Following the American Psychological Association’s Guidelines
Reg No
Designation
Abstract
The term paper begins with an outline of the paper structure. The definition of youth is discussed initially followed by the practical illustrations of the current youth going to lead tomorrow. Personalities like Michael Dell, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Tendulkar, Oprah Winfrey, Ali Hewson and J. K. Rowling etc. are discussed as role models of youth. The various challenges of the youth are discussed pertaining to problem solving, time management, Spirituality, physical and mental health of the youth, Decision making, Developing the right attitude, Managing people, lack of mentoring proper guidance and lack of role models etc. are discussed in this term paper. The power of youth is suppressed by birth control and family planning in the developed nations. The power of youth and youth development is done through youth policy transforming an entire nation. Developing an entrepreneur spirit among the youth reveals the true power inherent in them. The term paper proves that youth of today can lead tomorrow.
Introduction
The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow. This term paper discusses the various challenges faced by the modern youth in becoming leaders. Real life practical examples of youth leading tomorrow are discussed in the term paper. The women youth role models are discussed briefly. The power of the youth and their role in the economic development of a nation is discussed in the term paper.
Youth refers to a category of people that are diverse and heterogeneous and not a group. The age group of the youth comes between child hood and adult hood. According to United Nations, the youth come under the age group of 15 to 24 years and Unicef extends the youth age to 30 years (Rajesh Shukla, 2009). There are a lot of diverse and differing expectations, social roles and aspirations. National youth policy differs when it comes to age factors and certain countries consider the people in the age group of 13 to 35 years as youth, 13 to 19 years in some countries and 20 to 35 years in other countries. Commonly the age group of 13 to 19 years is referred as the adolescent age group.
Practical examples of today’s youth leading tomorrow
Nigeria has been a war prone zone dominated with pirates, warlords and frauds. The Nigerian government to solve these issues has framed a constitution to involve the youth in the politics. The involvement of youth in politics is very minimal and as a means of encouraging the youth, the Nigerian government has encouraged people below the age of forty to join the parties. Nigeria has been ruled by old people above the age of sixty and there are no politicians less than the age of 50 in Nigeria (Wole Oyebade, 2013). Hence the importance of the youth in shaping a better future for Nigeria is the need of the hour. The political spirit must be developed among the Nigerians as early as the school days.
Some of the other examples of youth leading tomorrow in the political field include that of the leadership of Rahul Gandhi in India. Rahul Gandhi has been an inspiration of all the Indian youth. At the age of forty, Rahul Gandhi has become the prime ministerial candidate of the popular congress party in India. Rahul Gandhi is the son of the most popular Indian Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated in a meeting while serving as the Indian Prime minister. Rahul Gandhi currently at the age of forty two (Rajesh Shukla, 2009) has been very instrumental in social work and doing welfare measures to the Indian rural people visiting villages. Most of the Indian youth has been looking Rahul Gandhi as a role model to shape the future of India that is free from corruption and black money etc. Indians are expecting a change with the youth ruling them under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. This can be considered a good example of youth leading tomorrow.
Sachin Tendulkar, considered the God of Cricket in India has officially announced his entry in to politics after retiring from international cricket in November 2013. Press releases indicate that Sachin has roped in with the congress party with the friendship of Rahul Gandhi. Both Sachin and Rahul Gandhi are going to attend a spree of political campaigns gathering votes for the congress party News agencies indicate that India’s youth have risen to the occasion with the emergence of these two leaders in the center. Another political example is that of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akilesh yadav, considered as the youngest chief minister at the age of 32. In Andhra Pradesh, there is Raja sekar reddy. There is an increase in the number of involvement of the youth in politics recently which is a good sign for the development of the nation as a whole.
Considering the corporate, history has revealed that it is the youth shaping the tomorrow with examples of Bill gates of Microsoft, Steve jobs of Apple, Michel Dell of Dell etc. All these leaders were very young when they started the enterprise. They shaped the future that is currently existing and hence these corporate examples stand as a proof that youth can shape and lead a better tomorrow in various disciplines.
Gastonkwa, 2012 discusses that tomorrow for youth is actually today and it is today that they have to initiate actions to shape a better tomorrow. The common problem with most of the current youth is that they always question about the contribution of country to them but instead the thinking should be as an individual what is a person’s contribution to the nation? The thinking and attitude of the youth must change and accordingly the role of youth will change drastically in shaping a tomorrow. History has time and again proved that youth were instrumental in the revolutions like the African revolution triggered by Robert Nesta Marley. The African president Nelson Mandela also stresses the importance of the involvement of the youth in nation development.
Neal Marshall, 2011 discusses the steps taken by a cultural center in Indiana to develop leadership skills to students studying in grade six. Leadership games will be conducted to the students in an interactive manner to develop the creativity skills. The leadership skills among the students are noted and special prizes are distributed to the children. This exercise forms a very good platform for the children to develop their leadership skills and their career as a result in future.
The youth of today can lead tomorrow by having a good character showing compassion and work ethics. The communities are expanding and an excellent network is the need of the hour to become the leader of tomorrow in this information age. Developing relationships in the common fields of interest remains a key for the youth. Companies must adopt sustainable practices to safeguard the earth and leaders must have a critical role in sustaining the environmental practices. To become an effective leader, continuous learning is essential and the organization must be made in to a learning organization to attain competitive advantage in future. The youth can become excellent leaders of tomorrow with a focus towards technology. Role models in leadership are very crucial for the present youth to lead tomorrow following their role model principles and practice.
