Leadership Among the Youth 
A Misunderstood Concept
By: Ahmed Harris R. Pangcoga
It really makes me wonder how easily the youth in either campus or community organizations and bodies, claim to be leaders publicly, or are acknowledged as leaders, by those around them without hesitation or even having second thoughts as to whether they actually are leaders or not. What unwritten criteria or standards have actually been set up by experts on student and youth leadership are there that have now been generally accepted by largely innocent young minds as the indicators that would pinpoint a leader from the rest?
Is it the sheer volume of certificates of participation accumulated from seminars, workshops, training and summits attended? Or is it the quantity of trophies and medals in one’s display cabinet? Is it the number of events and activities organized, perhaps? Or maybe is it the number of articles written in the school publication? Could it be the total number of organizations one has been an officer of at one time or another? Or, maybe even, is it the ability to articulate eloquently and “out-grandstand” other youth leaders in a gathering, be it small or large? Is it the number of speaking engagements and public appearances one has been invited to? Or, dare I say, is it the length of one’s resumé? If these are the standards now generally accepted as the criteria for determining what a true youth or student leader is, then Dr. Jose Rizal must be turning on his grave right now, after having said that, “The youth is the hope of the fatherland”
and then now seeing what youth and student leadership has been sloppily practiced and has, in effect, distressingly been relegated to by the current generation. If these are the standards that define what a young leader is, then there is no “hope of the fatherland” to talk about.
So what is the value of organizing a forum here, a seminar there, a public action now and then, or even a concert on occasion? They are merely advocacy work. Awareness campaigns or – for lack of a more graphic description – futile and shallow sales pitches – if treated as one-shot deals without any long term plan for sustainability measures – that more often than not fail in getting the underlying messages through to our wrong-cultured and thick-skulled Filipino mentality, a mentality that is now considered as the root cause of all our people’s miseries. Attending or organizing these events does not define what a true young leader is. These are just training exercises for us, for purposes of accumulating knowledge, experience and wisdom. That is IF we had actually understood the essence of what we were doing in the first place. These should not be considered as real achievements. These are just decorations.
In my opinion, this generation of young leaders could not even hold a candle to the leaders of the youth of bygone days. During their time, patriotism was not a mere concept being bragged about in the classrooms. It was carried high and bravely like a banner and practiced with fervor, not only in the classroom but also in the very communities and societies where they live. Love for freedom and peace was not merely uttered with conviction, it was backed up with consistent, persistent and unrelenting action. Sacrifice for the greater good of all was actually done willingly and not frowned upon as if it were a smelly sock. Commitment was actually “commitment” and was never associated with “convenience”. During their time, it was “word of honor” and not “by convenience”. Young leaders then went for days without eating just to pursue a noble cause. They became sick, they were overworked, they were questioned and maligned, and they were even
ridiculed. Yet they braved insurmountable odds and opposition and even actually gave their lives just to get the job done, so that the people may gain – or regain – what is rightfully due to them. They had never turned back when the going got tough. Oh, yes, most probably they had thought of quitting; what with all the innumerable criticisms and doubts and backbiting and integrity assaults along the way. But they kept on going no matter what. All this they did because they “saw some good in this world and it was worth fighting for”. And in the end the masses benefited from their sacrifice, their sincerity, and their determination to make a lasting and permanent difference for the people.
