Learning Leadership From Youth

In the traditional way of thinking and learning elders pass knowledge to children. This has been the case for many generations. Now it is different. Technology started this-youngsters helping to reset the VCR, teaching parents about email, Facebook, iPhones. It is not just in the realm of technology that children and youth are teaching adults. Youth are teaching us about service to others, about sustainability, about living green, about saving our planet, about eliminating poverty, about environmental issues, and about the importance of working in ways that fit the values we believe in. This generation is closing the gap, letting go of individual competition and selfishness and finding ways to help us see the whole system, the interconnectedness of “we.” It is a movement, a shifting, an evolution of sorts that ripples into groups of youth making a difference in our world. They make a difference in their actions, in their big ideas, and in their fundraising, their incredible belief that they are the generation to save the planet. They are our hope. We need to let them lead and encourage them to lead us now, not wait, as we need to learn from them. I see this in the eyes of young children as they recycle as a matter of routine, reminding parents to bring their own shopping bags. I see this in the actions of youth travelling to developing countries to help in small ways with their own hands. I see this passion and I never want to see the passion fade. Leadership rises when we are faced with great challenges and believe in ourselves. We can best help the youth of today by supporting them to rise, to challenge the mold, to give them a different kind of space. Learn about the Goals of the United Nations for the year 2015. We can do it. The term “success” is defined differently by this generation- lets create space- in the media, in our conversation, in our world for them to be successful- the life of our planet depends on it.