Leadership
The word “leadership” is a word that I find really interesting. It is one of those words that is abused, misused and well and truly overused.
It is a bit like the word “vibrant” – when I was young, you hardly used that word. But when you heard it, ”vibrant” really felt like a truck full of colour hitting you in the face. Today, I feel it has become a bit washed out. You hear “vibrant personality”, “vibrant colour scheme”, etc etc. It just doesn’t paint that colourful picture anymore. Similarly, the word “Leadership” – we relate it to popularity and having followers that listen and support your every opinion. It just doesn’t seem to paint the same picture anymore.
Leadership is about so much more than being popular. In fact, demonstrating leadership is doing what you know and believe is right for the greater good and is not always easy, palatable or popular for everyone around you. Great leaders demonstrate foresight and vision regardless of contemporary opinion. A great leader is someone who has a vision of what the world ought to be. A great leader has the desire and drive to turn dreams into reality. Great leaders can see the sparks in young peoples eyes and encourage them to use that spark to ignite their imagination, because good leadership is contagious. They don’t do or say things just to look like they have made cool decisions. They commit to making it happen and then (like the Nike logo), "Just Do It".
Former American President Harry Truman once said, “that in periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better”.
I believe that, today, leadership is a tough task for you as students because there are few role models for leadership today. This is why in some places our society stands still. That is because people are mistaking popularity for leadership. We need a new generation of leaders who understand the real meaning of leadership – not the washed out version. We need leaders that understand its demands, its need for vision and most importantly virtue. We live in a world where it seems the creed has become “get as much as you can as quickly as you can with the least amount of effort”. We live in a world that has a focus on our individual rights and a “not in my back yard” opinion. Sadly, this perpetuates bad decisions and a sense that we should believe in no one and trust no one. Without this trust no one wants to take responsibility for any one else - not even for themselves. It is much easier to blame someone else when things don’t go their way. It makes leadership seem almost impossible with that in mind.
But true leadership has great long lasting rewards – it allows us to leave a legacy and influence a better world. I have great faith in you, our young people, our future leaders and I believe that there is leadership potential in each of us as long as we desire for a better world. Perhaps it is a world where we are a “WE” community again instead of a “ME” community. Maybe that is what you will achieve as leaders and that will be your legacy. What an amazing legacy! Whatever it is ...you need to believe there is a time and place better than now and have a glimpse of the future.
Remember, you don’t need to wear a badge or be called captain to be a leader. You need to approach your life and studies with consideration of values such as truth, integrity, competence, commitment and most of all compassion and by this you will be demonstrating leadership to your fellow students and the community. Leaders don’t pretend to know everything but learn from errors and do it better next time.
Another former American President John F Kennedy once said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
Remember this as you head into your year of study here and I wish you all the best of luck for your futures as our new vibrant generation of young leaders.