Women Youth Role models
Considering women, beauty is their nature and most of the role models for the youth are Miss World and Miss Universe. Most of the girls follow the Hollywood heroines and movies for their life style. Some of the popular women youth role models are Oprah Winfrey topping the Forbes list in entertainment. Oprah also holds the title of becoming the first ever black woman to be billionaire. Oprah has excellent human resource and time management skills and fights for human rights. She is a huge celebrity living in millions of minds. Ali Hewson, a political activist is renowned world wide for her protests in the Chernobyl case and in the medical care field. Nancy Pelosi, a powerful speaker in US representatives house is admired for her speeches and clear thinking and decision making. J. K. Rowling is the favorite writer known world wide for the Harry Potter Novel that was released as a series of movie.
Challenges facing youth in leading tomorrow
Andrea D. Oliver, 2012 discusses that managing change is one of the great challenges facing the leaders of tomorrow i.e. the youth of today. There are many problems for the youth including love, relationships etc. and problem solving remains a key challenge for the youth to lead tomorrow. Another major challenge facing the youth is time management. Youth have no time with their busy schedule of attending classes, taking exams and doing routine academic activities. The chances of extracurricular activities and coordinating an event are very few. Hence proper time management is essential and remains a huge challenge for the youth. Spirituality is a key essence of leadership and the current youth have no time to spare for prayers and visiting churches.
The physical and mental health of the youth has become a huge concern with the consumption of junk foods and obesity becoming a national problem. Maintaining good eating, sleeping and exercise practices keeps the mind fresh to make decisions. Decision making is one of the crucial challenges of the youth to lead tomorrow. The youth must develop a good attitude towards management. Developing the right attitude remains a huge challenge for the current youth to lead. Managing people is the most important challenge of a leader and the youth must interact with various categories of people to equip themselves to become better leaders.
Another crucial challenge is the lack of mentoring and the absence of the role models to motivate the present youth in becoming leaders of tomorrow. Mentoring is a good exercise to develop leadership skills. Spiritual people must guide the youth to become patient and effective leaders of tomorrow. Youth must have a proper guidance to develop in to effective leaders. There must be good role models in the respective field to guide the youth. Lack of role models and guidance remains a big challenge before the youth.
The power of Youth
The power of Youth is tremendous. The contribution of the youth to the economic growth of a nation is a vital indicator. In the developed nations like United States, Japan and Europe etc. birth control and family planning is done. This has a short term benefit only as in twenty years from now these countries will be facing the dearth of youth population with the fast ageing population. The power of youth as commonly told can be referred to a double edged sword and has to be managed in a proper manner. Youth form the basis of future man power and work force. A proper management of youth is essential to avoid the societal problems. Youth can be engaged in poverty elimination problems and social work to become good citizens and leaders of tomorrow. Nations frame the youth policy annually to enhance the power of the youth. The policy makers must involve the youth in the overall development of the nation. The power of the literate youths is high in transforming an entire nation. Youth has the power of ability, ambition and ideas.
The power of Youth was discussed at the Wharton Business School with special reference to Swami Vivekananda. The youth power can be harnessed to develop confidence and succeed by defeating the problems. The real strength of youth lies in problem solving at a faster rate and taking fast decisions. Care must be taken with proper guidance while taking decisions as youth are fast without experience. The youth has the fighting spirit in them and can achieve any task with a right attitude. A victory motivates the youth to a great extent. The youth power comes with the responsibility. Youth are fearless and have the confidence to face any situation. Developing entrepreneur spirit among the youth reveals their true power and contributes to the economic development of the nation as a whole.
Conclusion
The above analysis clearly indicates that the youth of today can lead tomorrow. The power of the youth must be harnessed in a proper manner to make them leaders of tomorrow. This is beneficial to the economic development of the nation as a whole. This term paper has discussed the role of youth in economic development in various disciplines. The role models of the current youth in various fields are also discussed. The various challenges and the social issues faced by the youth are discussed in the term paper. Youth face several challenges from the society, family and the environment. All these challenges with the lack of mentorship, lack of proper guidance and lack of role models for motivation are discussed in the chllenges section. The growing involvement of youth in politics is illustrated in the term paper with the living examples. The youth role models shaping the current youth for the future is also discussed. The power of youth is discussed with decision making, problem solving, initiating things and the development of entrepreneurial spirit etc. The tremendous power of youth is revealed in this term paper. There are several successful stories discussed in the term paper where the youth of yesterday had shaped today and in the similar manner the youth of today are going to be instrumental in shaping a better future. Finally the term paper concludes stating that youth can lead tomorrow.
References
Andrea D. Oliver. (2012). Tomorrow’s Today’s Leaders: Cultivating Young Thinkers and Doers. Washington and Lee School of Law
Gastonkwa. (2012). Youths of Today: Has Our Tomorrow Finally Come? European publication. Aug 15, 2012
Neal Marshall. (2011). 'Learn Today, Lead Tomorrow' is theme of Youth Empowerment Workshop. Immediate Release, BLOOMINGTON, Indiana, Last modified: Monday, April 11, 2011
Rajesh Shukla. (2009). Harnessing Indian youth power. Economic Times. May 25, 2009, 04.34am IST
Wole Oyebade. (2013). How youth can lead Nigeria to better tomorrow. National Journal of Nigeria. Published: Thursday, 17 October 2013 00:00