In comparison, the young leaders of today are way far off the mark. Instead of thinking more of the cause for which we should unite and work on, we debate on who gets to occupy the highest position or the most power or fame, as if it was the end-all and be-all of leadership. And if we don’t get the coveted position, task, role, or privilege, or if we are not made happy or satisfied by our leaders, we sulk like children deprived of his/her favorite candy, and then we backbite, or worse, we conspire with disgruntled others to discredit them, or to wrest authority from them. Also, instead of spending more time preparing our organizations to be equipped for actually making a difference in the community sustainably, we waste more hours and energy in arguing about constitutionality and rules and regulations, as if they were the real foundations of our organizations. Well, in fairness, constitutionality, rules and regulations and other technicalities should
be given the appropriate time allocation for discussion, formulation and implementation. But the constitution of any organization and its subsequent policies and guidelines would never have come into existence if the cause for which the organization itself was established had not been created FIRST in the minds and hearts of those that formed the organization, wouldn’t it? It is the cause. THAT is the foundation. Other self-proclaimed young leaders even go down to the level of practicing – yet denying to practice – double standards, character assassinations, spreading rumors, intrigue, black propaganda and whatever God-forsaken shallow activities the idle mind of a contemporary “young leader” has developed as a specialization (Good Lord!) just to get what they desire, at the expense of others. There is more babble, claptrap and chest-thumping and less fact-finding, clear communication and actual work done nowadays. Words like, “Why should I
fight for the cause through our group when I am better than our leader? I don’t like him. Make me leader first before I work for the cause. I have the support of a large faction, you know?” are more often heard than, “We should talk this over with the leader clearly and fully, let us DIALOGUE, so that we can prevent this problem from worsening and so that we can be more effective in working for the cause we have sworn to pursue and uphold.” And what’s more appalling is, others are easily swayed and convinced by these fake “young leaders” in their inconsequential reasoning and perform their pointless put-down acts with them. To think that they are followed by others who look up to them for guidance. Pity.
Whether member, president, or chairman, the position is irrelevant. Even the organization, its constitution and its policies are irrelevant, if we really get down to the real core of the issue. What matters above all is whether the cause for which we have organized ourselves to carry out is clearly UNDERSTOOD, IMBIBED, PRACTICED among ourselves, and PURSUED consistently and with commitment for the betterment of all. Sadly though, that is not the prevailing case. We may like what we hear about causes and their organizations, we nod and are awed by the concepts that are presented, and then we join up. But the underlying doctrines that are supposed to be absorbed and felt by each of us would just go over our young heads! More often than not, we join up because we idolize the image of one or some of the stalwarts in that organization and not the reason why these people actually got their image and became so-called stalwarts in the first place. How could we
actually pursue a cause and a doctrine which we do not even practice among ourselves, when we had not imbibed it because we never really understood it from the very beginning? Sadly, we just say the words, memorize them and then do a tabulation which of our acts allegedly substantiate the doctrine to prove that we are embodying it. It really is a shame.
To the young leaders of old, it was not about glory, or fame, or power, or influence, or much less pride or ego, a lot like most young leaders of today are led to believe. It was not about the certificates, or the trophies and medals, or the events and activities organized, or the articles written, or the number of organizations affiliated with, or the ability to articulate and “out-grandstand” other leaders, or the number of speaking engagements and public appearances invited to, or the length of one’s resume, etc. This things would never make a difference in helping society. These things are utter nonsense and are actually useless. These are but shallow pursuits for shallow people, for people without substance, for people who in reality never were concerned for their fellows, for non-leaders. In circumspect, rarely can one see a young leader of today actually use these achievements to better the plight of his/her fellows. More often than not, we
would hear these young leaders say these things were done for their own TRACK RECORDS. The young leaders of old simply did not care about these things. They may have sensitivities, but they never wore it on their sleeves like the present generation because they knew it would do more harm than good to the people around them.
Youth and student leadership is all about helping people by using our hearts; knowing that the plight of those around us is also our plight, that we must do something about it and that we should continue pursuing to address the problem and never stop until everybody is freed from it. To the young leaders of old, just permanently lessening the difficulties experienced by a single distressed household is enough to make them feel fulfilled. But they did not just “gave them some fish” and by doing so incidentally give them false hope. They “taught them HOW to fish.” True leaders are not messiahs or saviors. They are just good facilitators. Relief and outreach missions are good. But by sticking to this method always, we encourage people to have a “dole-out” mentality, or an attitude of mendicancy. True leaders empower the people so that the people can collectively address their problems on their own and become self reliant. In this simple example,
the leaders of old had used their God-given talent and superior skills for others. But they never really ended with just one household, did they? They had reached out to, and helped, as many of their fellows as they could and made a difference to each and every household and community whose lives they could touch within their lifetime. Young leaders of old were followed heartily by others because of the cause they fought for. In effect, they had made a REAL DIFFERENCE. They had stamped their LEGACY. They had EMPOWERED themselves. And by doing so, they had empowered their fellow youth and their society. THAT to me is true youth and student leadership.
“Look not at the bearer of the torch, for the bearer is just human like you and me. Look instead at the torch, for from it both bearer and companions gain enlightenment, guidance, inner strength and hope.”
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