Be the change: I’m not a youth leader, by Mandy Siu

October 21, 2009 in be the change series | Comments

Tags: ,

Hey there! Thanks for checking out my blog. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed to receive updates. Thanks for visiting!

There is an old saying: “Lead, Follow or Get out of the Way”. I first heard this on Idiocracy, a hilarious social commentary of a movie, and it has really stuck with me. In this day and age when youth leadership is a phase thrown around a lot, it really got me thinking about what it means to be a youth leader.

You see, I am not a youth leader. If I were to describe myself, I’d be a youth follower, or even a youth loner since I dislike crowds, hate public speaking and generally not ambitious or clever enough to start my own projects or build houses for Habitat for Humanity in Guatemala. I was totally unengaged in high school and only somewhat to not at all engaged in university and one experience in university pretty much put an end to my participation in anything.

Oh and strictly speaking, I’m not even a youth. I’m 25 and would prefer the term “young professional” but depending on where you are, youth can be anywhere from 12 to 35. So broadly speaking, I still fit into the youth category.

I also work for a human rights organization that fosters youth leadership and education as a communications coordinator, have organized two international youth conferences and am fairly knowledgeable in current events, international relations and Canadian politics (it helps that my degree is in Political Science).

Some people are naturally outgoing and leadership comes easily to them but I am pretty introverted and don’t have the greatest socializing skills. For me, taking the lead does not come naturally and it can be quite a chore, so much so that I prefer not to take the lead if I can avoid it. There will be some who criticize that as laziness or apathy but that’s the thing. Some youth just aren’t suited to be team leaders, whether they are not experienced enough or are naturally introverted and it galls me when all politicians or community leaders talk about is building the capacity of youth leaders.

What about the rest of us, middle of the pack, boring, introverted, loner kids who don’t want to be forefront and centre? What about us not-so-motivated-but-still-interested kids who would be willing to put in time and effort to be part of a team and accomplish a collaborative goal? Yes, self-motivation is an important quality to have when it comes to taking action but take it from me, self-motivation isn’t inherent and you can’t expect someone who doesn’t naturally take charge to, well, take charge and be motivated about something. I am motivated by external stimuli, not internal ones, and I suck at taking personal initiative to accomplish anything but given the right motivation (my cause) and great leadership (my current mentors), I have learned how far I can push my boundaries and how much further I can still go.

There will be those who will proudly and loudly proclaim that this kind of thinking (following rather than leading) encourages apathy and laziness since youth are already unmotivated to take action. Most people who say this, I find, tend to be extroverted go-getters who are already inclined to be leaders or take leadership positions. I’d argue that leadership isn’t spontaneous and takes time and development and getting a youth involved is more important, to me anyways, than to make sure they all develop their own projects. I once complained to my younger brother, who happens to be one of these extroverted go-getter types, that in comparison to my older colleagues, I was the least motivated, the least passionate and the least leader-like member of our team. To which my 21 year old brother replied with a snort, “The only thing they have over you is experience at being leaders and that comes with time.”

My youth won’t last forever and neither will yours but I believe that when it’s all over, I won’t be a youth anymore but I will be a leader. And it won’t matter that I wasn’t super motivated or super engaged when I was 18, or 21 or even 23. In the two years since I graduated from university, I’ve already taken the first of many long hard steps towards being the change I want to be and I did it by following, not leading.

The Changemaker

Mandy Siu is a twenty-something communications coordinator for a human rights organization in Canada with a degree in political science. Her interests in the field of political science range from Canadian politics to youth engagement and leadership. Funny fact about Mandy is that she has organized more youth conferences then she has ever attended and thinks that ought to change before she is no longer a youth.

  • Share/Save/Bookmark

Related posts:

  1. Be the change: Dream Education, by Carlos Miceli
  2. Be the change: Inspiring by passion - not persuasion, by Kristina Lugo
  3. The Be the Change series comes to an end…
  4. Be the change: Palestine - One of the Key Moral questions of our Time, by Alex Lobov

  • Leslie_Forman
    Mandy, this is an excellent post! I agree: leadership and starting projects is kind of overrated, especially if the future of the project depends on the involvement of the person who started it.

