– By Shivangi Sharma
If countries want to engage young people as future global leaders, they must first learn about their experiences.
The ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Youth Report, a collaboration between the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) aims to contribute to a better understanding of the status of youth leadership across Asia and Europe and provides recommendations on how meaningful leadership experiences and opportunities for youth can be better designed and supported.
The Report also signifies the importance of peer connections and adult mentorship in becoming a leader. There are clearly many barriers for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, be it due to an economical reason or belonging to an ethnic, sexual or disability minority.More opportunities, more support and more safe spaces are needed for all young people to be heard.
Here are some key findings and extracts from the ASEM report:
Young people are interested and engaged in leadership opportunities
Motives for many areas of life, including a desire to lead, are often thought to be influenced by an individual’s culture and upbringing. There are several reasons youth take the road towards leadership that includes aspiring to be a role model for the community, making a contribution in society, learning things that will help make a positive impact in the world, expanding the understanding of the world or helping others in need.
Majority of the young people surveyed either currently held a leadership role (40%) or aspired to hold one within the next five years (46%).
Young adults recognise the potential for large-scale and lasting change in contrast to more immediate or personal gains (e.g., forging new social connections, developing personal interests).
Leadership means making a societal impact
Unprecedented changes set the stage for revisiting and challenging societal scripts about who is a leader and how they contribute to a sustainable future. When asked to share the top reasons for becoming a leader from the youth surveyed, over 90% of respondents in Asia and Europe named at least one reason related to helping others, such as “being a role model for my community”.
Current leaders also cited desires to empower their peers and address societal challenges (e.g., climate change) among their key reasons for pursuing a leadership role. Aligned with a global mindset, young leaders value opportunities for societal impact. They are focused on global and community-level impact more than on individual or family-level influence.
Lack of empowerment due to several barriers
Young people experience personal, interpersonal, and societal barriers to being a leader.
“To become a leader, it’s necessary to be heard. Something that I also need to feel, looking at the actions that follow. I need trust and support whenever needed, while making sure that I get the tools I need and that I act within a safe space.” said Panagiotis Chatzimichail, Board Member, European Youth Forum.
Majority of youth cited lack of confidence, role models, financial security, and opportunities for meaningful engagement or gatekeeping as common barriers for potential leaders.
They also mentioned bias against young people and “youth washing” as obstacles to aspiring leaders’ engagement. Exactly one-half (50%) of respondents agreed that leaders should be safe to take risks, while 22% disagreed or strongly disagreed. Psychological safety also did not differ between European and Asian countries
Psychological safety – Young people feel it is safe to take risks without fear of repercussion. When young professionals feel high psychological safety, they are willing to take risks, share ideas, ask questions, give and receive feedback, admit mistakes, and ask for help—these all critical behaviours are crucial for effective and empowered leadership
Financial security – The extent to which individuals believe they can afford their daily living expenses— also dampens young adults’ desire to lead. Financial ASEM Youth Report, found out the two particularly salient deterrents to young leaders’ leadership are psychological safety and financial security.
Matters and factors that coincide with lower socioeconomic status (e.g. lack of access to educational opportunities) have also come out as the most significant barriers to youth leadership. 43% of Asian respondents are in a financial state where they cannot or barely make ends meet, while 22% felt that it is not safe to take risks in a leadership role. Such barriers also dampen their desire to lead or result in increasingly reclusive behaviour.
How organisations can design meaningful leadership experiences
Senior leaders can support young leaders by providing authentic encouragement, meaningful informal leadership opportunities (e.g., volunteering), and deep connections with young leaders.
Interestingly, more young people from Asian countries reported receiving encouragement from an adult than young people in European countries. More Asians also reported that an adult told them it was important to develop leadership skills. Current leaders were more than five times more likely to volunteer than aspiring leaders. These differences, coupled with recommendations from current leaders, point toward potential avenues for supporting aspiring leaders.
“In order to be a leader, you must have a proper support, a proper mentorship or a proper role model right next to you. That kind of support might come from your parent(s) or guardian(s) or any other member of your family, it might come from your teacher, professor, youthworker or even your employer. For a future leader, it is crucial he/she takes in all the right values and qualities of their mentor(s) and then implements them and more importantly shares them with future leaders to come.” said Leo Stakovic, President, Croatia Youth Network.
Creating consequential leadership experiences
Organisations can create consequential leadership experiences by developing informal leadership opportunities like volunteering, informal internships, apprenticeships, informal training programmes and investing in infrastructure to help young professionals connect. Volunteer activities can take place within any association or network, including social, cultural, political, and environmental involvement.
As per ASEM Report, more than half (61%) of respondents reported being active volunteers. Young people in European countries were more likely to be active volunteers (71%) than young people in Asian countries (60%). Many focus group and interview participants identified early development opportunities as an entry point to leadership, with examples ranging from volunteering in a Non-Governmental Organisations to holding a student government office.