Today I am going to talk about a very controversial topic, and that is leading the youth. Call them Gen Z, Gen Y, Gen C for cellphone—whatever you want. They still need leadership, and in a very different way from the people who led us. They say, “A clever person learns from his mistakes, but a wise person learns from other people’s mistakes.” I have always believed that we all make mistakes, but when we do, we must “man up” and take responsibility. If you take responsibility, you are bound to learn a very important life lesson. If you don’t take responsibility, then you won’t learn a lesson—you’ll learn another excuse.
The Cellphone Generation
My take on the difference between today’s youth and when I was young is that we didn’t grow up with cellphones. So what are the implications of growing up with cellphones? The good things are that you can be in constant contact with friends and family members. Your parents can see when you arrive safely at your destination. You can pay with your phone, and you can take sunset pics if you don’t have a camera. I tried to think of more, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
The Pressures of a Connected World
The negative things are that our youth are constantly under social media “pressure.” Incidents that should not be on camera are always documented with photos or videos. How many times do we see drunk videos of students doing stupid things that were never documented in our time? Some of these incidents, which are normal for students, end up in the media and go viral. These can often destroy a person’s reputation and completely change the course of their life.
How Do We Lead This Generation?
So, how do we lead this generation that has grown up so differently from us? How do we inspire them to be the best version of themselves—to be authentic and not try to be like some random social influencer they follow on Instagram? I truly believe that we need to lead the youth with kindness, patience, and compassion. The era of “my way or the highway” is long gone, and the quicker we accept that, the better we will lead the youth.
The Qualities of Modern Leadership
I think our youth are far more responsible than we were. They don’t drink and drive—they Uber. They care more about the planet than we did at that age. The only way we can lead our youth is with love, kindness, compassion, gentleness, and faithfulness. Our job is not to try and force them into something, but to guide them gently with strong morals and ethics. Our leadership must be softer but more principled, gentle yet strong, strict but flexible. We need to lead with strong words but stronger examples. We need to create a joyful work environment, but be very strict on the basics of time and attendance.
Leadership Is Earned
We also need to earn trust and not expect it. No title will ever give you trust—you have to earn it on a daily basis by the way you treat the people you lead. Nobody ever said that leading the youth is easy, so enjoy the process.
GET IN TOUCH
If you would like to get in touch with me about my key note presentation, Debunking Motivation, please send an email to corne@cornekrige.com. Visit my website to review my speaker sheet for more info. I also share my story on my social media pages on Facebook and LinkedIn.