    Your comments remind me of this book called Followership. I haven't actually read it but it looks like it addresses the same issue that you focus on here. For an organization to be effective, there must be loyal and committed followers. Here's the link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Followership-Followers-Cr...

    I also agree with your point in the previous comment, that working in non-profits can quickly lead to frustration and cynicism. A friend of a friend captured this in a satirical screenplay she wrote called "The Cause," about the politics and ridiculousness that often appear inside these organizations.

    A part of me thinks you're not giving yourself enough credit. You've been working hard to make big events happen, and get others involved in the cause. That sounds like excellent work to me - nothing like mediocrity!

    Thanks Mandy for sharing your perspective!
  • Mandy
    Hi Leslie,

    Thank you. :) It seems to me that the social justice language revolves around the concept of collaboration and cooperation rather than competition but leaders/followers instinctively put people into a hierarchy that isn't always egalitarian. It's great that people can take the lead and take charge whilst doing a project but again, good followers are hard to come by.

    Mind you, I should clarify that I think active following is what I'm advocating, rather than passive reacting. Social justice requires more than just voting or angrily denouncing government then doing...nothing.

    Leadership is a learned skill, not an inherent gift, I think. Thanks for that book link, I'm sure to check it out.

    Oh, believe me. I'm really proud of my accomplishments and my achievements especially with regards to the GYA since it was a massive endeavour but this is the thing about being a good follower--you rarely get any credit. So if you're an egomaniac (and I can be one sometimes), being a follower is not a good calling. But seriously, they weren't kidding about teamwork back in kindergarten.
  • I have to agree with Leslie.. you definitely don't give yourself enough credit! You've accomplished such great things and I think when you end saying "I believe that when it’s all over, I won’t be a youth anymore but I will be a leader" -- I think you have ALREADY become this leader you're talking about :)
  • Mandy, I absolutely love this post and thank you so much for your perspective. You're right in that we aren't all natural born leaders but that doesn't mean we can't be involved in our own ways. Having the right motivations and mentors play such a huge role in everyone's lives, including those so called youth leaders. That's the reason why I keep stressing the point that everyone cares and just need an avenue to become involved and work towards that collaborative goal you talked about. Not everyone is going to start their own projects (and not everyone should), but if given the opportunity and the push, most people would be more than happy to take part and contribute to the bigger vision. This is why I choose to do what I'm doing now (see my guest post on this blog), because I know so many people who are working around me would love to find out how they can also be the change, but by following, not leading.

    I also do think it's a problem when too much attention is paid to training the next leaders. From time to time it has become too much of a popularity contest and people start going after the glamour.

    This gotta be one of my favorite posts that I've read lately. Great perspective. Thanks Mandy.
  • Ruby, I completely agree with your point that we are all so focused on training the next leaders - just look at all the programs like Teach for America, all the social innovation contests, etc that focus on leaders.

    What about engaging the rest -- we need FOLLOWERS too to make a movement.

    I feel like focusing so much on leadership and the top talent really detracts from building a collaborative movement for social change. There's gotta be collaboration amongst everyone for a movement to truly catalyze. This focus alienates people who might not want to be at the front of the pack, and those who don't want to dedicate their lives to this work but are still interested.
  • Mandy
    Thanks Ruby! I saw your post and I was going to comment on how I was actually moving towards the private sector because I have become increasingly disillusioned by the non-profit sector (the money sucks, the politics suck and while I love my colleagues and my work, I'm also become more cynical rather than hopeful so...yeah).

    The way I figure it, most youth who are leaders now (in this age demographic) are usually kids who a) have motivated parents, b) are naturally outgoing and c) found mentors early on. I had none of the above and it has been an intense struggle (one that I still feel although it's lessened somewhat) for me. I know a lot of career professionals will advise you to be the top of the pack, leader in the game, but I've always rather preferred to be that person that doesn't say much but is everyone's go-to. In my own head, leaders come and go but good administrators will always be needed. I know this one youth leader who does phenomenal things, is a great leader, inspires others, but he and his organization would fall completely apart without his assistant/secretary/best friend who literally kept him from flying off the handle.

    Some people have criticized me (not here but in conversations) on encouraging mediocrity but honestly, I think mediocrity makes the world go around. I rather be mediocre and content then a superstar and overstressed. That's my selfish entitlement. :)
blog comments powered by Disqus