perspective can lead to breakthrough ideas and unconventional solutions.

For those of charged with helping youth acquire the skills necessary to move into leadership roles, teaching them to harness that natural creativity is mandatory. In this area, I follow Creative Mindset Strategist Dr. Sofie Nubani’s lead, “Remember, innovation is not just about coming up with new ideas but also about executing them successfully. Be sure to validate your ideas, test prototypes, and iterate based on feedback.”

2. Diversity and Inclusion: Youth leadership encourages diversity and inclusion. This current young generation in particular has a strong sense of social justice and equality. They strive to create inclusive spaces where everyone's voices are heard, regardless of their background, gender, or ethnicity.

This generation is moving beyond binaries of black/white or male/female, allowing us to recognize what each human brings to the table, free from old sociological stereotypes. They also focus on abilities, not disabilities. Our new understanding of mental diversity allows everyone to participate in their areas of strength. True diversity and inclusion within an organization spawns social justice and equality societally.

3. Technological Savviness: In a digital age, youth leaders tend to be tech-savvy, which is a valuable asset in a world driven by technology. They understand the power of digital platforms for advocacy, education, and mobilization.

On the surface, it may seem that youth need no support in this area. But, Covid revealed a need for this age group to learn active listening skills to better leverage digital platforms for success. In engineering, the term used is ‘socially engaged engineering’ because at the end of the day, those scientific, technological geniuses are designing solutions for people; and communicating with a target population or client is mandatory for positive outcomes.

4. Fearlessness and Resilience: Young leaders are often unafraid to take calculated risks and embrace challenges. They have the resilience to bounce back from setbacks, learning from failures and using them as stepping stones toward success.

Mental health strategies can help youth to solidify their innate resilience, especially in times of change. For example, if they are able to frame any failure as just a valuable piece of information informing them where NOT to go on an emotional level, that helps them move forward with confidence. Justin Nolan works with troubled youth in this arena and hosts the @justkeeplearning.ca podcast to help.?

5. Empowering Other Youth: Young leaders inspire and empower their peers. When one young person takes the lead, it encourages others to follow suit. This ripple effect can create a generation of empowered, socially conscious individuals.

Helping those natural leaders to grow into themselves and enact known strategies to increase efficacy improves all our futures. Given unprecedented levels of violence across the US, their ability to resolve, mitigate and de-escalate conflict is vital for our communities.

6. Advocacy for a Sustainable Future: Youth leaders are passionate about environmental sustainability. They champion causes related to climate change, conservation, and sustainable living, ensuring a better future for generations to come.

Next generation solutions de-silo the conversation between environmentalists and corporations, incentivizing businesses to simply and economically change habits with an eye on sustainability. A longer term goal is to flip the corporate priorities; if a business first connects with their community, they escalate employee engagement, which naturally boosts innovation and ultimately increases shareholder wealth.

7. Bridging Generational Gaps: Youth leaders bridge generational gaps by fostering dialogue between different age groups. They recognize the importance of learning from the wisdom of older generations while infusing new ideas and energy into the conversation.

Strong communication skills are required for youth to be taken seriously at C Suite tables. Learning how to actually influence current heads of business so their new ideas get implemented takes a nuanced set of skills, contextualizing previous accomplishments into our needs on the horizon.

8. Community Building: Young leaders are often at the forefront of community-building efforts. They organize events, projects, and initiatives that strengthen bonds and enhance the sense of belonging within their communities.

For this community building to be successful, they need to combine all of the above capabilities on a larger scale with cultural sensitivity and an orientation towards details. They need to work together as a team for these events, which requires them to understand themselves and others.

9. Developing Life Skills: Leadership at a young age helps develop essential life skills such as those mentioned above along with problem-solving, and being results oriented. These skills are not only beneficial for leadership roles but also for personal growth and success in various fields.?

More fundamental still is understanding how to lead a values-based life and how ‘audacious goals’ become an action plan. One isn’t just born with knowing when to dig-in and when to move on. These complex concepts are realized in the next generation from the wisdom of those who have tred those paths.

10. Building a Better Tomorrow: Ultimately, youth leadership is an investment in the future. Young leaders lay the foundation for a world that values collaboration, innovation, and social progress. They inspire hope for a brighter and more equitable future.

As a society, we must recognize and nurture the potential of our young leaders. Encouraging youth leadership programs, mentorship opportunities, and platforms for youth to voice their ideas is essential. Together, we can harness the passion and energy of our youth to create a world where leadership knows no age limits and where everyone has the opportunity to lead by example. The importance of youth leadership cannot be overstated; it's the cornerstone of a brighter and more promising future.