ARE YOU AT A LEADERSHIP DISADVANTAGE AS A YOUTH?

  Recently, I came across this quote "You are never to young to change the world," and it inspired me to come up with this article. You only get one chance at being a youth and when that opportunity passes you're left with memories.Those memories can either be good or bad, but the outcome is all up to you.

  The world is asking a lot of questions about the youths, Can they be trusted with leadership? Will they deliver on expectations when given the chance to lead? Do they have what it takes to generate results? You can't blame them for being cautious, because everything of importance in life hangs on leadership and the last thing you want to do is to be careless about the subject.

  It is widely believed that it takes experience to be an effective leader but history has shown an entirely different trend. In a world where experience has been married with age, it is getting increasingly difficult for young, innovative minds to fully demonstrate their leadership potential. It will interest you to know that some of the greatest leadership feats in history were attained by youths. Daisaku Ikeda was quoted as saying "History has always been shaped by the power of the youth."

  Today, I'll like to highlight three people from bible, contemporary and recent history who exhibited excellent leadership prowess at a young age.

1. Joseph: As a 17 year old boy he caught a vision for greatness that launched him into a leadership journey.(Gen. 37:2-11). He had embedded within him a leadership potential that even his parents could not see or recognize. Nevertheless, he kept on running the race with passion despite facing several setbacks along the way. By the time Joseph clocked thirty, he became the prime minister of Egypt and because of his excellent leadership quality and foresight, he was able to map out an agenda that turned Egypt to a world power.(Gen. 41:41-47,55-57) Various countries came to Egypt for aid and on top of that, the office of Pharaoh became the single most powerful office in the world at that time - because all the money in the land was gathered into Pharaoh's treasury.(Gen. 47:13-20). In my opinion, Joseph was not just a great leader, he is among the greatest leaders in human history.

2. Alexander III of Macedon: He is commonly known as Alexander the great. Alexander began his leadership journey at the age of 20 after the death of his father King Phillip II. He applied his decisive and strategic leadership qualities and expanded his kingdom to the far ends of the earth. At the age of thirty his kingdom spaneed from Greece to northwestern India. Throughout his lifetime, Alexander never lost a battle, he is regarded as one of the greatest military leaders that ever lived.

3. Bill Gates: William Henry Gates III began his leadership journey at the age of twenty, when himself and his partner Paul Allen launched Microsoft in 1975. His hard work, determination and creativity earned him his place as a leader. He was reported to have invested more 10,000 hours perfecting his programming skills in preparation for the launch of Microsoft. Although a university drop out, Gates rose to the very peak of leadership being ranked severally as the richest man in the world.

  What other reasons can stand against these proofs in confirming that being a youth does not place one at a leadership disadavantage. History has confirmed it and it is still happening today with the likes of Mark Zuckerberg reaffirming that the greatest leadership feats can be pioneered by young people.

  To all the youths out there, this is a call to the world of endless leadership possibilities. You don't have to be old to lead, you just have to have a heart in order to be an effective leader. Let your heart drive you to know more, develop yourself more, inspire others and  positively impact the world.

  No excuse is tenable for the failure of youths in leadership, if Joseph, Alexander and Gates could pull it off then every youth can do the same. The future of the world rests in the hands of the youths. This is the time to rise up as a young person and show the world what you're really made up of.....