Young Leaders

By Blaire Hanna in All Sorts

inspiration for all from a young leader

Oh no! Ken is great at listening and giving us opportunities - but do I really want this one? "So you want to be a journalist Blaire? How about writing one of the Connections article in the bulletin, that would be good for your writing".
What are the Connections articles, and what on earth could I write about? I feel nervous and scared. I need some help and something to write about.
"Build a dream, then the dream will build you" was one of the inspiring quotes that grabbed my attention that day.
Early in Term 2, I was selected to attend a NYLD (National Young Leaders Day) conference. It was held at the Regent Theatre and people from all over Otago and Southland - places like Invercargill and Queenstown - came just to attend the one day course. This was my second time attending NYLD and I was anxious for the exciting day to begin.
The theme of the event was to get young people to start thinking about being leaders/heroes in their schools, communities and homes and to help develop student leadership by being both inspirational and practical. Since 2001 over 90,000 students throughout New Zealand have taken part to learn more about leadership. Objectives of the NYLD include empowerment, positivity, inspiration, connection, motivation and education. It's a fun way to focus on your own potential while laughing so hard and just having an excellent time on the way.
Speakers such as Allison Shanks, Cam Calkoen, Gemma Knight (from What Now) and Christian Gallen (a Super-motivational speaker) came to share and provide useful advice for the restless young leaders like me. Advice and inspiration like being positive - 'positivity', about attitude - have a 'can do attitude', and something really cool about being a hero - that heroic leadership feats are at everybody's grasp. 'You don't have to be super to be a hero'. ' You don't have to be famous to be great' . Could that be me I wondered?
As the day progressed, each speaker, each piece of advice and inspiration were fitting together for me like a puzzle. Gemma had us ask ourselves 'what am I doing today that will be missed tomorrow'? That's one of the things that stayed with me. Trying to do the right thing, thinking about the effects of what I do. Realising that it won't all be good, but sucking it up if it's not, and enjoying it when things go well.
There were so many laughs, lots of jokes, but through the humour the message was the same. After listening to Christian Gallen we all felt really positive about ourselves - no surprise he belongs to a 'positivity group' that travels around and speaks, especially to Intermediate school pupils.
I learnt that from the four types of leaders that were spoken about, I am an active leader. I get involved, I do what I'm asked, I don't sit back and watch it all happen, I can't watch bad things unfold and not get involved. I learned how to be a better 'active' leader, and to watch for the pitfalls of being too loud or shouty, it's not about drawing attention to yourself. I took note of advice to take it down a notch and be a little more low key. It's about being an active leader in a responsible way, not being bossy or making people annoyed.
Cam Calkoen was a speaker with a cerebral palsy. He spoke about how people had kept telling him he couldn't do things because he was different, and that he wasn't allowed to do things because of the way he was. He said he decided not to believe that and tried what he wanted to do and eventually succeeded. He told of how terrified he was of public speaking - and after some real disasters - is now an inspirational public speaker. He said 'do something you are afraid of everyday'.
Well today I have. Afraid of writing this article, out of my comfort zone of fiction writing. I'm thinking about being a journalist, maybe I will be, I really love writing.
Blaire Hanna Mornington Y@M